Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #9

[Estelle]

Mr Blum said he cut out the ad and left it lying around his house, something counsel assisting the coroner, Adam Casselden, said was “an extraordinary thing to do for someone having an extramarital affair”.

Mr Casselden suggested Ms Barter may have been “vulnerable” at the time of the ad, which Mr Blum refuted.

Mr Blum said he stopped the relationship claiming Ms Barter’s “insatiable” sexual appetite was to blame in part.

“I told Marion I wasn’t continuing the charade because I had a wife and two children,” he said.

“Afterwards I told my wife.”

When asked, he couldn’t recall their last words.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...ws-story/0fab1e0ac51bf7d643555b73d3c9f431?amp

 

[Lokii]

Mr C broached the contradiction of being in 2 places at once and sort of excepted the confusion maybe the year it was intended to leave was DEC 1970 but it left a bit later in Jan 1971 , hence the mix up about the apparent certainty by them both > I am assuming if it matters they would check it officially , as it is that explanation fits the time line so i gather they will leave the matter alone in the big scheme of things

The being in two places at once had me thinking about how many questions they asked him about his early days, during his childhood and as a young adult. They went into so much depth regarding his younger days as Willy Wouters.

Then there was the fact that RB could remember exactly where DdH and her parents were when he met them, at the hotel pool. His remembered that like it was yesterday but then couldn’t recall exactly when they arrived into Australia, hence the being in two places at once comment.

What evidence is there that he actually was Willy Wouters to begin with? What if the real Willy Wouters was in Sydney with Ilona at the same time that RB was arriving into Australia with DdH and that’s why they can’t say exactly when they did arrive, because it is impossible to be in two places at once.

His own timeline of the late 60s/early 70s was a mess. He couldn’t or wouldn’t state exactly where he was and when during those years, and when he did he would later tell a different story of when and where. Willy Wouters is the person entitled to the Belgian pension. Maybe he isn’t Willy Wouters.

There were a few other inconsistencies that made me think this. It may sound a far fetched scenario but quite a few things point to it.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I believe the suitcase-leaving is about making the woman victim vulnerable, more than anything. Separate a woman from her bags, and she is less than she started out as.

I'd like to believe Marion suddenly got strong and bold and confronted Blum. However, my experience as a duped wife and the experience of the other women we've heard from (as well as the dupees in TinderSwindler), is that they sink deeper and deeper into the lies. It was only with the help of family members that they climbed out of the Blum hole. Marion did not enlist the aid of family members. I imagine she did return to Australia, she did believe (out of desperation) the Blum lies of new Luxembourg life, and she did withdraw the money. The one piece I can't truly imagine is her death. That will take a greater imagination than mine.

 

[Lokii]

He was asked a few times when Maria died and he couldn’t even answer that. We all know the answer is 1990. He was flying in and out all the time, apparently accepting money from them constantly over the years yet didn’t attend her funeral and can’t recall what year she died. She was supposed to be his mother?
Just wow.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

More mention of 'Coppenolle' on Noble Coins. This time from 2010.
"A long term client is offering his Roman and European coins (supplied with extensive handwritten notes) under his family name Coppenolle."
Sale 95 auction preface - News - Noble Numismatics

Edit: Search 'noble coins coppenolle' and theres a surprising amount that comes up.

Yes I had a look today you can search sold price too… wonder if that was claimed as an earning on pension week that’s week

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

It seems to me that Casselden firmly established the character of Ric Blum. There is no doubt he is a slimeball grifting liar who preys on women. What I want to know is this-- does the inquest, in a sense, establish need for further investigation, in funding or manpower etc? Because it seems to me the entire Marion case rests entirely on the period of time from Sally's last phone call with her. I refuse to believe there are no stones left to turn in UK or AUS from those weeks.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Lol, it was answered already

Marion's regular branch was Colonial State Bank in Ashmore which is southern QLD.
$80k was withdrawn 15 Oct 1997. It was near where she lived and where she had her mortgage.

Commonwealth Bank of Aus in Byron Bay is in another state, in northern NSW, 60-90 mins drive from Ashmore. During Aug-Sept 1997, $5k withdrawn daily for 3.5 weeks (and 3 days in middle at Burleigh Heads CBA branch), totalling between $85k to $120k.

@Peralta - so the Colonial State Bank $80,000 was the last withdrawal? If this were MB's actual branch, wouldn't it be hugely risky for Blum and masquerader to withdrawn in person from there? Or was this done electronically? Owen's missed birthday was 3 days later. . .

 

[Pineconemind]

He was adamant she (JO) should use this travel agent, and if I remember correctly would have her flying out on the 29th, but because she booked her own flight she was back home around the 20th.
He rocked up at her house totally surprised she was there. What was he planning?

I wonder if his "travel agent" was the same person who was gifting him airline tickets? I can't remember the exact dates/time frame from when he said he was being given airline tickets.

 

[Knitmesocks]

Are there any photos of young Ddh or RB? Seems odd that there is little record of them …

 

[Estelle]

Are there any photos of young Ddh or RB? Seems odd that there is little record of them …

There's one of RB that someone found but none of RB even though he's supposed to have been a photographer. I think they have been not only hiding themselves but many other things!

 

[Bodger81]

I travelled from the UK/Europe by ferry a few times in the late 90s/early 00s and I can confirm that immigration was very “light touch” - they often just glanced at your passport. Far far easier than flying or even the Eurostar (which has airline-style security). Once travelling by car they did a proper stop and search of the vehicle but this was more a random thing than the norm and it was mostly looking for people bringing items they shouldn’t rather than the people themselves.

 

[Bodger81]

In fact I seem to remember you didn’t even technically need a passport, that you could sometimes sail using a UK driving license or similar (this might not be official practice but I definitely heard of people doing things like that around that time. Even flying, pre-9/11, was far laxer.)

 

[poppypopcorn]

Agree, Bodger. If they were using ferries to travel from Kent/Essex to France/Netherlands nobody would have checked. Especially as RB appeared to travel as a foot passenger rather than taking a car.

Nobody bothered. Even Eurostar pre 9/11 was fairly lax.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

I know it’s been touched upon numerous times but IMHO Marion never saw the ad in Le Courrier Australien in Dec 1994. We know this is a French speaking monthly publication. Marion’s French was limited. This ad was aimed at French speaking ladies.

I feel Marion was being totally honest when informing Sally she met this guy at the Arts Centre perhaps when he was at a coin fair or he was stalking middle aged single women that would frequent such places.

I believe the initial meeting took place at the back end of 1996. They of course had never met before.

 

[Pineconemind]

Within the EU, travel was border-free in the 90s. You could drive from France into Belgium or Belgium into the Netherlands without stopping. No passport checks. This is known as the Schengen area.

The UK was never part of this agreement, there were always border checks on people coming into the UK from the EU. But I travelled extensively from the UK to other parts of Europe and there were very few checks. They often didn't even LOOK at your passport, you just held up the maroon EU passport and they waved you through. EU nationals similarly didn't even need a passport to enter the UK, most other EU countries had some form of national identity card and people regularly used those instead - which was all perfectly legal and above board.

RB - the man of many names and many false documents - quite possibly did have a Belgian/French/Luxembourg ID card. He may well have been entitled to one as a Belgian born, even one permanently resident in Australia. In my opinion it would have been extremely easy for him and Marion to travel back and forward across the channel to Belgium/France without any proper checks. In the 90s the Border Force were mainly concerned with drug smugglers using ferries to import drugs to the UK - not interested in a middle aged couple with hardly any luggage boarding as foot passengers.

Exactly right re: the travel between EU & Schengen Zones! Once you are in the Schengen Zone you can travel through without being checked, especially by land - car, bus or coach. However as an Australian on an Australian passport, we are restricted to 90/180 day rule (We can't spend more than 90 days out of 180 days in the Schengen Zone). .

I too have travelled extensively throughout Europe and been on the ferry from Dover - Calais (and return) many times and each time I've been checked. You are also required to fill out a passenger card etc and if going with your own car, you have to register it's details / registration etc.

You can also board as a foot passenger only or as part of an organised coach tour etc.

I agree it wouldve been easy for him to go back and forth, but I don't believe it wouldve been as easy for M on her Aussie Passport.

 

[vivienbee]

A few thoughts (feel free to comment/dispute):

Did Marion actually ship her belongings to his address?

• As @Peralta states, she may have just put her things in a removal van and not known where it was going.
• As @buyerninety suggests, it's also possible that she did know where it was going, and if she knew his actual home address then maybe that's what made the difference in her case - something that could concretely identify him.
• If this was the case, I also find it hard to imagine that DdH had no idea what was going on. A bunch of furniture and items appear at your house and you just have no clue about their origins and don't care to ask any questions? Admittedly, it's possible that there were frequently items coming and going to the property that had unknown origins.
• Did the storage container with Marion's other belongings in actually exist? And was this sent to a location overseas?

Did RB have access to another property that could have been used to ship the items to (and stay in afterwards, if Marion did meet back up with him willingly upon her return)? Is this where they met the night Marion was unaccounted for (and possibly more nights)?

• Is this something to do with why he moved his family to Wollongbar? Or WHAT is that whole thing about?

Re: all of the Amsterdam/Netherlands comments, I don't think it's insignificant that in one of her postcards Marion talks about renting a car to drive to Amsterdam. Whether this happened or not is another matter, but it seems like that was part of the plan?

Did RB plan to take her on the Orient Express and hope to pull a Christie-level situation using multiple disguises and aliases that all had a hand in it?

 

[Pineconemind]

Several of us have tried to work out if RB and MR married at some stage hence a theory was maybe at Narita on the way over but Ruby has debunked that theory tonight. Did they employ a Marriage Celebrant somewhere to conduct a marriage ceremony and Marion assumed she was married but RB did not submit the papers. I noticed when she left, Marion put on her Departure card that she was "divorced" and came back putting "married".

I don't see Marion as the type who would lie on a document that she was married when she was not. Then also putting "housewife" and "Luxembourg" was perhaps her fantasy but there is no evidence she has ever been there as she seemed to have spent all her time in England. IMO there was no need to lie. It sounds to me as if that was RB's idea and she was so "bewitched" by him doing naked belly dances in their hotel room for her that she put down what he told her to do.

I have always suspected that he might have collected a few Australian Arrivals cards in his past travels and coerced Marion to fill one out before he left the UK as Sally thinks it is Marion's handwriting. The flight no seems to have been added later in different handwriting using a different pen. Also the tick against Married is larger than the other ticks. I am still open to suspecting that RB forged it and gave it to DdH to use. This is just one of the reasons I doubt it was Marion on that flight home.

Her name change is just so baffling! IMO, perhaps he has proposed marriage before leaving AUS, but told her they would "marry" overseas and convinced her that it's better & easier for her to change her name in Aus before leaving, as trying to change your name after being married overseas and still travelling overseas would be a logistical nightmare? Just a thought!

 

[ruby925]

Going down rabbit holes on the NAA website, found one record holding info for RB from 1969 (first time to Australia) to 1989 when name changed back to WW. The file holds applications for residency and citizenship, shows the FDH name, also known as WW and Roger L..interesting...but the file is restricted as it would be 'a breach of confidence' ' would damage Australia's security,defence or international relations'. I am new to the NAA website, but looks like this file was last updated in 2020. I realise this is not new info as all the names were discussed at the inquest, but interested to see the RL alias pop up in Australia imo.

 

[ruby925]

Her name change is just so baffling! IMO, perhaps he has proposed marriage before leaving AUS, but told her they would "marry" overseas and convinced her that it's better & easier for her to change her name in Aus before leaving, as trying to change your name after being married overseas and still travelling overseas would be a logistical nightmare? Just a thought!

I like that idea, except that it leaves a connection to FNR Queensland driving licence imo

 

[ruby925]

I know it’s been touched upon numerous times but IMHO Marion never saw the ad in Le Courrier Australien in Dec 1994. We know this is a French speaking monthly publication. Marion’s French was limited. This ad was aimed at French speaking ladies.

I feel Marion was being totally honest when informing Sally she met this guy at the Arts Centre perhaps when he was at a coin fair or he was stalking middle aged single women that would frequent such places.

I believe the initial meeting took place at the back end of 1996. They of course had never met before.

I think you are right, the FNR alias had been held for some years, eventually just his bad luck that someone found that 1994 ad and the name being so unusual, tied it to MBs name change.