Australia Australia - Marion Barter - Missing After Trip to UK - June 1997 #17

[KathPlumber]

As much as it’s not funny, I can’t help but find his aliases laughable. Some of them remind me of when you’re forced to change a password and can’t quite be bothered. I’m expecting him to call himself Willy Wouters1! Freddy de Hedervary$123

Omg I have the same reaction every time, especially “Rich Richard.” Might as well have called himself Money McCashbucks

 

[Carovb5]

Okay, i checked the dutch version posted a few pages back with the translated version a few pages back (as i haven't got a subscription to Het Nieuwsblad). Didn't find much. The details were a bit different. I listed them up.

Dutch version: "the teacher of the year flew via Brisbane to South-Korea, and from tere to London Heathrow" (sounds like a fact)
Translated version: "The teacher of the year will fly via Brisbane to South Korea and from there to London Heathrow." (Sounds as if this was the plan, how she told people)

Dutch version: "Opmerkelijk: twee dagen na dat laatste gesprek met haar dochter Sally komt diezelfde mevrouw Remakel Australië opnieuw binnen."
Translated version: "Remarkable: two days after that last conversation with her daughter Sally, the same Mrs Remakeel re-enters Australia." (error in name)

Dutch version: "“Ze heeft allicht mijn rijbewijs gestolen.”"
Translated version: "“She hey ft probably stolen my driver's license.”" (must say "has")

Dutch Version: "Hoewel de weduwe amper een maand eerder nog stapelverliefd van plan was geweest om met hem te emigreren naar Australië. Tot grote consternatie van haar vier kinderen."
Translated version: Although only a month earlier the widow had planned to emigrate with him to Australia. Much to the consternation of her four children. (missing: madly in love)

Dutch version: “Hier, champagne, dit is mijn nieuwe vriend, met wie ik dra trouwen zal en met wie ik naar Australië zal emigreren.”
Translated version:
“Here, champagne, this is my new our friend, whom I shall soon marry and whom I shall emigrate to Australia.” ( 'our' should be left out, and it should read "with whom i shall emigrate)

 

[HinterlandObserver]

Okay, i checked the dutch version posted a few pages back with the translated version a few pages back (as i haven't got a subscription to Het Nieuwsblad). Didn't find much. The details were a bit different. I listed them up.

Dutch version: "the teacher of the year flew via Brisbane to South-Korea, and from tere to London Heathrow" (sounds like a fact)
Translated version: "The teacher of the year will fly via Brisbane to South Korea and from there to London Heathrow." (Sounds as if this was the plan, how she told people)

Dutch version: "Opmerkelijk: twee dagen na dat laatste gesprek met haar dochter Sally komt diezelfde mevrouw Remakel Australië opnieuw binnen."
Translated version: "Remarkable: two days after that last conversation with her daughter Sally, the same Mrs Remakeel re-enters Australia." (error in name)

Dutch version: "“Ze heeft allicht mijn rijbewijs gestolen.”"
Translated version: "“She hey ft probably stolen my driver's license.”" (must say "has")

Dutch Version: "Hoewel de weduwe amper een maand eerder nog stapelverliefd van plan was geweest om met hem te emigreren naar Australië. Tot grote consternatie van haar vier kinderen."
Translated version: Although only a month earlier the widow had planned to emigrate with him to Australia. Much to the consternation of her four children. (missing: madly in love)

Dutch version: “Hier, champagne, dit is mijn nieuwe vriend, met wie ik dra trouwen zal en met wie ik naar Australië zal emigreren.”
Translated version:
“Here, champagne, this is my new our friend, whom I shall soon marry and whom I shall emigrate to Australia.” ( 'our' should be left out, and it should read "with whom i shall emigrate)

Thank you for taking the time to review that.

 

[Carovb5]

Interesting:
(P-magazine article): he has brown hair according to his Lonely Hearts posting.
(Het nieuwsblad article):he has blond hair says Belgian duped woman.

Would he travel under their (duped woman) names also? Or just in case there’s cctv? Or would he have become blond to look a bit younger (blonde instead of gret/silver)?

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

If AKA (as Roger Lauzoney) was in prison in Morocco in 1976/77 how would this fit in with his marriage to DW in Feb 1976 and being charged with false impersonation in Paris in June 1976 (sentenced to 1 year and 1000 francs)?

 

[mishy66]

If AKA (as Roger Lauzoney) was in prison in Morocco in 1976/77 how would this fit in with his marriage to DW in Feb 1976 and being charged with false impersonation in Paris in June 1976 (sentenced to 1 year and 1000 francs)?

THAT is EXACTLY what I thought too @Lord Peter Flimsy

 

[mishy66]

Okay, i checked the dutch version posted a few pages back with the translated version a few pages back (as i haven't got a subscription to Het Nieuwsblad). Didn't find much. The details were a bit different. I listed them up.

Dutch version: "the teacher of the year flew via Brisbane to South-Korea, and from tere to London Heathrow" (sounds like a fact)
Translated version: "The teacher of the year will fly via Brisbane to South Korea and from there to London Heathrow." (Sounds as if this was the plan, how she told people)

Dutch version: "Opmerkelijk: twee dagen na dat laatste gesprek met haar dochter Sally komt diezelfde mevrouw Remakel Australië opnieuw binnen."
Translated version: "Remarkable: two days after that last conversation with her daughter Sally, the same Mrs Remakeel re-enters Australia." (error in name)

Dutch version: "“Ze heeft allicht mijn rijbewijs gestolen.”"
Translated version: "“She hey ft probably stolen my driver's license.”" (must say "has")

Dutch Version: "Hoewel de weduwe amper een maand eerder nog stapelverliefd van plan was geweest om met hem te emigreren naar Australië. Tot grote consternatie van haar vier kinderen."
Translated version: Although only a month earlier the widow had planned to emigrate with him to Australia. Much to the consternation of her four children. (missing: madly in love)

Dutch version: “Hier, champagne, dit is mijn nieuwe vriend, met wie ik dra trouwen zal en met wie ik naar Australië zal emigreren.”
Translated version:
“Here, champagne, this is my new our friend, whom I shall soon marry and whom I shall emigrate to Australia.” ( 'our' should be left out, and it should read "with whom i shall emigrate)

Thanks @Carovb5

It is great to have your insight!!!

A few things about this writeup is VERY confusing and inaccurate which then lends itself to more questions.

Marion didn't have 4 children. She had 2.

And it would be impossible for him to be born to Abel and Maria
"“Blum was specifically born in Tournai on July 9, 1939 as Willy David Wouters to Abel Wouters and Maria Coppenolle.”


Their marriage date was 1950

He is reported as 26 yrs old and her 36 -

From this notice he would be born 1923 / 24
He would have had to be 15 /16 years old to have had AKA

and then come back in 1950 to marry her AFTER her first husband died and had her legs blown off and with 2 other babies

Nope. Not buying that one.



So we have Willy David Wouters IF this article is accurate.


No this article is not accurate.


I would take a stab in the dark and say, THEY can't disclose his REAL name while an investigation is going on and can ONLY report on the information they have at hand eg the documents listed publically on NAA and what was addressed at inquest.

 

[mishy66]

In awe of your research Mishy, are you able to clarify for me where this fits into AKA story. I think this is the first evidence I have seen that Maria (widow of Desire David) marries Abel, but is there a suggestion that AKA may be closely related to the Maria/Adolf family? Thanks in advance.

No I have posted their marriage notice up prior.

Yes I do believe there is a VERY close connection to the DeMol / Coppenolle family

 

[mishy66]

I am trying to reconcile the passport image of 1969 to the other images we have of him

Does anyone else think his WW photo 1969 is not him??

In 1969 he is 30 years old ( if you believe what is on his passport - born 1939)

In 1969 AKA arrived into Australia under the name of Willy Wouters.

He was 30 years old.

As we now know he has had a lifetime of criminal activites under various aliases.

A man age 30 years old, with a criminal history such as his and of the family he was brought up in - eg - step brother FD had various criminal acts - the Father Desire David also was charged for something which I cant remember off hand - Desire David sister also had a long criminal past - I posted a link to this earlier, and AKA also faced the long arm of the law in his youth.

My point being, at age 30 he is NOT going to use his REAL NAME to set off for Australia to see what else he can get his claws into and 'marry' a young Hungarian girl to help him with whatever it was.

No. His WW name is also another aliases IMO

He knew someone by that name. He used his ID to create a new passport and enter Australia under that name.

His passport photo looks NOTHING like him.

It may resemble that of his alias Fredy David, in the newpaper clipping of the 1980 furniture business with his accomplice Diane, but he is suppose to be 30 in that passport photo right - it is only 10 years between the 2 images

I dont think this PP photo and name is AKA

IMO
JMO
MOO

 

[Newby171]

Okay, i checked the dutch version posted a few pages back with the translated version a few pages back (as i haven't got a subscription to Het Nieuwsblad). Didn't find much. The details were a bit different. I listed them up.

Dutch version: "the teacher of the year flew via Brisbane to South-Korea, and from tere to London Heathrow" (sounds like a fact)
Translated version: "The teacher of the year will fly via Brisbane to South Korea and from there to London Heathrow." (Sounds as if this was the plan, how she told people)

Dutch version: "Opmerkelijk: twee dagen na dat laatste gesprek met haar dochter Sally komt diezelfde mevrouw Remakel Australië opnieuw binnen."
Translated version: "Remarkable: two days after that last conversation with her daughter Sally, the same Mrs Remakeel re-enters Australia." (error in name)

Dutch version: "“Ze heeft allicht mijn rijbewijs gestolen.”"
Translated version: "“She hey ft probably stolen my driver's license.”" (must say "has")

Dutch Version: "Hoewel de weduwe amper een maand eerder nog stapelverliefd van plan was geweest om met hem te emigreren naar Australië. Tot grote consternatie van haar vier kinderen."
Translated version: Although only a month earlier the widow had planned to emigrate with him to Australia. Much to the consternation of her four children. (missing: madly in love)

Dutch version: “Hier, champagne, dit is mijn nieuwe vriend, met wie ik dra trouwen zal en met wie ik naar Australië zal emigreren.”
Translated version:
“Here, champagne, this is my new our friend, whom I shall soon marry and whom I shall emigrate to Australia.” ( 'our' should be left out, and it should read "with whom i shall emigrate)

Thank you for taking the time

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Posted before I think. But this one goes into more detail than I was able to read before.

Une nouvelle victime belge dans l'affaire Marion Barter

Un escroc ayant des liens avec le Luxembourg n'a pas épargné sa propre famille. Les dégâts sont immenses.

www-wort-lu.translate.goog

When her husband died in 2011, she was only sixty years old, he was only a year older. Their marriage lasted forty years and their life together in Tournai, Belgium, was full. An adult son, grandchildren. Financially, she has no problems, the deceased had a good job, she also works, in Brussels. At first, everyone cares emotionally for the grieving widow. But little by little, the daily reasserts itself. Her life is now a little emptier, as is her home.


However, a family member continues to take care of her. “Cousin Willy” from Australia, a cousin of her late husband, wrote condolence cards, called often, asked how she felt now, without her husband Michel in her life. The widow appreciates: "He was very nice and helpful", she will say later. Above all: we could discuss everything with him. After about eight months, in March 2012, Cousin Willy even comes to visit him specially to keep him company in his bereavement, as he says.

They will live together in Bali

Belgian by origin, he has lived in Australia for more than fifty years and has had dual nationality since 1976. He is twelve years older than her, but looks exactly like her Michel. He will live with her. They will go to Bali together. From there, cousin Willy will disappear overnight to return to Australia. He extorted the equivalent of nearly 150,000 euros in cash and valuables from the widow. He easily masters this stratagem, which he has already used with several other lonely women.

His name is Ric Blum, alias Fernand Remakel, alias Frédéric de Hedervary. For his cousin's widow, he is Willy C. Although he has used dozens of false names over the decades, some of which have been legally listed on driving licenses and passports in Australia, Willy is his real first name. and C. the name of his mother - and of his deceased cousin.

We meet the cheated widow and her son nearly eleven years later in northern Belgium. She doesn't want to read her real name in the newspapers, or be recognized in photos - apart from her close family, no one yet knows the story that happened to her back then. So we'll call her Charlotte. We also know Willy's last name. Charlotte's son convinced her to talk to us so maybe she could still hold the scammer to account. Because a complaint filed with the Belgian police yielded no results.

"We were told that Australia would not extradite him anyway for this kind of thing”.

Charlotte unfolds her story chronologically, openly, in detail and with kindness. Her son supports her, provides details and context. The interview lasts about three hours. She immediately announces one thing: Ric Blum and she did not have a romantic or sexual relationship. For the other known victims, it was a classic marriage scam. In Australia, two women testified to how it happened: meeting via a contact ad, promise of marriage, painting a common “distant” future. Ghislaine Danlois from Brussels had said that Blum had proposed to her to marry in Bali, then that she was to come with him to Australia. She slept in the same bed as him.

The case of another woman with mysterious ties to Luxembourg sparked an international investigation and eventually led Charlotte to a country inn to speak to the press. But Australian Marion Barter cannot testify. She has been missing without a trace since 1997. A trial is underway in the province of New South Wales to determine if she is dead. Ric Blum has already testified there. He claims not to be involved in the disappearance of the teacher. However, he admits an affair with Barter.

In Tournai, things happened a little differently: "There was nothing between us," says Charlotte. “He was a friend, he was family. He suggested that I travel, go out a bit. I was 61 years old and I was a widow, why not go on vacation with a member of my family?

On February 24, 2012, Willy picks her up at Lille station. The two understand each other. She knows him through stories and through the postcards he wrote regularly to his cousin for Christmas and since his holidays. And she had briefly seen him once, in 1992, at the funeral of an aunt of her husband. But he then left directly from the cemetery to the airport, according to the testimony of another person present that day, of which the Luxemburger Wort was aware. This one especially remembers Ric Blum's crocodile leather shoes.

Charlotte will also later explain to the police: “He presents himself in a cool style”. But above all, he was eloquent, cultured, attentive. It did her good to have him around. The fact that Ric Blum has been married since 1976 is not a topic of discussion between them, even when a woman from Australia calls him out twice: “I knew he had adult children. He told me his daughter was a pilot. It was never about his wife, I thought he might be a widower”.

Cousin Willy quickly comes to talk business. He himself is very successful in Australia, he owns a house on the Australian Gold Coast and another in Bali. Don't they want to buy another one together? "As he knew I already owned real estate, he offered to invest together in a house in Bali," Charlotte's statement to police later read. They could live there together, commute between Belgium and Bali, and rent the rest of the time. She accepts. The house must cost 200,000 euros, each must pay half. Charlotte withdraws twice 50,000 euros from the Fortis branch in Tournai and gives the bundles of banknotes to Willy. To conclude the real estate transaction, you have to go to Bali, it is also a great vacation, explains Willy again. He reserves tickets for a total of nearly 3,000 euros. Charlotte takes care of it.

On March 23, he took the earliest train from Tournai to Amsterdam - alone. She must join him and find him at Schiphol airport. Arriving in Bali, they check in at “Tama Nayu Cottage” in Seminyak. His own house in Bali, which obviously does not exist, is not available at the moment, says Willy. In a few days, he will have to leave alone for the night, meet with a financial adviser about his share in the purchase of the common house. To make up for the lost vacation day, he reserves the hotel's well-being program for her with massages and a hairdresser. "He even chose the hair color for me, I didn't speak English," says Charlotte, who now has gray hair like then, "and I looked like a canary then." His son remembers: "I don't

These are memories that today can at least make mother and son smile. Because the end is - of course - tragic. Cousin Willy hasn't returned from his "business meeting" on March 29. The money has disappeared. It is only with difficulty that Charlotte manages to catch her return flight: “My tickets, my passport and some cash were in the safe in the hotel room, but he had the combination” . On April 1, Willy writes an email to the hotel for Charlotte. It contains the safe's code and an "explanation": he took the money because his late cousin Michel owed it to him - a barefaced lie, according to Charlotte.

Still, with the help of a French-speaking guide, she manages to book her flight and return home. On April 7, she is back in Tournai, but it is not over: expensive jewels, including her wedding ring, as well as a precious collection of stamps and a collection of coins have disappeared from her house - a prejudice approximately 25,000 additional euros. On April 10, Charlotte goes to the police, but they find nothing in their system under the name of Willy C.. Charlotte's son remembers that a few years ago, one of his postcards bore the signature "Ric de Hedervary" - for some unknown reason.

The police computer spits out some information about this name and others, including the case of Ghislaine Danlois, from Brussels, in 2006. Another detail comes to Charlotte's mind and she tells the police about it: Willy, who had a great interest in ancient coins (“he knew them very well”), had asked him to pick up an order of ancient Greek and Roman coins from a numismatist in Brussels. They are ordered in her maiden name - C.'s name must not appear on them. He hands her some cash which in all likelihood is his - as she has been to the bank before. The day before she leaves for Bali, she collects the parts.

Once again, the same question arises as in November, when Danlois told his story: how is it that such a prudent and sovereign woman, this time again in active life, is fooled in a few weeks by such dirty tricks? The two victims have in common to be widowed, one for a long time, the other recently. And that they had arrived at a time in their lives when they were wondering what was going to happen next.

The New South Wales Crown had dotted the i's during the hearing in the Marion Barter case: 'Middle aged and vulnerable women' were the target group of Ric Blum, according to the charges. In Tournai, it should be added that Blum was already introduced, at least indirectly, into the family, he was part of the genealogical tree. The door was wide open. Charlotte's son explains: “My father often spoke of his cousin Willy in Australia. With great kindness. But I had never seen him before 2012. For me, he was like a ghost. But someone my father spoke well of. Apparently, that was enough then: "He had it very easy."


And this, although the father wrote a warning in his anecdotes about his cousin: Willy was a good guy, but due to old problems with the law, he was no longer allowed to enter Belgium. We don't know if there really was a ban on entering the territory. The word "problems" is, however, an understatement: since the 1960s, Ric Blum has spent a total of a good ten years in prison for various fraud offenses in France and Belgium. Under the name Roger Lauzoney, he was arrested at least once in Luxembourg in 1976. Even when he was a furniture dealer in Noertzange in the early 1980s, he always had problems with the police, recalls a former neighbor.

"He didn't want to see anyone in Belgium, and especially not his family," recalls Charlotte. At the time, she thought it was strange, now she knows why. Ric Blum missed a request for comment on the recent accusations by the editorial staff of the podcast “The Lady Vanishes” , with which the Luxemburger Wort collaborates on this case, went unanswered.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Posted before I think. But this one goes into more detail than I was able to read before.

Une nouvelle victime belge dans l'affaire Marion Barter

Un escroc ayant des liens avec le Luxembourg n'a pas épargné sa propre famille. Les dégâts sont immenses.

www-wort-lu.translate.goog

When her husband died in 2011, she was only sixty years old, he was only a year older. Their marriage lasted forty years and their life together in Tournai, Belgium, was full. An adult son, grandchildren. Financially, she has no problems, the deceased had a good job, she also works, in Brussels. At first, everyone cares emotionally for the grieving widow. But little by little, the daily reasserts itself. Her life is now a little emptier, as is her home.


However, a family member continues to take care of her. “Cousin Willy” from Australia, a cousin of her late husband, wrote condolence cards, called often, asked how she felt now, without her husband Michel in her life. The widow appreciates: "He was very nice and helpful", she will say later. Above all: we could discuss everything with him. After about eight months, in March 2012, Cousin Willy even comes to visit him specially to keep him company in his bereavement, as he says.

They will live together in Bali

Belgian by origin, he has lived in Australia for more than fifty years and has had dual nationality since 1976. He is twelve years older than her, but looks exactly like her Michel. He will live with her. They will go to Bali together. From there, cousin Willy will disappear overnight to return to Australia. He extorted the equivalent of nearly 150,000 euros in cash and valuables from the widow. He easily masters this stratagem, which he has already used with several other lonely women.

His name is Ric Blum, alias Fernand Remakel, alias Frédéric de Hedervary. For his cousin's widow, he is Willy C. Although he has used dozens of false names over the decades, some of which have been legally listed on driving licenses and passports in Australia, Willy is his real first name. and C. the name of his mother - and of his deceased cousin.

We meet the cheated widow and her son nearly eleven years later in northern Belgium. She doesn't want to read her real name in the newspapers, or be recognized in photos - apart from her close family, no one yet knows the story that happened to her back then. So we'll call her Charlotte. We also know Willy's last name. Charlotte's son convinced her to talk to us so maybe she could still hold the scammer to account. Because a complaint filed with the Belgian police yielded no results.

"We were told that Australia would not extradite him anyway for this kind of thing”.

Charlotte unfolds her story chronologically, openly, in detail and with kindness. Her son supports her, provides details and context. The interview lasts about three hours. She immediately announces one thing: Ric Blum and she did not have a romantic or sexual relationship. For the other known victims, it was a classic marriage scam. In Australia, two women testified to how it happened: meeting via a contact ad, promise of marriage, painting a common “distant” future. Ghislaine Danlois from Brussels had said that Blum had proposed to her to marry in Bali, then that she was to come with him to Australia. She slept in the same bed as him.

The case of another woman with mysterious ties to Luxembourg sparked an international investigation and eventually led Charlotte to a country inn to speak to the press. But Australian Marion Barter cannot testify. She has been missing without a trace since 1997. A trial is underway in the province of New South Wales to determine if she is dead. Ric Blum has already testified there. He claims not to be involved in the disappearance of the teacher. However, he admits an affair with Barter.

In Tournai, things happened a little differently: "There was nothing between us," says Charlotte. “He was a friend, he was family. He suggested that I travel, go out a bit. I was 61 years old and I was a widow, why not go on vacation with a member of my family?

On February 24, 2012, Willy picks her up at Lille station. The two understand each other. She knows him through stories and through the postcards he wrote regularly to his cousin for Christmas and since his holidays. And she had briefly seen him once, in 1992, at the funeral of an aunt of her husband. But he then left directly from the cemetery to the airport, according to the testimony of another person present that day, of which the Luxemburger Wort was aware. This one especially remembers Ric Blum's crocodile leather shoes.

Charlotte will also later explain to the police: “He presents himself in a cool style”. But above all, he was eloquent, cultured, attentive. It did her good to have him around. The fact that Ric Blum has been married since 1976 is not a topic of discussion between them, even when a woman from Australia calls him out twice: “I knew he had adult children. He told me his daughter was a pilot. It was never about his wife, I thought he might be a widower”.

Cousin Willy quickly comes to talk business. He himself is very successful in Australia, he owns a house on the Australian Gold Coast and another in Bali. Don't they want to buy another one together? "As he knew I already owned real estate, he offered to invest together in a house in Bali," Charlotte's statement to police later read. They could live there together, commute between Belgium and Bali, and rent the rest of the time. She accepts. The house must cost 200,000 euros, each must pay half. Charlotte withdraws twice 50,000 euros from the Fortis branch in Tournai and gives the bundles of banknotes to Willy. To conclude the real estate transaction, you have to go to Bali, it is also a great vacation, explains Willy again. He reserves tickets for a total of nearly 3,000 euros. Charlotte takes care of it.

On March 23, he took the earliest train from Tournai to Amsterdam - alone. She must join him and find him at Schiphol airport. Arriving in Bali, they check in at “Tama Nayu Cottage” in Seminyak. His own house in Bali, which obviously does not exist, is not available at the moment, says Willy. In a few days, he will have to leave alone for the night, meet with a financial adviser about his share in the purchase of the common house. To make up for the lost vacation day, he reserves the hotel's well-being program for her with massages and a hairdresser. "He even chose the hair color for me, I didn't speak English," says Charlotte, who now has gray hair like then, "and I looked like a canary then." His son remembers: "I don't

These are memories that today can at least make mother and son smile. Because the end is - of course - tragic. Cousin Willy hasn't returned from his "business meeting" on March 29. The money has disappeared. It is only with difficulty that Charlotte manages to catch her return flight: “My tickets, my passport and some cash were in the safe in the hotel room, but he had the combination” . On April 1, Willy writes an email to the hotel for Charlotte. It contains the safe's code and an "explanation": he took the money because his late cousin Michel owed it to him - a barefaced lie, according to Charlotte.

Still, with the help of a French-speaking guide, she manages to book her flight and return home. On April 7, she is back in Tournai, but it is not over: expensive jewels, including her wedding ring, as well as a precious collection of stamps and a collection of coins have disappeared from her house - a prejudice approximately 25,000 additional euros. On April 10, Charlotte goes to the police, but they find nothing in their system under the name of Willy C.. Charlotte's son remembers that a few years ago, one of his postcards bore the signature "Ric de Hedervary" - for some unknown reason.

The police computer spits out some information about this name and others, including the case of Ghislaine Danlois, from Brussels, in 2006. Another detail comes to Charlotte's mind and she tells the police about it: Willy, who had a great interest in ancient coins (“he knew them very well”), had asked him to pick up an order of ancient Greek and Roman coins from a numismatist in Brussels. They are ordered in her maiden name - C.'s name must not appear on them. He hands her some cash which in all likelihood is his - as she has been to the bank before. The day before she leaves for Bali, she collects the parts.

Once again, the same question arises as in November, when Danlois told his story: how is it that such a prudent and sovereign woman, this time again in active life, is fooled in a few weeks by such dirty tricks? The two victims have in common to be widowed, one for a long time, the other recently. And that they had arrived at a time in their lives when they were wondering what was going to happen next.

The New South Wales Crown had dotted the i's during the hearing in the Marion Barter case: 'Middle aged and vulnerable women' were the target group of Ric Blum, according to the charges. In Tournai, it should be added that Blum was already introduced, at least indirectly, into the family, he was part of the genealogical tree. The door was wide open. Charlotte's son explains: “My father often spoke of his cousin Willy in Australia. With great kindness. But I had never seen him before 2012. For me, he was like a ghost. But someone my father spoke well of. Apparently, that was enough then: "He had it very easy."


And this, although the father wrote a warning in his anecdotes about his cousin: Willy was a good guy, but due to old problems with the law, he was no longer allowed to enter Belgium. We don't know if there really was a ban on entering the territory. The word "problems" is, however, an understatement: since the 1960s, Ric Blum has spent a total of a good ten years in prison for various fraud offenses in France and Belgium. Under the name Roger Lauzoney, he was arrested at least once in Luxembourg in 1976. Even when he was a furniture dealer in Noertzange in the early 1980s, he always had problems with the police, recalls a former neighbor.

"He didn't want to see anyone in Belgium, and especially not his family," recalls Charlotte. At the time, she thought it was strange, now she knows why. Ric Blum missed a request for comment on the recent accusations by the editorial staff of the podcast “The Lady Vanishes” , with which the Luxemburger Wort collaborates on this case, went unanswered.

Aged 72 and he still can’t stop himself. His children must be so proud! Was this the final year he went abroad and went into semi-retirement as a thief and serial conman?

The 1976 arrest in Luxembourg (in prison in Morocco in 1976/77?). Are there more details on this arrest as Roger Lauzoney?

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

I just don’t believe this article is 100% accurate.. some stuff just seems off

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Poor 'Charlotte'. At least now we're getting so clear on his MO and activities. The net has closed on him and his family, they must surely feel that now? I hope so.

 

[brjakj]

And another one:

Heeft Belg Willy Wouters (83) Australische Marion Barter (51) vermoord?

De ‘romantische’ Wouters/Blum ‘verleidde’ vrouwen met brieven waarin hij telkens stelde dat ze een ‘lied voor zijn testikels’ waren.

pnws.be

 

[Carovb5]

And another one:

Heeft Belg Willy Wouters (83) Australische Marion Barter (51) vermoord?

De ‘romantische’ Wouters/Blum ‘verleidde’ vrouwen met brieven waarin hij telkens stelde dat ze een ‘lied voor zijn testikels’ waren.

pnws.be

That’s still the article from 11/02/‘23

 

[brjakj]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/new-claims-in-mystery-disappearance-of-marion-barter/news-story/a6c3172a6a8640a0a869eb7d9a9eb61c

Finally something from Australia - BUT it’s behind a paywall….

 

[sah10406]

Not behind a paywall. I translated the bit below using google tranlaste in Google Chrome.
Because of the WS rules I don't think I should copy all of it here.

It's a long article. Belgian news outlet

Heeft Belg Willy Wouters (83) Australische Marion Barter (51) vermoord?

De ‘romantische’ Wouters/Blum ‘verleidde’ vrouwen met brieven waarin hij telkens stelde dat ze een ‘lied voor zijn testikels’ waren.

pnws.be

It's extremely disappointing when professional journalists plagiarise Wikipedia. It was me who added the most recent update to the Wikipedia article about MB's disappearance, and the last paragraph of the pnws.be article has copied it word for word.

Death of Marion Barter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Wikipedia (me):
The coroner was scheduled to hand down her verdict by 30 November 2022 but on 29 November it was announced that the Findings had been vacated. A statement from Courts Media quoted by The Lady Vanishes podcast in a special announcement said "There is no future date at this stage and it is postponed following further investigations.”

Heeft Belg Willy Wouters (83) Australische Marion Barter (51) vermoord?

De ‘romantische’ Wouters/Blum ‘verleidde’ vrouwen met brieven waarin hij telkens stelde dat ze een ‘lied voor zijn testikels’ waren.

pnws.be

pnws.be article (translated from Dutch):
The court was due to rule no later than November 30, 2022, but on November 29, it was announced that the findings had been postponed. A Courts Media statement quoted by The Lady Vanishes podcast in a special announcement stated: "There is no future date at this stage and it has been postponed following further investigation."

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Poster of his aliases.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/new-claims-in-mystery-disappearance-of-marion-barter/news-story/a6c3172a6a8640a0a869eb7d9a9eb61c?amp

Has gone by at least 50 names.
Family and friends of Marion, drawing attention to his many names, are asking anyone with information about Ric Blum to come forward.