Deceased/Not Found AUSTRALIA - Ms Lesley Trotter, 78, Homicide, Brisbane, 28 Mar 2023

[SleuthingSally]

Hi everyone
I have a vague recollection of a story similar in Sydney a number of years ago.

An elderly lady in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs (I think) was found deceased or was missing. They concluded she had been trying to retrieve a plastic bag out of a recycling bin and she fell into the wheelie bin and died.

I’ve tried googling the story but can’t find it.. ring any bells to anyone else?

 

[SLouTh]

Hi everyone
I have a vague recollection of a story similar in Sydney a number of years ago.

An elderly lady in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs (I think) was found deceased or was missing. They concluded she had been trying to retrieve a plastic bag out of a recycling bin and she fell into the wheelie bin and died.

I’ve tried googling the story but can’t find it.. ring any bells to anyone else?

I can’t remember that one, but there was a murder in Cairns in 1997, where a wheelie bin was used to transport the body .… this one I do remember..

The Cairns Post

The Cairns Post

www.cairnspost.com.au

 

[SLouTh]

Hi everyone
I have a vague recollection of a story similar in Sydney a number of years ago.

An elderly lady in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs (I think) was found deceased or was missing. They concluded she had been trying to retrieve a plastic bag out of a recycling bin and she fell into the wheelie bin and died.

I’ve tried googling the story but can’t find it.. ring any bells to anyone else?

This one???

Home – Triple M

www.triplem.com.au

 

[SleuthingSally]

I think this might be the one.

“The Homicide Squad was advised of the death of the grandmother of three but indications suggest it may have been due to misadventure or the result of a medical episode, which occurred as Mrs Crouch tried to find an object in the bin.”

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...k=90aed79306ea3074c0f66ce3bc6f1aa6-1681202912

 

[SleuthingSally]

Yes I think that’s it.
As soon as I heard about Lesley sorting through the wheelie bins it reminded me of this story.

This one???

Home – Triple M

www.triplem.com.au

s that’s

 

[Marg944]

Hi everyone
I have a vague recollection of a story similar in Sydney a number of years ago.

An elderly lady in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs (I think) was found deceased or was missing. They concluded she had been trying to retrieve a plastic bag out of a recycling bin and she fell into the wheelie bin and died.

I’ve tried googling the story but can’t find it.. ring any bells to anyone else?

I found it, they eventually concluded that the lady had a medical episode and fell into the garbage bin. 17th Jan 2018

The Daily Mail of course sensationalised it:-

Woman's body is found in a garbage bin behind an apartment building in an upmarket Sydney suburb​

"A woman has been found dead in a garbage bin behind a block of apartments in Sydney's northern beaches - after her feet which were hanging from the bin caught the attention of a neighbour.

The woman believed to be aged in her 50s either had a 'medical episode' and fell face first over a small wall into the bin or was stuffed in there after she was killed, a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

'Police said it was one of those two scenarios - the medical emergency would make it easier to digest - either way I am going out tonight,' the neighbour, a woman said."

Woman's body found stuffed in a garbage bin in Sydney

A woman has been found dead in a bin behind a block of apartments in Sydney's northern beaches - after her feet which were hanging from the bin caught the attention of a neighbour.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The ABC reported the next day (18th Jan 2018) :-

Death of woman found in Sydney unit block bins 'not suspicious'​

"The death of a woman found in a bin at a unit block on Sydney's northern beaches is no longer being treated as suspicious.

A crime scene was established at the apartments in Wyndora Avenue, Freshwater, after the body was discovered about 1.15pm on Wednesday.

Police said they believed the woman died from misadventure or a medical episode and were waiting for post-mortem tests to confirm the cause of death.

The woman has not yet been identified and police are preparing a report for the coroner.

Jess Jan lives across the road from the unit block.

She said her friend raised the alarm after taking rubbish to the bins.

"She went to put something in the rubbish bin and she found something and rang the police," she said."

Death of woman found in Sydney unit block bins 'not suspicious'

A woman found dead in a bin outside apartments on Sydney's northern beaches is believed to have been struck down by misadventure or a medical episode, police say.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Morrisa]

Hi everyone
I have a vague recollection of a story similar in Sydney a number of years ago.

An elderly lady in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs (I think) was found deceased or was missing. They concluded she had been trying to retrieve a plastic bag out of a recycling bin and she fell into the wheelie bin and died.

I’ve tried googling the story but can’t find it.. ring any bells to anyone else?

Yes I remember and I'm wondering if that is what has happened in this situation. Anything is possible.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm not sure how they could be so sure that a death of falling into a wheelie bin was accidental, unless someone saw it happen.
What if the person, was elderly and frail, plus in bad health. It might not take much of a push to get them off balance enough to fall into the bin.

 

[iamshadow21]

How on earth do they know she was in the garbage bin? It is as if someone saw it... and the wording is as if the body was seen in there before the bin was collected by the garbage truck. IMO

I think they've got some kind of video footage from somewhere that they found on review.

MOO

 

[SouthAussie]

Was the bin lid still open when it was collected? If not, Lesley likely would not have fallen in.

Lesley was 5'3"/162cm tall.

A standard 240L green waste bin is 3'5"/106cm tall.

If a bin was out by the road ready for collection, it likely had at least some rubbish in it, making the capacity even smaller/shorter.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I can think of a way you could fall in and have the bin close after you fall in, and that's by holding up the lid while you bend down and look inside.
Over balance, fall inside and the lid closes after you.

Also if some good neighbour saw a neighbours bin lid open, they might close it without looking inside.

Or even the garbage people could have hopped out and closed the lid without looking inside.

Is this bin one of the tiny ones that some units have ?

 

[SouthAussie]

I can think of a way you could fall in and have the bin close after you fall in, and that's by holding up the lid while you bend down and look inside.
Over balance, fall inside and the lid closes after you.

Also if some good neighbour saw a neighbours bin lid open, they might close it without looking inside.

Or even the garbage people could have hopped out and closed the lid without looking inside.

Is this bin one of the tiny ones that some units have ?

All of the general waste bins that I have seen in that area on google street view look like standard 240L bins.

They do have some larger recycling bins out by the street (on google street view) - kind of triple the width of a standard 240L recycling bin. I thought that those recycling bins may be shared by a few units, maybe.

But if Lesley was thought to be in a general waste bin, as stated, I think it would be the standard 240L size.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I have seen the small general waste bins, in front of units.
Not sure if they're 240.
But I would call them standard for units, but not standard for houses.
I think of the house ones as standard.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I think my bin is 240.

I had thought of going outside and trying to fall into it, but decided against it.

 

[Eloise]

Having lived in apartments for about 20 years now, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if a long running conflict over something as petty as correct recycling procedure resulted in a murder. Or even just a physical altercation with no intention to kill, and Ms Trotter being elderly was simply no match for someone younger and stronger who lashed out. I've lived in a handful of blocks over these decades, and each one had its own elderly resident who was involved in everything around the place, and wasn't shy about telling other residents how they should be doing things. This does sometimes result in other residents becoming very antagonistic and openly insulting, even when they are simply being asked to follow rules - though never physical or threatening in my experience. Of course that's JMO and it could have been something else, eg an accident, it just wouldn't be shocking to me at all.

Bins in apartment blocks are frequent sites of conflict because of people leaving the bin area messy, dumping uncollectible rubbish, putting trash in recycling, etc. Also if its a block with individual bins, arguments over who has responsibility for the bins can also result (its better when blocks have skip bins with commercial arrangements for pickups rather than regular council bin service).

 

[TootsieFootsie]

What kind of equipment could they use to help search the waste area.
A cadaver dog I suppose, but would the area be safe for them to walk on.
All sorts of dangerous things could be there, like glass, knives, other sharp things.

And I imagine she could be too far down to be detected.

One good thing is at least it's not years since this happened and years and years of rubbish have been added.

 

[Doesitmakesense]

What makes me somewhat dismiss the falling in theory is that their is blood they are testing. I would think imo it must be a fair amount to raise alarm bells to a passer by eg no simple cut finger imo

 

[SouthAussie]

What kind of equipment could they use to help search the waste area.
A cadaver dog I suppose, but would the area be safe for them to walk on.
All sorts of dangerous things could be there, like glass, knives, other sharp things.

And I imagine she could be too far down to be detected.

One good thing is at least it's not years since this happened and years and years of rubbish have been added.

In the Quinton Simon (US) case, they couldn't use dogs. Mostly due to the danger of sharps, but I think the overwhelming odour of rubbish also might make their job difficult.

The poor police officers had to painstakingly separate all the compressed/compacted rubbish, very carefully, by hand, to look for remains. IIRC it was also said to be an upsetting task for them.

In that case, they started the landfill search after Quinton had been missing for two weeks (similar to the timeframe of this case) and it took them 5 weeks to find him.

 

[iamshadow21]

What kind of equipment could they use to help search the waste area.
A cadaver dog I suppose, but would the area be safe for them to walk on.
All sorts of dangerous things could be there, like glass, knives, other sharp things.

And I imagine she could be too far down to be detected.

One good thing is at least it's not years since this happened and years and years of rubbish have been added.

There was a big talk about dogs when the search was on for little Quinton.

The information received from members who knew people who worked with dogs is that landfills can be lethal for them. Sharp objects, bacteria, toxic chemicals, and high amounts of fumes such as methane being the major threats.

Humans can suit up completely with a Tyvek suit, gloves, pierceproof boots and respirator, and tools for raking and sorting. Dogs, because of how they're used, can't be protected in the same way.

MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

A pity Lesley doesn't have something on her that could be used to track her movements.