Australia Australia - Marion Barter - Missing After Trip to UK - June 1997 #21

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

The book has a fb page! If you search the title, you’ll find it.

Thanks Kinsey. No posts since March 2021. If there is a Florabella character in these books somebody will have to come and pick me up off the floor!

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Like some murderers hold on to reminders, or keepsakes of their deeds.

Maybe Mr AKA did put pen to paper to write of his "adventurous" life, with him being a dashing, daring man of mystery.
In my opinion he may have got a thrill remembering how he fooled so many women.
I don't think he had a very high opinion of women.

To clarify, I'm not saying he is a murderer. He hasn't been charged with that.

But hmmm...

 

[HinterlandObserver]

Someone posted this on the new MPMB FB Community along with extracts from the book which are uncannily familiar, eg nude photos used to blackmail ex lovers, blonde women, taking phone calls from old pay-phones, marriage proposals 45 days after they met, vanishing lovers, starting a new life, fire burning down a club, furniture manufacturing business for export to Europe, rape, poisoning & murder.

Written in the style of a Mills & Boon romance just like the singing testicles letter.

Island Secrets

Beyond the Bali known from idyllic images of Hollywood movies and five-star resort holidays are the secret lives of men and women who flock to the island from around the world in search of new beginnings. Not all find the bliss and peace they hope for.Island Secrets is a collection of stories...

books.google.com

Island Secrets: Stories of Love, Lust and Loss in Bali

Beyond the Bali known from idyllic images of Hollywood …

www.goodreads.com

Do we have a list of these books he’s ripped off haha

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I can't find anything online relating to any real life AB, author or otherwise, which is odd. There's a website of same name, domain name active but nothing on the page.

 

[brjakj]

I can't find anything online relating to any real life AB, author or otherwise, which is odd. There's a website of same name, domain name active but nothing on the page.

Is it possible to look up the domain records to see who owns the site? (I think it’s called a Whois search)

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Is it possible to look up the domain records to see who owns the site? (I think it’s called a Whois search)

Unfortunately it's covered by an intermediate agency based in Canada, so can't see the actual owner. Unless anyone's got better techy skills than I?

 

[KiwiNZ]

www.alwinblum.com/ was set up but the page never developed. Have checked the wayback machine but nothing ..​

 

[KiwiNZ]

The only Alwin I can find is married to a Mira and is a bee keeper in Germany but not sure he writes

Interesting the Bio on Alwin - Alwin Blum first set foot on the island in the 1990s and has lived in Bali, off and on, for over a decade – for seven of those years, in a small home within a Balinese family compound. The author is an avid student and observer of Balinese culture and healing. Although abysmal at yoga, Blum has been known to meditate from time to time. Blum grew up reading authors like W. Somerset Maugham who wrote about the lives of colonial expats in the tropics and the dark underside of the civilised facade. This collection of stories was inspired by the multitudes from around the world that have flocked to Bali to make it their safe haven.

 

[CuriousKat99]

www.alwinblum.com/ was set up but the page never developed. Have checked the wayback machine but nothing ..​

Maybe something unexpected happened in the author’s life which meant they had to hide away from any further publicity?

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Whomsoever wrote that book is an arrogant sexist pig with no regard for woman, this much is clear.

When I feel in a better mood to trawl the garbage looking for clues, I shall go through it chapter by chapter and note anything pertinent. I think the author is trying to pertain that they're from the USA but this is belied by zero american turns of phrase or authentic details about the USA and also phrases such as 'bon vivant' etc which are French. In my experience, americans have zero french language skills and for that matter neither do most Australians and NZs, unlike here in the UK where French is taught in schools from age 10. Bon vivant is not a turn of phrase in use by anyone unless being a bit pretentious and french language leaning. The sort of thing a person would write in a personal ad if they are in fact french speaking.

 

[CuriousKat99]

Whomsoever wrote that book is an arrogant sexist pig with no regard for woman, this much is clear.

When I feel in a better mood to trawl the garbage looking for clues, I shall go through it chapter by chapter and note anything pertinent. I think the author is trying to pertain that they're from the USA but this is belied by zero american turns of phrase or authentic details about the USA and also phrases such as 'bon vivant' etc which are French. In my experience, americans have zero french language skills and for that matter neither do most Australians and NZs, unlike here in the UK where French is taught in schools from age 10. Bon vivant is not a turn of phrase in use by anyone unless being a bit pretentious and french language leaning. The sort of thing a person would write in a personal ad if they are in fact french speaking.

Interesting points re the language.
Hypothetically speaking, if you were a criminal who loves attention and thinks pretty highly of yourself (as well as being an “arrogant, sexist pig with no regard for women” or any other human beings), you might just write and publish a book, drawing upon your own life experiences. You know you have a remarkable literary talent, hidden from most of the world up until now, as you’ve put together some very fine lonely hearts ads plus you have written some passionate love letters. Smugly acknowledging to yourself just how clever you are for having avoided the attention of authorities for so long, you might throw in a few red herrings eg change your nationality, mix the characters up a bit, create a bio that is not quite accurate, claim you were a former TV presenter (after all you’ve even pretended to be a spy before), use a pseudonym (you’ve done that plenty of times previously) etc. Say you just got that book published and started to market your masterpiece with a website and a Facebook page, paying an obscure actor in late 2019 to do book readings and give you 5 star reviews when suddenly your past catches up with you. Police knock on your door, you have to appear in court and your photo is all over the media…

 

[mishy66]

The book launch was 2019

George Town Literary Festival, Nov 21-24 2019 | Penang Free Sheet

The award-winning George Town Literary Festival returns for its 9th year with a packed schedule of book launches, workshops & speakers over one weekend

penangfreesheet.my

Book launch event, at Hikayat, 226 Beach Street, at 2.20pm, sees Bali-resident Alwin Blum present Island Secrets, His collection of stories about the secret lives of men and women who flock to Bali from around the world in search of new beginnings, not all of whom find the bliss and peace they hope for

 

[mishy66]

I am more inclined to think that perhaps AH met this Blum in the early 2010s in Bali - it was around this time he was using Bali as a destination point to entice his victims.

The book launch was 2019 - the author could have sat on the draft for yrs and AH may have 'helped' himself to the ideas for a new scam IF they knew each other while AH frequented Bali?
His daughter was married there 2011
AH changed his name to Blum in 2014

It would be another way to blow his scent attaching it to a person who wrote a book about the very things AH used for his scams.

He uses the work of others to interweave his own traps - we have seen it many times that he uses books to gather his information. He is a lazy SOB - he wouldnt be writing a book about his crimes!

He is a bigger star than that in his own mind - he is wanting FAME and recognition. In his own sick and twisted mind he would know that one day he will be written about, there will be a movie about him and he will be infamous showing the world how lax the Governing departments are in the world and how stupid women are in his mind.
He is a narcissist, the worst of them and he wants the fame.

Writing one miserable book as thin as his pinkie wont give him recognition.

He or Dianne possibly knew this man and he took what he wanted from him.

All the names of his aliases so far have been linked to real people. This could really be why he used the name Blum

Blum - Bali - preying on women - a little book draft he came across when he met someone
Just like the NY book and the red cedar plantation he BS about.


I found a photo of Chacko and another man holding the book

Chacko George Vadaketh on LinkedIn: #booklaunch #readings

Very successful Book launch of Island Secrets. Stories of Love Lust and Longing from Bali by Alwin Blum with readings by Chacko Vadaketh #booklaunch…

www.linkedin.com

I would have a guess and say this is the author of the book

 

[Ooohm]

I take your point about a person of AH’s ilk being lazy. Writing, even awful writing, is work. I could see AH regaling his fanciful stories to someone in Bali who later turned it into a bad book.

 

[mishy66]

I take your point about a person of AH’s ilk being lazy. Writing, even awful writing, is work. I could see AH regaling his fanciful stories to someone in Bali who later turned it into a bad book.

Absolutely

 

[mishy66]

I am finding it difficult to understand why the MB FB page put up a closed group on a missing persons case.

I realise they were having difficulty posting images but I cant understand HOW a closed group will go anywhere near reaching the people around the world to help with MB case.

I have never heard of a missing persons case being in a closed group.

They would have been better still posting on the public page and getting one of the sleuths to post an image under it - just like they are doing atm on it.

Very weird. Something more to this IMO

 

[Ooohm]

Yeah I’m of two minds about MC. She said he was very very very dangerous. I did like her comeback to Alison Sandy, who said to MC “He must have loved you very much.” And MC replied: “No! He loves only money.”

 

[CuriousKat99]

I am more inclined to think that perhaps AH met this Blum in the early 2010s in Bali - it was around this time he was using Bali as a destination point to entice his victims.

The book launch was 2019 - the author could have sat on the draft for yrs and AH may have 'helped' himself to the ideas for a new scam IF they knew each other while AH frequented Bali?
His daughter was married there 2011
AH changed his name to Blum in 2014

It would be another way to blow his scent attaching it to a person who wrote a book about the very things AH used for his scams.

He uses the work of others to interweave his own traps - we have seen it many times that he uses books to gather his information. He is a lazy SOB - he wouldnt be writing a book about his crimes!

He is a bigger star than that in his own mind - he is wanting FAME and recognition. In his own sick and twisted mind he would know that one day he will be written about, there will be a movie about him and he will be infamous showing the world how lax the Governing departments are in the world and how stupid women are in his mind.
He is a narcissist, the worst of them and he wants the fame.

Writing one miserable book as thin as his pinkie wont give him recognition.

He or Dianne possibly knew this man and he took what he wanted from him.

All the names of his aliases so far have been linked to real people. This could really be why he used the name Blum

Blum - Bali - preying on women - a little book draft he came across when he met someone
Just like the NY book and the red cedar plantation he BS about.


I found a photo of Chacko and another man holding the book

Chacko George Vadaketh on LinkedIn: #booklaunch #readings

Very successful Book launch of Island Secrets. Stories of Love Lust and Longing from Bali by Alwin Blum with readings by Chacko Vadaketh #booklaunch…

www.linkedin.com

I would have a guess and say this is the author of the book

Absolutely, him being acquainted with the author is another very plausible hypothesis.
Re him being lazy, is there any evidence of this? From what we have seen so far, the amount of effort he put into his nefarious schemes is immense. Recall the neighbour describing his garage full of filing cabinets. He had his family constantly on the move, It was industrious organised crime on a grand scale, albeit financially unsuccessful. Yes, he did fraudulently help himself to public funds and other people’s money but he had to run around like a blue-arsed fly, filling in & lying on forms, devising financial arrangements to hide his activities, running a coin forgery factory in his home, making false reports about muggings to the police, initially fawning over each victim and who knows what else. It seems he was happy to put in plenty of effort to stroke his own ego and enjoy the feeling of being in control of others.

 

[sah10406]

It was interesting to listen to Joni talk about MC. I think it’s fair to say she believes she is not as candid as Laura seems to believe. While she might be a victim I don’t believe she is anywhere near in the same category as the other women scammed and God knows what else by Aka.

Yes, I really liked Joni's sceptical but caring comments about both MC and GGB's accounts of their relationships with AKA. Laura's take is obviously informed and professional, but somehow less insightful than Joni's. Doesn't help that she keeps mispronouncing peoples' names and insists on saying "Mister" Ric Blum.

 

[mishy66]

Absolutely, him being acquainted with the author is another very plausible hypothesis.
Re him being lazy, is there any evidence of this? From what we have seen so far, the amount of effort he put into his nefarious schemes is immense. Recall the neighbour describing his garage full of filing cabinets. He had his family constantly on the move, It was industrious organised crime on a grand scale, albeit financially unsuccessful. Yes, he did fraudulently help himself to public funds and other people’s money but he had to run around like a blue-arsed fly, filling in & lying on forms, devising financial arrangements to hide his activities, running a coin forgery factory in his home, making false reports about muggings to the police, initially fawning over each victim and who knows what else. It seems he was happy to put in plenty of effort to stroke his own ego and enjoy the feeling of being in control of others.

Thats not what I meant by him lazy of course. I think you know that.

What I meant by him lazy is the fact that he will use anything that he finds, sources, hears to build his ammunition INCLUDING information he has read and make it his own. The letters, the stories he shared to women, were taken from books he has read or stories of other people lives he heard or fabrications of his own extended familys life - "my daughter is a pilot". Um no Ric, she worked as an airline hostess.

What I mean by lazy is, he ISNT going to spend his valuable time writing a pathetic book that got no where!

And while his daily workings of gathering together a new plan of attack for each woman, decades of the same drill, gets refined, things fall into place much faster and after years of the same work, less effort is needed. Just like a normal everyday job to him. He had lots of people doing the work for him. His off siders, his family, even the women he trapped in his net.