Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #8

[F.Knab]

Do we know what kind of tea chests it was that Marion had? Do they mean those small wooden trinket boxes or the ones that are like crates?
This is for my own peace of mind only - I had a very vivid dream last night about the tea chests in RB's garage that I am not going to put out into the universe.

Tea chests were actual chests for shipping tea - approximately 90 cms high and 50 cms wide, made out of some sort of plywood with tin/aluminum sides /corners. When moving from one country to another you would book a shipping company to move your belongings and they would deliver out a certain number of tea chests, whatever you ordered. I've used them twice both times from the UK back to Aus. I used to have about 6 of them but they were so heavy and the tin on sides was really dangerous so I got rid of mine years ago. Last time I used them was in 2001. Picture below for you. Sounds like Marion ordered these in 1997 with the view of shipping her items to the UK, there is no other reason why you would have them or be able to get them.

Old tea Chest on white stock image. Image of wooden, metal - 11736059

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

I heard him say “we” when he was questioned about a trip to Europe. It was quiet and he quickly changed it to I

Omg I said that out loud at the time… we!

 

[Carovb5]

We already had these
Ricky David
Fredie David (claims it's his brother)
Chaim de Hedervary
Chaim Frederick David
Chaim David
Bernard Dupont (claims it's a friend of his)
Christopher Dupont
Tony Greca
Christopher Stein
Fleming
Wilson

But these are new. I just wrote what I heard, sorry about the spellings!
Anthony Gretch
Atilla Dupont
Charles Gayon
Francis David de Hedervary
Frank Melon
Frederick Dehedervaru (ends in U not Y)
Frederike De Hevedervary (female spelling of Frederick)
Gaetan ???
Guy Devio
Remy Lajoie
Wouters Willy
Zabdeel Zilly?

For those who didn't know, Wouter (without S) is a first name, meaning Walter. Adding the S turns it into the surname Walters. So there is a chance he might've been, or had an alias, William Walter + surname.

Thank you!! I’m gonna search the hell out of him the next day in BE & NL.

But as it’s my birthday tomorrow (or i expect in AUS it’s already today?!) it may be a bit (hours? Day?) later.
Thanks Aussies! It’s my dream to one day visit your beautiful country.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

O

We already had these
Ricky David
Fredie David (claims it's his brother)
Chaim de Hedervary
Chaim Frederick David
Chaim David
Bernard Dupont (claims it's a friend of his)
Christopher Dupont
Tony Greca
Christopher Stein
Fleming
Wilson

But these are new. I just wrote what I heard, sorry about the spellings!
Anthony Gretch
Atilla Dupont
Charles Gayon
Francis David de Hedervary
Frank Melon
Frederick Dehedervaru (ends in U not Y)
Frederike De Hevedervary (female spelling of Frederick)
Gaetan ???
Guy Devio
Remy Lajoie
Wouters Willy
Zabdeel Zilly?

For those who didn't know, Wouter (without S) is a first name, meaning Walter. Adding the S turns it into the surname Walters. So there is a chance he might've been, or had an alias, William Walter + surname.

On memory day 1 he denied Christopher Dupont but admitted to using Bernard

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

For those who didn't know, Wouter (without S) is a first name, meaning Walter. Adding the S turns it into the surname Walters. So there is a chance he might've been, or had an alias, William Walter + surname.

I laughed out loud yesterday when Mr. C said "And so, Mr. Ric Blum, or Westbury, or Willy Wouters or Wouter Willy. . . ." My favorite line so far. I had no idea Wouter was a possible first name and thought Mr. C lost it for a moment and lapsed into humor.

 

[Eyespywithmylittleeye]

Yes I think DdeH said last trip was Bali yes. ( one of their childrens weddings perhaps ?)

Yes I think D said Daughters 2nd marriage but not sure if that was 2010 or 2012

 

[caitlincurious]

Thank you!! I’m gonna search the hell out of him the next day in BE & NL.

But as it’s my birthday tomorrow (or i expect in AUS it’s already today?!) it may be a bit (hours? Day?) later.
Thanks Aussies! It’s my dream to one day visit your beautiful country.

We would love to have you! Just don't copy RB and his fraud

 

[mishy66]

He’s making it look like it’s his children selling it I think. Or just telling tales.

Or maybe selling the inheritance given to the grandchildren without them knowing about it?

 

[Carovb5]

Can someone clarify if in Belgium or French:

• Is Willy a real name people give babies, or is it just a nickname?
• Isn't the full version William?
• Wouldn't it most likely be Guillaume?
• How common is the name Willy (with this spelling) in 1939?

Thank you!

My info is from the Flemmish side of Belgium:
Willy was a name given to babies back in the days. Since +/- the 80’s it would have been ‘William’.

William is used in French Belgium, The Flemmish part of Belgium & The Netherlands. It was used in the old days and is used now. Not every Willy is a William & vice versa.

Willy was and is also a nickname for people with the name “William”. It used to be a nickname for people with the name “Wilfried” (old, not being used now).

I have no knowlage of the nickname of people with the name Guillaume (do you French people call them Willy?)

Willy with this spelling being common in ‘39: i would say very common vut i’m going to search that info.

 

[Carovb5]

We would love to have you! Just don't copy RB and his fraud

Oh, RB/WW/…….. is giving us a good name! Someone has to give that reputation a positive switch

 

[caitlincurious]

BTW I have now mastered the act of the secret earphone underneath my hair at work. So I should be able to listen to parts today!!!! Listening to podcast now.

 

[Derleedl]

Can anybody shed some light on how the authorities didn’t intervene? Surely suspicion would’ve arose at some point when producing identification, with a history of so many name changes etc.
To be honest I’m waiting for authorities at some stage to take some ownership as well. Perhaps he has taken Australia for a ride, and we’ve let him do it!
If not for Sally’s persistence, would he have gone completely unnoticed?
Disappointing, and quite scary if I’m honest.

 

[Jroamcleveland]

Couple of things now seem to have a lot more importance than originally thought when listening to the pod early doors.

1. The Stolen Wallet a few weeks before the trip. This I think plays right into this fraud storyline.

2. Considering the Wallet was stolen perhaps the trip to the optometrist could have been more fraud. Once you are accustomed to types of behaviour you play it for all you can. Need to relook at addresses during that time of the suspects and distances to that optometrist.

 

[Belleandsebastian]

Or maybe selling the inheritance given to the grandchildren without them knowing about it?

I don’t even believe he’s related to that family personally. I think he was an orphan who stole the WW identity.

 

[ikarka]

Can anybody shed some light on how the authorities didn’t intervene? Surely suspicion would’ve arose at some point when producing identification, with a history of so many name changes etc.
To be honest I’m waiting for authorities at some stage to take some ownership as well. Perhaps he has taken Australia for a ride, and we’ve let him do it!
If not for Sally’s persistence, would he have gone completely unnoticed?
Disappointing, and quite scary if I’m honest.

This is one of the most horrifying parts of the story to me. If it hadn't been for Sally and then the "super sleuth" who found the Remakel ad, RB probably would have gotten away with all of this. I still worry that due to the passage of time he's unlikely to be held responsible in any meaningful way. It should not be up to private citizens and the media to do the police's job for them and drag them along kicking and screaming. I hope the coroner's report also focuses on the failures of NSW Police, especially in declaring her "safe and well" despite having never actually spoken to her or sighted her, and refusing to revisit that position as late as 2011.

 

[Belleandsebastian]

Couple of things now seem to have a lot more importance than originally thought when listening to the pod early doors.

1. The Stolen Wallet a few weeks before the trip. This I think plays right into this fraud storyline.

2. Considering the Wallet was stolen perhaps the trip to the optometrist could have been more fraud. Once you are accustomed to types of behaviour you play it for all you can. Need to relook at addresses during that time of the suspects and distances to that optometrist.

If only there was a record of that appointment, they could prove it was Marion as the melanoma on her eye would have been recorded. I don’t think they were able to access records though.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I live in the country and people here think nothing of driving an hour there and back to get to a nearby town for shopping, medical reasons etc.
Or spending over three hours on a train to Sydney to spend a couple of hours there and getting that same train back on the same day.

What I used to think of as a long trip became a normal everyday thing to me. It no longer felt long.

So 20 minutes became a short distance. Plenty of people here live 20 or so minutes out of town and more and go back and forth for work etc every day.

If you live in the city 20mins is nothing, If you live in a small town 20mins is forever. I moved from a big city to a small town and it took me so long to get my head around people complaining that it took them more than 20mins to get somewhere lol

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm just wondering how many people have ever seen a tea chest, apart from in very old movies.
I kept thinking that maybe D didn't know what a tea chest was. I was hoping that a picture would be held up of a similar tea chest.
Was it a fancy one. Or do they all look the same.

Do we know what kind of tea chests it was that Marion had? Do they mean those small wooden trinket boxes or the ones that are like crates?
This is for my own peace of mind only - I had a very vivid dream last night about the tea chests in RB's garage that I am not going to put out into the universe.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

Today's inquest link.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks. I'm going through the posts one by one and it's good to see a pic of what one looks like.

I think Tea Chests in this context refers to the ones used to pack items in for removals. They were initially used for importing tea, and then reused for removals. I haven’t seen them for years, and I think they’re quite sought after now.