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

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  • #601
Rye is such a small sleepy town in East Sussex. The branch at The Mint doesn’t exist now but why didn’t she choose Barclays in the larger town of Tunbridge Wells where she was based at the beginning of her trip? I’m sure Mr aka visited Rye a number of times so the answer no doubt lies there.
Yes, IMO, regardless of whether there was an account there or not, we do know that it was used as a “recorded mailing address” for the Visa and CSB Ashmore and its choice would seem to be significant. I guess if MB went to make arrangements at CSB prior to leaving and they asked where she would be staying mostly (as a base), the bank might have suggested that being the closest “agent bank” to her base….but nominating her base as Rye still begs the question why there?!
 
  • #602
Hmmmm….here’s a way out there thought…
Has anyone sleuthed or speculated yet whether there was a JO passport reentering Oz prior to the actual time she arrived back? I.e. at or around the time that Mr AKA arrived back?
If you get my drift?!
 
  • #603
It's strange that she didnt redeem the money via the CBA when she came back to Australia. She was at a CBA branch every day for 3 weeks it wouldnt have been difficult to organize.

IMO the fact that MB's UK money was not accessed when she supposedly came back is a possible indication to me that she didn't come back. Those who accessed her money here probably didn't know about it.
Exactly my thoughts when I read this from @gymtonic !
 
  • #604
Exactly my thoughts when I read this from @gymtonic !
Well, IMO (and from GS comments) the $14,000+ is what remained in the CSB High Performance Cash account (that had the $5000 daily withdrawn) after a stop had been put on accounts and then closed at a later time and transferred to unclaimed moneys.
But either way I agree it lends weight to MB not returning, so I am still in that camp!
 
  • #605
I thought the Walkers may have taken DdH by ship to the UK to celebrate her 21st birthday rather than giving her a big party. Her father was 12 years older than her mother so maybe it was also his retirement trip.

I dont think so.
DdeH was 19 - a bit early to be celebrating her 21st in 1970 I should think.

Interestingly though seeing as you bring up the age difference with her parents....
Wonka was 31 at the time (wondering what the wealthy walkers thought of that? Given he was an immigrant with no funds, coming back into a country he only briefly stayed in, with limited English, no job prospects, and no place to stay until that magical union happened between them all ' at a hotel prior' or 'on a ship' ( his UNUSUAL way of transportation - never been on one since I dont think)o_O

Also noted her sister would have turned 21 that year (the same yr she married) and....also noted that she and hubby and other relatives also left Aussieland the first part of 1970 and all returned the following year 1971

Something is rotten in the State of Denmark if you ask me :rolleyes:
 
  • #606
  • #607
Hmmmm….here’s a way out there thought…
Has anyone sleuthed or speculated yet whether there was a JO passport reentering Oz prior to the actual time she arrived back? I.e. at or around the time that Mr AKA arrived back?
If you get my drift?!
Great idea!
 
  • #608
Gosh, you have been very busy mishy :). I looked through all these docs yesterday. Are the "connections" in there? Nothing is jumping out for me :(

I think I would be skating on thin ice putting up more links and there are sleuths here that shared lots of info earlier about the Sydney cafe lifestyle back in that day.

I can probably add a few more links to that scene without pointing to anything in particular o_O

Some images are copyrighted so can't post up but if you do a search with names you can find them.

https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=dgs
2 Apr 1983, Page 23 - The Sydney Morning Herald at Newspapers.com
Trove - Digitised newspapers and more 1954 1955
Australia home, but French in war and peace
Ye Olde Crusty Cellar | The Dictionary of Sydney
Leo Buring - Way ahead of his Time



Hopefully that may help you in the research.
 

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  • #609
@gymtonic wholeheartedly love your dedication to untangling the bank situation. I know how hard and time-consuming it is to go back through all the notes and find sources. Your work is much appreciated :)

Marion DID have two banks. I believe she was a customer at Commonwealth first, then became a Colonial customer sometime around when she moved to QLD and bought her house. It's 100% plausible that Marion had multiple accounts at Colonial. But that doesn't negate her having at least one Commonwealth account.

Account breakdown
Colonial 1:
mortgage account
Colonial 2: 2 June 1997, mortgage discharged and remaining funds placed in a new high performing account.
Colonial 3: Visa account with Barclays Rye as contact address. The unclaimed funds ended up going to Commonwealth in 2004, due to Colonial merging with Commonwealth in 2002.

Commonwealth 1: Mastercard held with fraud team after it was stolen along with her wallet in 1994.

Bank unknown 1: 'Everyday' account where her wage from TSS was deposited.
Bank unknown 2: A possible savings account from 30 years of teaching, perhaps where her previous wages where deposited.

Fact 1: $80k withdrawn from Colonial by electronic transfer on 15 Oct 1997. Confirmed by inquest.
Fact 2: 28 Aug 1997, telegraphic transfer to a bank overseas (bank of origin not specified). Confirmed by inquest.
Fact 3: $5K withdrawn daily at Commonwealth for 3.5 weeks between Aug-Sept 1997. Unfortunately inquest could not clarify details due to no remaining records at Commonwealth from 1997.
 
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  • #610
Theory (*subject to change :p)
Colonial
Marion bought her house at Southport with a deposit.
She made mortgage payments for 3 years before selling the house.
Marion's mortgage account closed when she sold her house and the mortgage was discharged.
The remaining funds were $100k.
She placed $80k in a high earning account.
She placed $20k on a prepaid Visa or account to use overseas.
As she was travelling and did not have a permanent address, she gave Visa the address of Barclays Rye.
On 15 Oct 1997, $80k was electronically transferred from Colonial to a destination unknown.
In 2004, $14k linked to Colonial/Visa/Barclays Rye was returned as unclaimed funds.

Commonwealth
Marion also had a Mastercard and an account with Commonwealth.
On 28 Aug 1997, an undisclosed amount was sent to an overseas bank through a telegraphic transfer.
Between Aug-Sept 1997, $5K was withdrawn daily for 3.5 weeks, totalling between $87k to $122k depending on whether the bank was open 5, 6 or 7 days a week.

Worth noting
The Visa details kinda disprove the theory that RB wanted to access Marion's funds overseas through her Barclays account, but couldn't due to her name change, so he was forced to return to Aus with Marion.
I now suspect he had always intended to return to Aus without Marion, just like he did with JO.
Still unsure if Marion returned or not :( Oh my gosh this is so confusing.
 
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  • #611
I should also note that at inquest:
  • Commonwealth only had records for Marion's stolen Mastercard
  • Colonial only had records of her mortgage, new high earning account and her Visa account.
Neither bank spoke about the details of the withdrawals or transfers.
Any details of withdrawals and transfers came from police notes and Sally.

It's interesting because we all know Commonwealth can't clarify the daily $5k withdrawals, but Colonial also hasn't been able to clarify the $80k transfer o_O

It's just unfortunate that police had more details for one bank than the other.

Please correct me if I got something wrong.
 
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  • #612
Just listened to Inquests 7,8 & 9 again. Every time he's asked a question about his own bank transactions he repeatedly adds two phrases to his answers "Only the one bank account" and "Always the same bank". I would like to bet my grandmother's bloomers on other accounts with other banks in other names!
 
  • #613
Opening additional bank accounts at different banks may explain a few of his name changes too. Passport + drivers license = 100 points of ID, which is required to open an account.
 
  • #614
I think RYE is the interesting thing about the Visa card and Barclays. IMO that would mean it was pre arranged to visit this area. We know MB stated in oust house accom below are oust houses currently in the RYE area and surrounds. Coincidently Burwash is closer to Rye that’s Tonbridge wells… are we sure it was an oust in Tonbridge Wells?

oust houses near rye uk - Google Search
 
  • #615
Opening additional bank accounts at different banks may explain a few of his name changes too. Passport + drivers license = 100 points of ID, which is required to open an account.
FNMR passport + FMNR (international) DL = bank account: is that one reason why MB may have returned?
 
  • #616
Or her passport returned without her?
I wonder if the Trenwest Remakel had a bank account in their own name?
 
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  • #617
I think RYE is the interesting thing about the Visa card and Barclays. IMO that would mean it was pre arranged to visit this area. We know MB stated in oust house accom below are oust houses currently in the RYE area and surrounds. Coincidently Burwash is closer to Rye that’s Tonbridge wells… are we sure it was an oust in Tonbridge Wells?

oust houses near rye uk - Google Search

Nope, we're not sure it was Tunbridge Wells, I'm pretty sure. If Rye was prearranged as admin branch, perhaps in June when she opened the accounts, there would have been pre-planning and a discussion with RB. She would have known where she was visiting. There's lots of places other than in Rye itself that RB would have known about from living there previously that could have been set-up, that may not have been B&Bs. ("staying with lovely families in farm oasts AND B&Bs"). There's two oasts quite closely connected to former places RB lived in Burwash, and a couple of others; one even closer in Icklesham and one a little further away. It may be nothing, but to think that Rye was chosen as the closest branch for admin to where she was staying suggests a close radius to that town, if not in it.
 
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  • #618
Has anyone discovered when/where RB used the alias "Tony Greca"? (NAA, page 77). I'm still neck deep in passenger cards!;)
 
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  • #619
Or her passport returned without her?
I wonder if the Trenwest Remakel had a bank account in their own name?
I keep returning to this and then I return to: why bring it through actual immigration and then I think about JO and the blonde hair.
Absolutely. Where else would the Trendwest Remakel be receiving their pay other than a bank a/c? Did Aus do cash payments then?
 
  • #620
Has anyone discovered when/where RB used the alias "Tony Greco"? I'm still neck deep in passenger cards!;)
No idea. Can only only find a close-ish Greca relative on the Coppenolle tree in the USA.
 
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