Listened to the latest podcast ep and again underwhelming. I did agree with them that the "tea chests full of teaching materials" is patently ridiculous. I would imagine that in the stage of education that Marion taught (Early Years/Kindergarten) there wouldn't be as much difference between the UK and Australia as for older children. But still, and I have said this lots of times before, Marion had no legal right to work in the UK and she would have known that. She was not stupid, and from everything that's been said about her, I don't get the impression of her as a deliberate law-breaker. And besides, you get caught working illegally in the UK and you get deported. I do believe though that the "hook" which Mr AKA used on Marion was the idea of buying a school in the UK as an investment. Be the owner, overall control, do it so much better than that Glover guy at TSS who you've said is making changes you don't like, we'll get married, once your papers come through then you can start working etc etc.
They were also obviously never legally married - for a start, Mr AKA was already married to someone else. However it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Mr AKA whisks her off to a part of Belgium/Luxembourg where Marion doesn't speak the language, just a bit of basic French, and pays someone to conduct a "wedding" which Marion believes with all her heart is genuine. How romantic, a quickie overseas wedding! Just another con.
I also listened to the Prosecutors podcast and thought it was good to get a different perspective on the case. The host made a really good point about Marion's passport in the Remakel name. What would be the motive of a third party using this to return to Aus? If the aim was to drain money from bank accounts, bank managers don't ask when you arrived back in Australia, and whether you're there legally. I really do believe it WAS Marion who used that passport to come back, and who went to the bank to make the withdrawals - probably due to the issues over the two names and difficulties accessing funds from Europe.
I also am leaning towards the theory that Mr AKA didn't kill her - other interviewed victims haven't mentioned violence and none of his previous convictions are for violence. Coercive control, definitely. Murder? Not so much. I am leaning towards thinking that Marion, madly in love and newly "married", drains her account for the love of her life and is excitedly considering which pre-school they are going to buy in Sussex. The last withdrawal is made, the account is empty, and she tells her new "husband" that they are ready to back to the UK and complete the deal. New husband then vanishes, changes his name (again), drops off the radar. Marion gets increasingly desperate searching for him and then the reality slowly dawns that it was all a big con. She's devastated, ashamed and thoroughly embarrassed. Too ashamed to go to the police. So takes herself off somewhere and ends it all quietly.
There's a lot of interesting points and arguments here.
I too have been wondering if what became of Marion could possibly have involved her breaking down and / or taking her own life either in the UK or back in Aus, once she realised she had been scammed.
Lots of ideas / questions arise.
Re Violent endings: We are somewhat 'assuming' RB isn't a violent person but that's not at all known. We'd need to know far more about him. He's a large man with control and dominance issues, possibly military / combat training in younger life. Also, even unfit feeble cowardly men can use lethal weapons or covert tactics - drugging, poisoning, injecting whilst asleep, 'gas leaks' -or- pay someone else to do the deed.
Even if we were to assume RB is usually non-violent in all circumstances, there could have been a rapid escalation incident whereby Marion realised she'd been scammed and herself angrily confronted him, maybe tried to corner him / contain him in a room to have it out. In these type of situations where 'the gig is up', a person could realise they need to put a stop to the other person.
Did Marion take her own life in despair? Either in the UK or Australia? Only the people closest to her would know her character well enough but I have personal experience that certainly Narc / Psychopathic abusers revel in the power they hold in inducing suicidal despair in a person and that being in relationships with them can leave one emotionally adrift and lost.
Did Marion have some sort of 'episode' / breakdown upon realising she'd been scammed? The rapid descent - high of thinking one's dreams have come true crashing down to the low of knowing one has been abused - is enough to induce shock, trauma, imbalance, mental breakdown. Was she the sort of person who would have immediately reached out to friends and family to discuss this type of thing? Would she have been angrily energised and want to set the record straight, inform the police, fight for her money back, and seek justice? Certainly she had friends and family and was it not her that took the money out, certainly the bank would have had to refund her.
Maybe there's a clue in that last bit? If Marion returned to Aus and took her own money out, the bank would not have to make it good. Whereas if Marion found out she'd been de-funded by a fraudster, they would have had to correct the problem and repay her as well as launch an investigation. Being left with nothing, could that tip someone over the edge? No job, no home, no money? Only those closest to Marion could guess at how she would have been.
