Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #13

[BonnieB]

How silly. Just realised we can discount the idea she replied to Le Courrier, and then he stole her wallet to suss her out. Wallet was stollen first, then ad was placed.

The only way he could have stolen her wallet in 1994 is if in the months after he returned to NSW from Tas and she settled into Southport, he randomly spotted her, or someone tipped him off about her.

Theories update
1. Marion answered Le Courrier ad, he stalked her and waited until she was single.
2. He randomly stole her wallet OR was given info about her from bank or real estate and then stole her wallet.
3. He saw her award in the paper and became obsessed due to similarities with MC.
4. He met her through arts centre or school, either randomly or was tipped off.

I still think it's possible that RB had a friendship with the dodgy real estate agent OR bank employee (most likely bank due to the suspicious withdrawals later in timeline), and they could've informed RB when a single and vulnerable women bought a house and had assets. IMO.

But which theory is most likely?
We know RB doesn't pick victims at random, he plans ahead to make sure they have assets and are vulnerable.

He targeted GGB because she was single, owned a house and ran her own business. He targeted JO because she was getting divorced, a house and a settlement. He targeted MC because...??? We don't fully know. Perhaps he had a grudge against (or admiration for) FR and that turned into an obsession with obtaining MC? Or MC might've just been a wealthy divorcee target like JO. We don't know.

It is very possible RB saw MC in 1992 (thank you @BonnieB)
RB said he was in Luxembourg between 1981-83 with his family running the family business. That is when he allegedly met FR and MC as they went to RB's shop together. We might assume FR and MC were married at the time, right?

So it's possible FR and MC were separated by 1992 when RB went to EU. Perhaps he chose MC as a victim in the same way he chose JO... as soon as he heard they were getting divorced, he suddenly appeared. Just a thought.

Theories Update
IMO 3 or possibly 4 are most likely

RB & MC
Given RB's effusive love letter penned in August 1980, describing the effect on him of their love-making I'm fairly certain their affair began at that time. I assume MC was separated at that time.
I also suspect DdH's return to Australia in January 1981 when 6.5mths pregnant, might be connected to his manic obsession with MC. I think he may have convinced Diane to come back to Luxembourg with his "platonic" story. No wonder he was visibly horrified when that love letter was read out.
I think he remained obsessed with MC and saw her again in 1992. Whether they had a sexual encounter during that trip would be speculation but it certainly inspired a flurry of correspondence after he returned and moved to Tassie.

IMO his obsession with MC could only be satisfied to some degree through Marion, JO and possibly other women. The man is a psychopath.

 

[BonnieB]

As a person who is about to move to Tassie I can certainly understand moving there lol

Lol, I agree, Tassie is an absolutely beautiful place.

What I meant was, the dH's had just spent Diane's inheritance on building a lovely home in Goonellabah only to sell up and move to Tassie for 12 months. Diane's reason: Change of air and she had an elusive relative there. I call BS. He was hiding from someone.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Just for clarity... RB did say MC was well connected.

But he didn't say she had connections to V&B.
Nor was it suggested that MC worked at the factory.
They said she was or had been a teacher.

RB simply said some of the things they did together was go to the V&B factory and concerts. In other words, arty and cultured things. (Which has a correlation to Marion meeting a man at the Arts Centre IMO).

It's a normal and fun activity for people interested in china to go to the factory, to the outlet/store to look around and potentially buy pieces.

Also for clarity...
I believe it is RB who is interested in china. So it doesn't matter when the Florabella range came out vs when he allegedly visited the factory. He might follow the designs, regardless. Maybe he knows the china designs because he made fakes to sell? Using his forge die or whatever.

Note that he obtained the FNR licence in 1988! He was already fantasising or plotting something...

1981-83
The dH family live in Luxembourg

24 Aug 1988
RB obtains his Queensland FNR licence

2 Oct 1992
Licence reissued (renewing that licence days before going o/s is so suspicious!)

6 Oct - 3 Nov 1992
RB in Europe (possibly sees MC?)

Early 1990s
The dH family live in Tasmania
He writes to MC and talks of running away together

10 Dec 1994
FNR Le Courrier ad

Please correct me if I made an error

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

FWIW and IMO -- RB has no criminal associates, not even his wife. If he is a narcissist they think they're smarter than everyone. They never trust or engage with anyone unless they want something from them. They certainly do not involve others in key positions because others aren't smart enough. He's a conman, liar, forger. Maybe he frequents yard sales or coin sales looking for treasures because he knows more than Australians. Anything that happened to his family -- moves etc-- was due to his behavior and getting or almost getting caught.

I'd guess if he got deals on anything, like plane tickets, there was a woman involved.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Yes, we've all tried searching the entirety of Trove But after the last podcast episode, it might be worth trying again.

Joni (the super sleuth that found the Le Courrier ad) said that she originally tried searching 'Remakel' with no success.

But she knew the software used to automatically transcribe the items in Trove often made errors, because it's based on visual recognition. It often misspells words or creates spaces where there are none. So she searched for things like re makel, and all kinds of combinations, until the ad came up. She then alerted Trove to fix the transcription error so everyone can find it now.

Point being... there may be more on Trove we haven't found yet. It may very well be a treasure trove, heehee

Is the Gold Coast Bulletin for 1996 and 1997 on Trove?

 

[Meligator]

I never believed that BS. Why would you sell a beautiful newly built home and move to Tassie for 12 months. He was hiding from someone!

Is the sick uncle something DH said or was that from RB

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Smith - And you knew the area of Sussex fairly well, didn’t you?

RB - Well it’s only, it’s only the one road, it’s the road coming from Brighton to, to London, which past there.

This is nonsense. Living in Burwash he would known the main & busy A21 road which passes Tunbridge Wells down to Hastings (and cut off to Rye) and also the A267/A22 again going from Tunbridge Wells down to Eastbourne (cut off to Alfriston)

If he was catching the East Kent Ferries at Dover etc nearly every week from his home in Burwash in East Sussex he would have got to have known lots of rural villages and towns particularly in Kent. His knowledge of the area would have been quite extensive.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

It’s a shame at the inquest that RB was not asked if he had ever visited The Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells. It’s not far from Tunbridge Wells train station (5 minute walk) and if he had taken his preferred route from Amsterdam to Harwich in Essex and taken the trains down to Tunbridge Wells where he could meet up. There is a quaint hotel in The Pantiles called The Swan Hotel (see photo below) which was popular amongst overseas guests and was extensively advertised by the English Tourist Board at the time.

 

[KiwiNZ]

I assume one needed to have a valid drivers licence from own country plus a matching valid passport ?

There is a part that I have to listen to again but I think RB stated about using an international driver license to get his Australian License in FR name.

How did RB get an Australian DL with only an international drivers license and no other form of ID ? International DL's are not an official document you still need to have the DL from your home country

 

[Meligator]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

 

[car54]

Most probably although he has muddied the waters so many times with how he came to meet Marion it’s difficult to know which, if any, of them to believe. I still believe it was a ‘chance’ meeting at the Arts Centre.

If not done before I just wondered if anyone in Australia is able to visit and look at the Gold Coast Bulletin archives for 1996 and 1997 and look at any lonely heart ads assuming they published them at the time? Wouldn’t the newspaper itself be interested in finding out?

I agree they probably met at the Arts Centre but I'd like to discount the ad theory so I've been planning to look at the Gold Coast Bulletin microfilms locally on the Gold Coast this week if I get time. Although I would have thought this was already checked by LE.

 

[KinseyFan]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

Perhaps to have someone withdraw the money from her account in the daily limit amounts?

 

[ruby925]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

Did he seriously think he was therefore only committing crimes overseas and keeping a clean sheet in Australia? Not true obvs as he seems to have illegally obtained citizenship anyway....

 

[Carovb5]

I agree they probably met at the Arts Centre but I'd like to discount the ad theory so I've been planning to look at the Gold Coast Bulletin microfilms locally on the Gold Coast this week if I get time. Although I would have thought this was already checked by LE.

imo it’s checked… but with what aliases? The aliases keep coming in, so who knows on what date, and so with wich aliases was it checked? If you have the time and the possibility to check it now, with what we know now, i think it’s a very interesting opportunity. Thanks for making the time & effort for Marion!

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

.

Lol, I agree, Tassie is an absolutely beautiful place.

What I meant was, the dH's had just spent Diane's inheritance on building a lovely home in Goonellabah only to sell up and move to Tassie for 12 months. Diane's reason: Change of air and she had an elusive relative there. I call BS. He was hiding from someone.

I do agree I was being cheeky. It’s a huge move so IMO a year only is for ‘other’ reasons.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Is the Gold Coast Bulletin for 1996 and 1997 on Trove?

Doesn't appear to have been digitised at Trove yet LordPeterFlimsy - the QLD newspapers seem to stop around the '50s.
Digitised Newspapers and Gazettes - Trove

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

IMO

Yes he was clearly in love with MC (as much as a psychopath can love) he had grandiose ideas of sailing off into the sunset with her. She was married to a footballer, and she had been an actress (to him a bit of fame) all things that would appeal to his ego. Being with her made him feel important. But ultimately she left him.

Do I think his obsession for MC is what has drawn him to Marion (ex footballers wife and teacher) no I don’t. Do I think as a few have mentioned that this has led him to want to re-create a version of MC in MB nope I don’t. 100% he is delusional with his fantasies of him and MC bring his ‘best friend’ she sounds lovely so I suspect after it ended she didn’t cut all ties and perhaps it was a friendly break up.. therefore he still believed he had a chance and they were friends. His ego and grandiose mind would never believed she didn’t want him.

the women in Australia all had either assets or money. That was his motivation.

He clearly feels inferior so he seeks people that can give him the lifestyle he believes he deserves.

I am not sure about Le Courier and MB replying mainly due to the fact it is a French paper that someone would seek out only because they speak French fluently which Marion didn’t.

I think the Article about teacher of the year spiked curiosity and from there he has checked out Marion out.. which has most likely led him to an ‘accidental randomly planned’ meeting at the arts centre. MC also said their meeting was random. She met him at a coffee shop.

I believe this started late 96 (she had decided to travel OS and told her parents at Christmas time) perhaps the decision to travel OS had actually been made earlier hence the renewal of her MB passport.

Suddenly she meets a man, he does his psycho love bombing and she falls for him badly. He promises a new life together.. he tells her he is living with his wife but their marriage is over so she doesn’t believe he is married in the true sense. Therefore continues the relationship.

He comes up with the name of Florabella his ‘pet’ name for her.

they secretly plan their new life together. He will travel OS and will leave his wife, she will continue her travels plans they will meet up outside of Australia.

Something happens OS and he leaves.. (most likely money related) she panics, loves him and follows him back to declare her love. (Narcissistic behaviour - creates a drama, gaslights her, leaves and she think it’s her fault so follows him back to fix it)

they meet up soon after she lands and all is well. Marion withdraws the money

A joint account is set up. Using his FNR ID and MB’s passport. The account is in the name of F Remakel or Mr F N & Mrs F N Remakel.

marion starts to question almost immediately when can they now go back to Europe/ Luxembourg (not UK)

Each day she hassles more…he eventually says he’s not leaving his wife…all money is removed she realises she’s been played. And loses it.
Something terrible happens.

the safety deposit envelope holds new bank account details in Remakel name.

the final $60k is MB withdrawing as I don’t believe DDH has the nerve to be involved and I honestly don’t think she knew anything of MB at that time. Nor do I think he is stupid enough to bring in an accomplice to share the profit.

Just another theory IMO

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

Yep I'm trying to figure this out myself.

So, with JO he wanted her out of the way whilst he 'took' her house.

Working on the same method, he wanted Marion out of the way whilst he 'took' her money.

So, maybe it's blindingly obvious?

With JO, she did not follow instruction to take a flight at a later date, and thwarted RB by coming home early. Albeit accidentally. Insofar as she hadn't seen through him, despite her cousin (I think it was) had suspicions, she did not.

With Marion, she did not thwart his plan, accidentally or on purpose, she did not return early. The money was taken, nobody knows by whom, and nobody has ever seen Marion again. We do not have any proof she returned to Aus.

Maybe that's the logic. His plan worked. He came back and took her money whilst someone - who? - 'dealt with' Marion in the UK.

The clue to unpicking that would be examining / scrutinising EXACTLY the minutiae of where exactly did RB leave JO in the UK? what did he tell her to do? where did he tell her to go? what instructions did he leave her with?

Was RB planning to leave JO alone in the UK and totally disappear, leaving her alive and well but somewhat stranded on the other side of the world? Or did he have some fate 'arranged' for her? If so, what? Did he suggest JO some contacts or places to stay or companions or any type of instruction whatsoever? Because those are the clues.

Did RB think he could strand Marion in the UK, drain her bank account, and just disappear, leaving her alive and well and able to tell the tale, return to Aus, report to the police and bank detectives, all of whom could try to track him down somehow and then she could identify him? I suspect not. How realistic would that be?

Therefore, he possibly has at least one accomplice. A female accomplice, or a couple, who 'dealt with' Marion in the UK and then the female travelled on her passport? The Dutch Dentist and 'Maz'?

JO is a very very lucky to be alive woman.

Also, something that crosses my mind whilst pondering all this - as RB has possibly simultaneously held numerous identities and passports (fake or real), we don't know if it is even him who travelled back into Aus on his own passport in the July, if you see what I mean. Even that cannot be truly depended upon as a definite fact.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

Perhaps to have someone withdraw the money from her account in the daily limit amounts?

You're right. Planning a trip o/s is necessary to get her to sell house (and have money in bank), quit school and pack up her belongings. But is it necessary to actually go o/s?

Yes, one theory is he took her overseas intending to leave her there, so he could return to withdraw her money in Aus, and do whatever he did with her valuables, then disappear back to his dH family life in Ballina.

It's the same as what he did with JO except the assets are in a different form (bank money instead of title deeds). The concept of getting them out of the way and o/s, and leaving them stranded while he stripped them of their life is the same, I think.

Yet it doesn't explain why he made Marion change her name.
This is bonkers but no one has mentioned it before, so what if...

RB needs to have access to Marion's birth certificate and passport in order to have ID for the bank withdrawals, especially the big $80k one?
Marion already renewed her passport mid 1996, so that won't work.
So he invented a reason for Marion to change her name so he could get hold of all her IDs?
Remember JO said she gave RB all her documents and he handled her passport renewal process?
I don't know. I hope that make sense

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

He thought her money was in UK?