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

[BonnieB]

Funny you should mention this @MrsWattle

I have been down the stamp collectors stampede after a couple of sleuths posted up about Renov Pubs possibly being connected to philatelic products...

He mentioned at the inquest he "studied Pre-Columbian history at the Academy in Brussels" AND that after he was picked up at the orphanage "they went to Germany to live because Andre/Abel Wouters was in the Army"...
I don't believe anything he says, but there are truths woven in between the lies as we know.

And he does love history as a base to his stories.

So I went searching for an Arts Academy that would align to the history of philatelics and found State Academy of Arts in Germany, Karlsruhe Spa
and
Royal Academy of Arts and Design ('s-Hertogenbosch) - Wikipedia

Which then led me to Fluxus founders Willem de Ridder and Wim van der Linden - Wikipedia
And Dorothea Meijer and American Robert Watts
VERY interesting read. They produced performance "events", which included enactments of scores, as well as architecture, design, literature, and publishing.
Fluxus - Wikipedia
collective – Ana Lopes
Artistamp - Wikipedia
Watts went on to create the first ever faux/ fake sheet of postage stamps with fine art in the 60's.
Robert Watts: The Postman of the Fluxus Stream

and leads into some of the greatest stamp forgeries to date.

HUGE business in this line of work. List of stamp forgers | Wikiwand
Philatelic fakes and forgeries | Wikiwand
and postmarks...
Stamp Forgeries - Faked Cancellations

and Rainer Blum who @Eyespywithmylittleeye found...
Rainer Blüm
The Blum forgeries: 600 forged postmarks and expert marks.

Which yesterday took me full circle back to Adolph Pauls with his little paper art in Nymboida - there's that area again..
Memories of Coffs Harbour High School 1958-59 - Our stories

Something is just not ringing true with all the house moving, his forged die, 'forged cancellations', and storage containers full of ......books....

Picture Mr. AKA in his little back room in Ballina surrounded by old books...

Forged Signatures from an eBay Seller Leads to Conviction

 

[mishy66]

That's very interesting, I found AP in Clarence st, Market Street Sydney with grocery store, main Streets in Sydney with restaurants, tearooms, wine licences, and the Australian Post Office licence in Bathurst St sydney. His home addresses were in, Paddington, Vaucluse etc. A few bankruptcies, lots of address and businesses. There is a family connection through Elsie Weiss (Inverell) /Robert Walker (butcher) @mishy66

Yes @MrsWattle
AP has a long list of companies, bankruptcies, and connections that is for sure.
Funny how Bankruptcies have been a common denominator all through the families connected to this case...
Trove

Adolph Death Notice: see attachment

1934 - a memorial church token
LOWANNA - New Anglican Church IMPRESSIVE DEDICATION CEREMONY - Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 - 1942; 1946 - 1954) - 14 Dec 1934

Wifes Death Notice
OBITUARY - Mrs. Eliozabeth Pa - Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 - 1942; 1946 - 1954) - 30 Aug 1935

The sons marriage cert with his parents names:
Attached


The family connection through Elsie Weiss (Inverell) /Robert Walker (butcher)...... do you know it, I need time to find it - I think the net has well and truly been cast @MrsWattle !

Walkers/ RB/ Philatelics

On a side not - the link @Eyespywithmylittleeye found re Blum forgeries:
The Blum forgeries: 600 forged postmarks and expert marks.

Considering it was such a "high-profile German legal case for forgery of postmarks to increase the value of stamps", and given that other forgeries of same yet on a smaller scale, including here in Australia have wide coverage, one would think it would be VERY easy to find out about that case... not so. It took me hours just to find his name and a small writeup:
Rainer Blüm
and there are some sites that have removed information altogether after legal case with Google itself.

There is something more to Rainer Blum IMO

 

[mishy66]

Really? How did I miss that? How many times have I heard "We only ever had the ONE car". That wouldn't be a lie if he owned a motorbike, would it?

I will have to go over that part again to double check. I have it in my notes but it could be AC questioning him about it in the context of it being at MB ? But in any case, I doubt it would be RB bike....

 

[TootsieFootsie]

RB mentioned seeing the bike when he was describing what Marion's house was like when he said he visited.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

When I first heard of them driving around what sounded like a slum area, I got cold chills and thought he might have been sussing out a possible site to get rid of someone.

According to JO on the trip to Bali they stayed budget accom, They did a bit of backstreet driving, nothing special!

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

@mishy66

You might find this interesting a stamp forum about the ‘Sydney Forger’

dates start 2012 - up until current day.. using ebay.

Current accounts and scams of the Sydney Stamp forger on ebay - Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Forum


Link is to the first post. 2012 . page 37 is up until March 2022

lots of interesting stuff

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Another interesting article about the Sydney Forger referred to as ‘The Greek’ @mishy66


https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-sticky-business-20141009-113l4m.html

 

[centred]

yes thank you - so not RB lol

Ah it was the inquest

I recall something along those lines way before the inquest , a neighbor or friend who said there was a stranger to her who used to come and go for awhile and Marion would keep to herself for those periods . I cannot say for sure whether this person described the man but i don't recall them saying they met this person and did seem to think it was strange in some ways. Of course it may have been in reference to the "teacher " who was supposedly married a friend spoken about else where but it was before the inquest . I do not know whether MB would be up for a married man ? Has that been established or in her history to hook up with married men . RB has tried to establish this as a fact by saying she knew he was a married man ?

 

[centred]

For the life of me, I can't see why someone would risk travelling on a forged passport back to Australia. The photo would have to be changed unless MB had a twin.
The most logical explanation is that it WAS Marion.

I tend to agree with this for this reason and the reasons re @KiwiNZ post.IMO

 

[centred]

Now if I wanted to hide something/some body, I can't think of a better, more isolated road within an easy drive from Grafton. As you say @MrsWattle, an eerie place.

The Old Grafton to Glen Innes Road – A Journey Back In Time - On The Road -

It is actually a really beautiful place , the only area with places still standing from the gold , mining and cedar harvesting days and left over small towns dotted through it . The saddest thing is though there would not be many cedar left and has been difficult to cultivate since . I have a holiday cabin in the area these days and love the area almost as much as my own .

 

[centred]

Another interesting article about the Sydney Forger referred to as ‘The Greek’ @mishy66


https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-sticky-business-20141009-113l4m.html

This is just one of the links i found the other day , some have already been posted above , but i found this possible Belgium link fascinating too.

Madame Joseph - Wikipedia

 

[Liselle]

When I first heard of them driving around what sounded like a slum area, I got cold chills and thought he might have been sussing out a possible site to get rid of someone.

I can't imagine RB driving in Bali as the mode of transport for a tourist, nor hiring a moped/motorbike, which leaves only a taxi IMO. So I wonder why a taxi driver would take them through the slum areas? I'm not sure if JO had been to Bali before, but it's pretty "average scenery" (read - slum) outside the hotels in comparison to Australia!

 

[KiwiNZ]

I recall something along those lines way before the inquest , a neighbor or friend who said there was a stranger to her who used to come and go for awhile and Marion would keep to herself for those periods . I cannot say for sure whether this person described the man but i don't recall them saying they met this person and did seem to think it was strange in some ways. Of course it may have been in reference to the "teacher " who was supposedly married a friend spoken about else where but it was before the inquest . I do not know whether MB would be up for a married man ? Has that been established or in her history to hook up with married men . RB has tried to establish this as a fact by saying she knew he was a married man ?

yes I think I may have 2 stories merged into 1 - I am going to have to hunt it out - I think it was LLD, who said MB would not socialize when this person was around.

And her sister/ Friend mentioned a married Teacher ?

possible 2 different people


I wont rest until I have found it lol

 

[centred]

https://www.catawiki.com/en/stories/5879-a-history-of-philately-in-three-stamp-forgers

Raoul de Thuin - Wikipedia

Madame Joseph - Wikipedia

Gilda Rivero Mendoza was de Thuin's wife[11] and one complainant in 1947 asserted that R.G. Knapen was de Thuin's real name.[12]

The numerous aliases were to circumvent fraud orders which prevented the US Post Office from forwarding mail addressed to particular persons or firms.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

I recall something along those lines way before the inquest , a neighbor or friend who said there was a stranger to her who used to come and go for awhile and Marion would keep to herself for those periods . I cannot say for sure whether this person described the man but i don't recall them saying they met this person and did seem to think it was strange in some ways. Of course it may have been in reference to the "teacher " who was supposedly married a friend spoken about else where but it was before the inquest . I do not know whether MB would be up for a married man ? Has that been established or in her history to hook up with married men . RB has tried to establish this as a fact by saying she knew he was a married man ?

That was LL talking about the man who used to visit Marion. Marion moved into rented premises next to Lesley when she moved to Ashmore, so that would be the man Bronwen talked about. BW says she didn't recall him having an accent.
Reference - Inquest Part 6 at around 5.05 (LL)
Reference - Inquest Part 5 at around 12.25 (BW)

 

[KiwiNZ]

I recall something along those lines way before the inquest , a neighbor or friend who said there was a stranger to her who used to come and go for awhile and Marion would keep to herself for those periods . I cannot say for sure whether this person described the man but i don't recall them saying they met this person and did seem to think it was strange in some ways. Of course it may have been in reference to the "teacher " who was supposedly married a friend spoken about else where but it was before the inquest . I do not know whether MB would be up for a married man ? Has that been established or in her history to hook up with married men . RB has tried to establish this as a fact by saying she knew he was a married man ?

found it, was not as insightful as I hoped lol - Part 6 inquest

It was mid 90's when she was renting in Ashmore next door to LLD, she never saw him, just his car and his voice, she didn't mention an accent so I am ruling him out lol

 

[gymtonic]

yes I think I may have 2 stories merged into 1 - I am going to have to hunt it out - I think it was LLD, who said MB would not socialize when this person was around.

And her sister/ Friend mentioned a married Teacher ?

possible 2 different people


I wont rest until I have found it lol

I have this note for Podcast Episode 25, Inquest Part 6:
LL Used to be a man there when MB lived next door. And then something about MB being unhappy after the split with Greg.

 

[MrsWattle]

Another interesting article about the Sydney Forger referred to as ‘The Greek’ @mishy66


https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/a-sticky-business-20141009-113l4m.html

Was there something at the inquest AC said about a Greek guy?

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Was there something at the inquest AC said about a Greek guy?

Hmm I don’t remember a Greek person.. I’m not actually sure why the Sydney forger is referred to as ‘the Greek’ as he’s never been caught and who he is I think is unknown. Although one article said rumours were he was a dentist.

‘

The mysterious culprit is acknowledged as Australia's most skilled philatelic counterfeiter and is referred to simply as "The Greek". "Regardless of what name might crop up, you can bet your bottom dollar there is a connection to The Greek," says Gary Watson, the affable director of Prestige Philately in Melbourne. "I have heard that he is a dentist operating in Sydney and the forgeries are done using a dentist's drill."

 

[Penguinpoet]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned recently but this might be of interest to websleuths. There's an American podcast called "The Prosecutors" which has just put out an episode about Marion's disappearance. Well worth a listen. I found it interesting as they've distilled a lot of information so it's a good reminder/overview (although I noticed a few a details which are not 100% accurate). And just a heads up that the presenters' style can be both jokey and serious, so there were a few times that I felt they were being a bit flippant (but I may be particularly sensitive to that as I feel so invested in finding out what happened to Marion).
Anyway, it's The Prosecutors episode 127: The Disappearance of Marion Barter Part 1 of 2 - Who's That Lady?