Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #11

[centred]

Great summary. And also to add to this:
1 October: RB pays $13 from their joint account for safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Bank at Ballina, assumed A3 size envelope and only RB can access (Bank Manager statement)

7 October: RB cancels safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Bank Ballina.

yes thanks that is important to the timeline

 

[centred]

All I know is that the podcast specifically said membership and policy. I know nothing about RACQ. I do think this could truly shed light on whether she was or wasn't in Aus, but I don't understand it and can't deduce possible reasons and effects. Can you explain it to me again please? Also, I don't think direct debit was available in 1997, pretty sure you took your bills to the post office or bank and made payments there

I heard it as that too and you mentioning it clarified for me so i related to it as being credible it was both .

 

[gymtonic]

If Marion's mail was going to her sister's (I think), is it possible that after Marion going missing for a while and failing to acknowledge her son's birthday... also knowing that the car had now gone to Sally, that the sister 'returned to sender' such types of mail or statements, stating the person has started a new life overseas? And that would have by default cancelled such policies?

One thing I remember from LL's testimony was that she had some MB mail that arrived which SL collected. I remember Queensland Teachers Credit Union (QCTU) and Queensland Teacher Health Union QTHU being mentioned because I was also members of these (most teachers were). We know from SL testimony that MB attended QTHU for health needs but it now dawns on me if my memory is correct that QTCU mail was collected, this means that MB had some sort of financial product with them?

For any of those not in Queensland:

QTCU was initially a credit organisation specifically for those in education and you paid starting membership and then got preferential deals for loans, banking, mortgages etc. I even organised buying my car through them. QTCU became Queensland Teacher Mutual Bank (?) then QMB and m ore recently merged with RACQ to become RACQ Bank! (all these mergers don't make it easy!)

QTHU was a private health fund with its own providers (dentist, optometrist etc) in its own Centre at St Paul's Terrace. Nearly all teachers took up private health insurance because it had great benefits (still does). we know MB was a member because SL said she attended the QTHU centre for dental and optometry. QTUH became QTH became TUH and just recently TH (again with all the name changes!!)

I am assuming that RACQ, QTCU and QTUH were all eventually checked for proof of life before now.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

If Marion's mail was going to her sister's (I think), is it possible that after Marion going missing for a while and failing to acknowledge her son's birthday... also knowing that the car had now gone to Sally, that the sister 'returned to sender' such types of mail or statements, stating the person has started a new life overseas? And that would have by default cancelled such policies?

Oooh, this is an excellent theory It's totally viable... the only thing that throws me off is that it was cancelled so early on in the scheme of things Thur, 7 Aug 1997.

Marion had only been gone for 6 weeks. The feeling at the time was that she would return. She'd been in touch with family just days ago and was still sending postcards. So there's little reason for her family to suspect she was never coming back at this point.

But you know, if the bills were coming in monthly, the sister maybe didn't know what to do, she wouldn't be expected to pay it, and wouldn't be able to cancel it by phone, so returning it makes a lot of sense.

However, surely she would have told police she was the one to cancel it?

I realise the podcast specifically said cancellation required a phone call or an in person visit, but what about retuned mail and unpaid bills? Surely that would also trigger a cancellation?

I'm flummoxed.

 

[Carovb5]

That's my suspicion. The female accomplice shadowed Marion to the UK ready to quite literally become her once she met her demise and ready to return to Aus on the FNMR passport.

Yes, therefore my (unanswered) questions about the pictures of female co-travellers. Exactly the route i was taking! Very curious what you all will find out!! My guess is that there lies a possible breaktrough.
IF there’s a female co/conspirator / imposter she might slip while interrogated…

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

The car was purchased on 11th August (not sure in which state) and sold on 30th November. As you pointed out, his daughter would not have been able to drive the car alone until April 1998 so DdH's explanation doesn't hold water. IMO, as you said, it was purchased for a more sinister reason.

Like most of the ‘explanations’ they don’t hold any weight at all… the hard part is proving it

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Interesting number plate, I don't know anything about Aus registrations but would such be 'desirable' ? PVC 096 - PV Co 96

I doubt it was what we call a private plate - the ones that are names etc. this to me is just a normal plate

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Thanks for explaining.

Will investigators be able to establish if / what basis he was getting discounted flights?

When I worked for an airline in the 90s they gave up to 95% discount for staff member and their spouse or a child. Could Wonka have secured himself an airline staff partner somehow ?

His daughter wasn’t in the airline industry at the stage still at school. To my knowledge you can nominate a couple of people if you are a steward for an airline. Personally I don’t believe there was a discount that is just the ‘excuse’ as to WHY he stopped using Japan. IMO Marion and he were in Japan together hence not travelling that route ever again.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

I have conflicting info on security envelopes. Can you help me clarify it? What info do you all have?

1 Oct 1997
RB pays $13 from joint account with DdH for safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina, assumed size is A3 envelope which only RB can access (Bank Manager statement).

7 Oct 1997
RB cancels safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina.

14 Oct 1997
Commonwealth document showing an automatic funds transfer (Podcast did not reveal from where and to who)

14 Oct 1997
New safety deposit box opened at CBA

27 Oct 1997
New safety deposit box closed at CBA

 

[gymtonic]

All I know is that the podcast specifically said membership and policy. I know nothing about RACQ. I do think this could truly shed light on whether she was or wasn't in Aus, but I don't understand it and can't deduce possible reasons and effects. Can you explain it to me again please? Also, I don't think direct debit was available in 1997, pretty sure you took your bills to the post office or bank and made payments there

Sure no problem! 2 things before I do

(1) (for @centred as well), in my notes of the inquest but via podcast I had written down 7 August 1997 MB cancelled car insurance. I did not write down RACQ membership. I am not saying I am right because it could have been an oversight but when I re-read the notes I thought I would have known when I was listening that insurance and membership were different. I think I need to go back to the inquest itself to clarify.

(2) I took leave and moved to work internationally myself in the period 1996 - 1998, I did many of the preparatory things that MB did around the same time and was a member of RACQ and QTUH, so it helps that I can ask myself "what did I do?" but also - "what might I have done differently if I was intending to disappear!"

OK so to RACQ:
I've been a member for a very long time (since 1984) and at first I considered that RACQ did not even offer car insurance at that time because initially it was just a road-side assist service for breakdowns etc. But I checked and I think that in 1995 (don't quote me on that exact date) car insurance was offered as a service and it was certainly possible that MB had RACQ car insurance.

However, RACQ car insurance was offered as an optional service with competitive rates and as @centred said discounts (15% off??) to RACQ members. but you could still have stand alone RACQ membership and not car insurance and this is what I had because, despite the discount, I got a better car insurance product and rate elsewhere.

Having RACQ membership alone was like being in a rewards club. If you renewed (and who didn't because it was the only game in town for that service at that time!) you moved up through levels (Bronze, silver, gold etc) and this came with additional benefits (maps, travel discounts etc). In fact in one earlier post I questioned whether MB had sourced her UK car hire and UK accommodation through the RACQ magazine, because the last section of it was full of such ads. I sourced my UK car hire through an agent in Victoria advertised in the RACQ magazine.

As for payments, in those days (and don't quote me again) I am not sure that RACQ membership was even offered by monthly payment. My memory was that it was an annual subscription and it wasn't very much - $55 sticks in my mind for some reason. So cancelling a membership when you went overseas did not make much sense at all as there would be no cost benefit in refund and you would lose your years accumulated membership levelling up rewards. So I went overseas for 2 years and kept my membership going. Now... I either had my forwarding address to a friend's place for her to renew (and I paid her back) or I was able to pay from my O/S address by credit card. If MB's RACQ membership was deliberately cancelled, it is unlikely to have been for financial reasons to get a refund. To disappear, I would let it lapse or have changed my name on the personal details but kept the membership levels.

Re RACQ car Insurance:
If I had paid for annual car insurance prior to leaving for O/S and I was intending to sign my car over to another person, I would have arranged for the car insurance to keep going to allow the car to be covered for the period until the insurance ended. If the car was officially signed over to SL then she would know what happened with the insurance? If it was deliberately requested to cancel the insurance then it implies certain things?

Re Direct Debits: I think from memory direct debits were available for some services during that time because I am pretty sure I arranged some for myself.

APOLOGIES FOR LONG POST AND IT HAS PROBABLY CROSSED OVER WITH RESPONSES FROM OTHER POSTERS BY NOW!!

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

No worries It's definitely possible he found himself a victim who was staff. It's also possible he was posing as staff himself, like say.. an off duty pilot. Perhaps like the one seen at the school with Marion?

Something that stands out to me is that on his EU trip with JO, they went to Bali first. My feeling is that he never likes to travel direct and prefers to make stopovers. And up until Marion disappeared, his stopover was Japan.

Why? I suspect it's to obscure his tracks. I believe he may be using these stopovers to switch his identity and passport.

For example, he leaves Aus on his legal and known passport and makes a stopover so he can enter Europe on a new ticket under another alias. Just a thought. I may be sorely mistaken, lol.

This makes sense. I found it weird in Jo’s testimony the stop over in Bali seemed pointless. As did the Amsterdam leg of the trip… nothing touristy seemed to be done in Bali nor Amsterdam.. seems strange to me going and not actually seeing or doing much. So it makes perfect sense that stopovers are required to switch identities before arriving in Europe. I suspect maybe the tickets are done in legs to. Eg. Australia - Bali one airline then Bali - Amsterdam different airline. If not the same passport would have to be used.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

All I know is that the podcast specifically said membership and policy. I know nothing about RACQ. I do think this could truly shed light on whether she was or wasn't in Aus, but I don't understand it and can't deduce possible reasons and effects. Can you explain it to me again please? Also, I don't think direct debit was available in 1997, pretty sure you took your bills to the post office or bank and made payments there

I have NRMA roadside assistance… but I also have NRMA policies.. for lots of things including the car.
Roadside assist is not referred to as a policy. A policy is your car or home insurance. So my understanding based on podcast is she had both Car insurance and Road side assist. Now unless the car was purchased and insured at the same time as road side assist.. the dates would be different.
Meaning I already had road side assist when I purchased a new car and took out insurance policy. My roadside assist transferred over from previous car (so the renewal date for that is different to my policy date)
Don’t know if that helps clarify anything. But for me personally they are 2 different dates. Roadside assist will automatically lapse at the end of 12 months if you don’t renew.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

Sure no problem! 2 things before I do

(1) (for @centred as well), in my notes of the inquest but via podcast I had written down 7 August 1997 MB cancelled car insurance. I did not write down RACQ membership. I am not saying I am right because it could have been an oversight but when I re-read the notes I thought I would have known when I was listening that insurance and membership were different. I think I need to go back to the inquest itself to clarify.

(2) I took leave and moved to work internationally myself in the period 1996 - 1998, I did many of the preparatory things that MB did around the same time and was a member of RACQ and QTUH, so it helps that I can ask myself "what did I do?" but also - "what might I have done differently if I was intending to disappear!"

OK so to RACQ:
I've been a member for a very long time (since 1984) and at first I considered that RACQ did not even offer car insurance at that time because initially it was just a road-side assist service for breakdowns etc. But I checked and I think that in 1995 (don't quote me on that exact date) car insurance was offered as a service and it was certainly possible that MB had RACQ car insurance.

However, RACQ car insurance was offered as an optional service with competitive rates and as @centred said discounts (15% off??) to RACQ members. but you could still have stand alone RACQ membership and not car insurance and this is what I had because, despite the discount, I got a better car insurance product and rate elsewhere.

Having RACQ membership alone was like being in a rewards club. If you renewed (and who didn't because it was the only game in town for that service at that time!) you moved up through levels (Bronze, silver, gold etc) and this came with additional benefits (maps, travel discounts etc). In fact in one earlier post I questioned whether MB had sourced her UK car hire and UK accommodation through the RACQ magazine, because the last section of it was full of such ads. I sourced my UK car hire through an agent in Victoria advertised in the RACQ magazine.

As for payments, in those days (and don't quote me again) I am not sure that RACQ membership was even offered by monthly payment. My memory was that it was an annual subscription and it wasn't very much - $55 sticks in my mind for some reason. So cancelling a membership when you went overseas did not make much sense at all as there would be no cost benefit in refund and you would lose your years accumulated membership levelling up rewards. So I went overseas for 2 years and kept my membership going. Now... I either had my forwarding address to a friend's place for her to renew (and I paid her back) or I was able to pay from my O/S address by credit card. If MB's RACQ membership was deliberately cancelled, it is unlikely to have been for financial reasons to get a refund. To disappear, I would let it lapse or have changed my name on the personal details but kept the membership levels.

Re RACQ car Insurance:
If I had paid for annual car insurance prior to leaving for O/S and I was intending to sign my car over to another person, I would have arranged for the car insurance to keep going to allow the car to be covered for the period until the insurance ended. If the car was officially signed over to SL then she would know what happened with the insurance? If it was deliberately requested to cancel the insurance then it implies certain things?

Re Direct Debits: I think from memory direct debits were available for some services during that time because I am pretty sure I arranged some for myself.

APOLOGIES FOR LONG POST AND IT HAS PROBABLY CROSSED OVER WITH RESPONSES FROM OTHER POSTERS BY NOW!!

Thank you so much It's a crystal clear explanation and gives good insight, especially as you did they same things in you own life.

Now I just want to know what you mean by "If it was deliberately requested to cancel the insurance then it implies certain things?"

 

[Deleted member 249471]

I think we can say the most likely scenario is that RACQ was paid in advanced, yearly. And that there were no monthly bills arriving.

In that case, there are only two reasons I can think of for why was cancelled:

1. Marion returned to Aus with RB, still trapped in the con, with the purpose of tying up loose ends and grabbing her cash. She intended to disappear overseas for a while without telling her family, giving the illusion she was just on a holiday, because she was afraid for her life, because that is what RB told her.

2. Marion did not return to Aus. RB had her wallet and cancelled RACQ for the purpose of making it appear as though Marion was alive in Aus, willingly withdrawing her own cash with the intention of deliberately running off to Lux with original FNR.

IMO.

 

[gymtonic]

S

So it WAS purchased for a specific purpose. Which had nothing to do with Mrs Wonka and the children.
IMO Marion was in that car with Mr Wonka.. and car was sold for that reason.
Good lord who buys and sells a car after 46 days.
Oh this case does my head in

There is a technique in money laundering, whereby you purchase something with money obtained fraudulently and then sell it again quickly thus "cleaning the money" and putting a step in between the 2 acts. No I am not a money launderer but have just read this!

Also with identity fraud there is a process whereby you use a fraudulently obtained document to change your name and then change it again and accumulate documents in the 2nd name change to achieve the new life. I have considered a slightly amended version of this for MB, in that it is possible that the FNMR name change was deliberately fanciful to distract and that a second name change was done using false documents to set up the legitimate new life. So if anyone starts searching for FNMR they are following false lead. I think this has maybe been proposed in some shape by other posters previously.

 

[gymtonic]

Hi I am wondering about the dates and timeline and if we are to decipher what happened when :
This period here is confusing "Late Aug - early Sept 1997
$5k withdrawn daily for 3.5 weeks at Commonwealth Byron, and 3 days in middle at Burleigh Heads, totaling between $85k to $120k "

Late August to early Sept , is not 3 or 5 weeks interval ?
The withdrawals either started much earlier for either the 3 or 5 weeks to work or ends much later , so the question what was being done for a month is a misnomer IMO . Probably not verified exactly so we have to have some leeway here .

The canceling Policy and membership i think would be related to buying the car , depending on where and how the car was purchased and then recorded in the system re rego name etc , the 11th is obviously significant to LE so it must be seen as indicative to a path of proof of ownership and i suggest this can only be due to rego transfer or renewal paperwork, it is possible the purchase Date itself may vary slightly , I know without checking for a definite but the Motor Registry has requirements of time to do the transfer ranging from 7 days and 21 days to finalize (a fee can be charged for not doing so within the time frame )
So all i can say and see is the 2 most likely are connected , If because of transferring policy and service to the new car ? maybe , for a refund ? i doubt it but possible i guess .

Cancelling it on MB car which is still in possession of Sally ? Is this when it was found out that her car had not been sold and indeed the membership transaction on the 7th August revealed this fact .? I mean how else would MB have known that fact when apparently "mentioning " it to someone that Sally had not yet sold the car ..?

I am just trying to go through your timeline to refine some thinking on what was going on and why, when what and how

One of the pieces of information I used to infer the withdrawals was that PM from MisPer made a contemporaneous file note that $95,000 had been withdrawn. so having this file note at the time lends it more weight. put that together with the fact it was withdrawn in $5,000 lots and that makes 19 days of withdrawals. If you assume (because of bank procedures) that it had to be done in the bank and at the counter then can we rule out weekend days? (IMO yes) so this equates to nearer to 4 weeks calendar time. that is how I have reasoned in the absence of any knowledge or existence of bank records.

 

[gymtonic]

Hi I am wondering about the dates and timeline and if we are to decipher what happened when :
This period here is confusing "Late Aug - early Sept 1997
$5k withdrawn daily for 3.5 weeks at Commonwealth Byron, and 3 days in middle at Burleigh Heads, totaling between $85k to $120k "

Late August to early Sept , is not 3 or 5 weeks interval ?
The withdrawals either started much earlier for either the 3 or 5 weeks to work or ends much later , so the question what was being done for a month is a misnomer IMO . Probably not verified exactly so we have to have some leeway here .

The canceling Policy and membership i think would be related to buying the car , depending on where and how the car was purchased and then recorded in the system re rego name etc , the 11th is obviously significant to LE so it must be seen as indicative to a path of proof of ownership and i suggest this can only be due to rego transfer or renewal paperwork, it is possible the purchase Date itself may vary slightly , I know without checking for a definite but the Motor Registry has requirements of time to do the transfer ranging from 7 days and 21 days to finalize (a fee can be charged for not doing so within the time frame )
So all i can say and see is the 2 most likely are connected , If because of transferring policy and service to the new car ? maybe , for a refund ? i doubt it but possible i guess .

Cancelling it on MB car which is still in possession of Sally ? Is this when it was found out that her car had not been sold and indeed the membership transaction on the 7th August revealed this fact .? I mean how else would MB have known that fact when apparently "mentioning " it to someone that Sally had not yet sold the car ..?

I am just trying to go through your timeline to refine some thinking on what was going on and why, when what and how

I keep returning to the fact that RACQ membership is particular to a person (like a rewards club) and insurance is specifically to a car. You can keep your RACQ membership as an associate membership without having a car (temporarily) if it helps you keep your RACQ membership level and intend getting another car in the future. at which point you would add the new car rego to the membership to make it a full membership). You would not transfer RACQ membership to another person who now owns that car. they would have to take out membership in their own name.

 

[gymtonic]

Oooh, this is an excellent theory It's totally viable... the only thing that throws me off is that it was cancelled so early on in the scheme of things Thur, 7 Aug 1997.

Marion had only been gone for 6 weeks. The feeling at the time was that she would return. She'd been in touch with family just days ago and was still sending postcards. So there's little reason for her family to suspect she was never coming back at this point.

But you know, if the bills were coming in monthly, the sister maybe didn't know what to do, she wouldn't be expected to pay it, and wouldn't be able to cancel it by phone, so returning it makes a lot of sense.

However, surely she would have told police she was the one to cancel it?

I realise the podcast specifically said cancellation required a phone call or an in person visit, but what about retuned mail and unpaid bills? Surely that would also trigger a cancellation?

I'm flummoxed.

I am interested to know why the podcast said that cancellation would require a phone call or in person? In my experience you the time you could write a snail mail letter to cancel? if you had policy details and you signed it (wouldn't really matter if it was still in MB's name and not FMNR because she could still sign with her old name (if legitimate) or an expert fraudster with knowledge of details could forge signature. Does the podcast know something for this statement or is it an assumption?

 

[gymtonic]

I have conflicting info on security envelopes. Can you help me clarify it? What info do you all have?

1 Oct 1997
RB pays $13 from joint account with DdH for safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina, assumed size is A3 envelope which only RB can access (Bank Manager statement).

7 Oct 1997
RB cancels safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina.

14 Oct 1997
Commonwealth document showing an automatic funds transfer (Podcast did not reveal from where and to who)

14 Oct 1997
New safety deposit box opened at CBA

27 Oct 1997
New safety deposit box closed at CBA

AC revealed records of 3 safe custody envelope/ safe deposit boxes as follows:

14 Oct 1997
RB pays $13 from joint account with DdH for safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina, assumed size is A3 envelope which only RB can access (Bank Manager statement).

27 Oct 1997
RB cancels safe custody envelope at Commonwealth Ballina.

27 July 1999
FdH opens safe custody envelope and packable box at CommBank Ballina. paid from Joint account but accessible only by him

August 2000
FdH cancels safe custody

Sept 2005
FdH opens Safe deposit box at CommBank Ballina. Paid for by $285 from joint a/c

Dec 2007
FdH surrenders Safe Deposit Box at CommBank Ballina

EDIT
My apologies @Peralta I either misread my own timeline or only partially cut and pasted the info. I have edited and corrected the post above and will delete the earlier one that had incorrect info on it!

 

[Estelle]

Thinking about timeline upon return to Aus… the RACV cancellation is unusual and might shed light on Marion’s final days.

For starters, cancelling her membership 5 days upon return to Aus is a weird thing to do.

If she returned alone to try to extract herself from RB and his con, RACV would’ve been the last thing on her mind.

If she was tying up loose ends to move overseas permanently, would she really yank the membership for the car Sally now used, without telling Sally? Let alone, not telling Sally she was permanently leaving? That’s also weird.

Perhaps Marion or RB received a letter for a bill (today it’s about $100 per month / $1000 per year) and that prompted them to cancel it? But where would the bill be sent? It couldn’t have been Leslie’s. And I doubt it was RB’s house.

It’s worth noting that if you pay upfront and you decide to cancel, it takes weeks to process but you get a refund.

The two most straightforward theories I can think of are:

1. RB went through Marion’s wallet to see if he could milk anything else out of her. Perhaps he wondered if he could transfer the membership to his new vehicle? But he couldn’t so he just took the refund. For reference, RACV was cancelled on Thur and the car purchased on Mon.

This theory would mean that RB already had control Marion’s wallet and therefore, possibly her bank cards (so he could start withdrawing her funds), and her Medicare to visit optometrist. Also worth noting: DdH wears glasses.

2. RACV and medicare were used simply to make it look as though Marion was still alive. It would look very suspicious if Marion returned from overseas ONLY to withdraw wads of cash and disappear never to be seen again. The activity definitely makes you consider that she really did return and might've withdrawn the money herself.

What are your thoughts?

My comments are in bold

Thinking about timeline upon return to Aus… the RACV cancellation is unusual and might shed light on Marion’s final days.
For starters, cancelling her membership 5 days upon return to Aus is a weird thing to do.

If she returned alone to try to extract herself from RB and his con, RACV would’ve been the last thing on her mind.

If she was tying up loose ends to move overseas permanently, would she really yank the membership for the car Sally now used, without telling Sally? Let alone, not telling Sally she was permanently leaving? That’s also weird.

Perhaps Marion or RB received a letter for a bill (today it’s about $100 per month / $1000 per year) and that prompted them to cancel it? But where would the bill be sent? It couldn’t have been Leslie’s. And I doubt it was RB’s house.

IMO MB had told RB that she was having her mail redirected to Leslie Loveday so RB organised a post office redirection to his PO Box. However, was it RACQ membership and/or RACQ car insurance? How do we know it was actually cancelled or did it simply lapse? Yes denying Sally the benefit of having them does not make sense unless they lapsed.

It’s worth noting that if you pay upfront and you decide to cancel, it takes weeks to process but you get a refund.

The two most straightforward theories I can think of are:

1. RB went through Marion’s wallet to see if he could milk anything else out of her. Perhaps he wondered if he could transfer the membership to his new vehicle? But he couldn’t so he just took the refund. For reference, RACV was cancelled on Thur and the car purchased on Mon.

This theory would mean that RB already had control Marion’s wallet and therefore, possibly her bank cards (so he could start withdrawing her funds), and her Medicare to visit optometrist. Also worth noting: DdH wears glasses.

2. RACV and medicare were used simply to make it look as though Marion was still alive. It would look very suspicious if Marion returned from overseas ONLY to withdraw wads of cash and disappear never to be seen again. The activity definitely makes you consider that she really did return and might've withdrawn the money herself.

What are your thoughts?

IMO any activities which could be attributed to Marion after 2nd August were reported or done by RB via email or DdH in person or via phone call to prove that MB was still alive.

1. RACQ insurance and membership cancellation
2. Use of Medicare card in Grafton
3. Armidale death
4. Chapman's email to Sally
5. Bank staff's comments
and so on.