From memory you were interviewed and polygraphed. I have some questions;
1. Did the police tell you why you were a suspect?
2. Why do you think you were a suspect? Some one put your name up, but what was their angle?
3. What questions did they ask (outside the polygraph test)? They obviously asked about an alibi (did they check it?). Did they ask if you knew any of them? Did they ask if you drove a light coloured station wagon?
4. From memory you lived locally just off the Hwy. Who do you think did it?
Hi Bartholemeus,
Big Footy was the only thread worth signing up to. Hopefully they wont delete the thread as it had some interesting stuff. For me, the Droc/Excalibur arguments ruined it and I just gave up reading. Does BillyWhizz post on here? As for your questions:
1. They said I was in the area on one or more of the nights and my name was given to them by a concerned party. They wouldn't tell me who but I suspect it was an ex girlfriend or one of her friends.
2. I lived in the area and am a bit of a night-owl so I was often out and about in the wee small hours. My guess is that, plus a malicious ex's story were enough to make me worth looking into. I was on the dole back then and had too much free time on my hands plus I lived alone (those were the days!) I often got pulled up by the police asking me what I was doing walking around Claremont or Stirling Highway at 2am but I was happy to give my ID and have a chat because I wasn't up to anything. Just restless. Quite innocent normally but during that time I guess it looked pretty suspicious. I remember LW pulling up to offer me a lift many times during those years but we can talk more about him another time if you're ever interested.
3. They asked me if I had access to a taxi specifically, and if I knew any of the victims personally. They wanted to know my whereabouts on and around specific dates but I don't think I came up with a solid alibi for those dates which was why they asked me to agree to a polygraph test. I know they were very unhappy that I didn't agree to a search of my property but in my mind it was ridiculous that I was a POI in the first place. I already had homicide detectives visiting my work, talking to my neighbours etc. Wasn't letting them sniff through my house as well.
4. At the time, I had no idea. I remember watching Susannah Carr broadcast live from the Channel 7 media van set up on Gugeri St and in the months that followed I basically kept on going out on my nightly walks. I saw the same gorgeous UWA girls stumbling home drunk down Stirling Highway at midnight and wondering if they were undercover police women. I didn't see LW again after that, so I guess he'd been put under surveillance by then and stopped offering people lifts. I had no ideas back then as to suspects, but Claremont had a strange feel to it back then. There were pictures of Jane Rimmer on every lamp post , in all the shop windows along the main strip etc but I still saw pissed girls walking alone every weekend couldn't believe it.
Incidentally, years later I made friends with a bloke next door and hung out with him a few times. His nights consisted of driving around until 4am looking for girls walking alone and slow down to stare at them. He never said hi or offered them a ride, he'd just follow them slowly and stare at them. It made me awkward as hell, and after a few nights of cruising around deserted carparks near the beach, kings park etc I GTF and said I was too busy to go out "for a look around". He was an ordinary, likeable bloke too. Just goes to show that poor MACRO must have had a hell of a time looking into every dude that got put forward as a suspect.