Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #12

[hoodunnit]

SL would know if Marion spoke French or at least learned it school - I can’t recall ever hearing this mentioned in TLV does anyone else remember if they have?

I remember RB say during inquest, rather rudely, that Marion was "an intelligent woman, but she didn't speak French"

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Re: Japan

was it coins or was it Netsuke those little minute figurine things…

I have a memory of a sleuth posting up a lot of info about netsuke but not if if it was just point of interest or because RB mentioned netsuke as something he sought out in Japan

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

I remember RB say during inquest, rather rudely, that Marion was "an intelligent woman, but she didn't speak French"

That’s what I thought… therefor she most likely didn’t ‘read’ French either?

 

[Estelle]

True IF there was a friend who told her about the ad… no one seems to have known her mystery man from her friends that have spoken out, not her sisters, friends at school so IMO if Marion replied to the ad it was done on the quiet on her own. Yes naturally if a person lived here they would speak both languages BUT did she read French is probably more what I’m saying.

I taught my children when they were little a song in French, a song in Italian and a song in Spanish… I don’t speak or read any of those languages.

Songs are committed to memory, from hearing them and singing them..whether we know the language or not (as a singer myself I can confirm that)
But I certainly could not write any of them down in their languages.

teaching kinder kids a song in French could just mean Aloutte and we all know that one.. but do we all read French?

I think unless sally said she spoke French fluently then I don’t know if I believe she responded to the ad herself.

And with her friends saying they knew nothing about Remakel, then I can’t see how a friend read the ad to her as they would have seen the name Remakel.
And certainly would have come forward if they were a friend.

JMO

There are many ways that Marion could have come across the ad. Picked the paper up in a waiting room? Friend or colleague suggested it but is no longer in contact or embarrassed to come forward? Marion decided to improve her French by reading a French paper and had a French dictionary to look up words? Came across it at the library? IMO Marion saw the ad and believed everything that RB stated was true. The primacy effect.

 

[Estelle]

That’s what I thought… therefor she most likely didn’t ‘read’ French either?

And you believe RB tells the truth? All she needed was a French dictionary. She could have gone to the library to find that.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

And you believe RB tells the truth? All she needed was a French dictionary. She could have gone to the library to find that.

No he definitely doesn’t speak truth.. but he does weave elements of truth into his story.

And the ‘not speaking French’ absolutely could have been added to back up the comment of not getting any replies to his ad.

 

[Estelle]

@bonnie who said:

What benefit would be gained by moving there? While Wollongbah is some distance from Ballina, the house itself was in a built-up area with neighbours and not isolated at all.

The only benefit I see, is that his wife and children would be away from the home for predictable periods in the mornings and afternoons.

This one has me stumped if the house had close neighbours.

But Casseldon kept asking him, "Why did you move away from Ballina in late 1996?"
I had assumed that he could have been concerned about a truck arriving with all of Marion's possessions? Maybe the house was bigger than a house or an apartment at Ballina so he could house her possessions there or had a double garage which he didn't have in Ballina?

 

[BonnieB]

@bonnie who said:

What benefit would be gained by moving there? While Wollongbah is some distance from Ballina, the house itself was in a built-up area with neighbours and not isolated at all.

The only benefit I see, is that his wife and children would be away from the home for predictable periods in the mornings and afternoons.

This one has me stumped if the house had close neighbours.

But Casseldon kept asking him, "Why did you move away from Ballina in late 1996?"
I had assumed that he could have been concerned about a truck arriving with all of Marion's possessions? Maybe the house was bigger than a house or an apartment at Ballina so he could house her possessions there or had a double garage which he didn't have in Ballina?

AC did ask him why he moved, multiple times. He also asked if something happened in Ballina to force the move and when RB answered "no", AC replied "Are you certain about that?" It made me hope that someone else has come forward.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

AC did ask him why he moved, multiple times. He also asked if something happened in Ballina to force the move and when RB answered "no", AC replied "Are you certain about that?" It made me hope that someone else has come forward.

There had to be a reason to leave Ballina because it just added more travelling to what already sounded like a lot of ferrying the kids to the pool. the fact AC asked so many times also makes me think he knows something

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I think they know perfectly well that something did happen in Ballina.

AC did ask him why he moved, multiple times. He also asked if something happened in Ballina to force the move and when RB answered "no", AC replied "Are you certain about that?" It made me hope that someone else has come forward.

 

[KiwiNZ]

SL would know if Marion spoke French or at least learned it school - I can’t recall ever hearing this mentioned in TLV does anyone else remember if they have?

.

Sally didn't seem to know if she spoke French but there has been a few comments from past pupils saying that Marion taught them French at school, so I am going to guess she knew a bit to get by.

 

[BonnieB]

Re: Japan

was it coins or was it Netsuke those little minute figurine things…

I have a memory of a sleuth posting up a lot of info about netsuke but not if if it was just point of interest or because RB mentioned netsuke as something he sought out in Japan

Yes!! such small items and so incredibly valuable - the antique ones, that is. I have two of them, a frog and a possum and they are exquisite! The French markets would be the perfect place to "pocket" something like this however I'm not sure if Meiji or netsuke would be enough to warrant the discounts he was enjoying for so long though.

 

[BonnieB]

A thought... If RB was staying at the Nikko during a stopover in Japan, do the flight crew also stay at the same hotel? Could he have witnessed something incriminating for a JL employee? Could he possibly have been blackmailing someone? Drugs perhaps?

 

[BabeBlues]

I think they know perfectly well that something did happen in Ballina.

I agree!

Also @BonnieB @Estelle The Arts Centre Cafe only opened in 1996 so it was very new and quite the place to be seen for the arty crowd.

 

[KiwiNZ]

A thought... If RB was staying at the Nikko during a stopover in Japan, do the flight crew also stay at the same hotel? Could he have witnessed something incriminating for a JL employee? Could he possibly have been blackmailing someone? Drugs perhaps?

It is the Narita hotel, I have stayed a few times on a stop over, I cant actually remember if the airline staff were there :-(

 

[Estelle]

It is the Narita hotel, I have stayed a few times on a stop over, I cant actually remember if the airline staff were there :-(

25 years ago, there was probably nowhere else for them to stay near the airport.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Not long to go now til the inquest resumes.
A bit over 2 weeks.

 

[gymtonic]

It is the Narita hotel, I have stayed a few times on a stop over, I cant actually remember if the airline staff were there :-(

It is quite possible that it is the same hotel as the flight crew (although not necessarily). the reason I know is that I got sick on a plane going to Tokyo once and the flight crew had to wheel me through immigration and transport me to the hotel in their crew bus because I had been booked into the same one (as part of the stopover package)! IMO though the JAL connection is something entirely different that involves a JAL insider "looking after" transport and bookings for an organisation. IMO MOO

 

[MrsWattle]

A thought... If RB was staying at the Nikko during a stopover in Japan, do the flight crew also stay at the same hotel? Could he have witnessed something incriminating for a JL employee? Could he possibly have been blackmailing someone? Drugs perhaps?

Tokyo could have been a meeting point to exchange Meiji coins, he could have had a bank account there, or a luggage locker. He could have traded valuables for cheap airline tickets and had a friend in the airlines who was a keen collector. Ivory Netsuke or Meiji coins are both worth a fortune. Basically he admitted to some of these things already.

CoinArchives.com Lot Viewer

 

[BonnieB]

It is quite possible that it is the same hotel as the flight crew (although not necessarily). the reason I know is that I got sick on a plane going to Tokyo once and the flight crew had to wheel me through immigration and transport me to the hotel in their crew bus because I had been booked into the same one (as part of the stopover package)! IMO though the JAL connection is something entirely different that involves a JAL insider "looking after" transport and bookings for an organisation. IMO MOO

Just trying to understand why AC spent so much time on questions relating to the cheap air fares and why, as he put it "They came to a screeching halt on 31/7/97".