Australia Australia - Patricia 'Susi' Schmidt, 16, body found, Hallett Cove, SA, 18 Dec 1971

[PrimeSuspect]

DNA breakthrough and eight clues could solve 1971 murder of Seacliff teen Susi Schmidt

Patricia "Susi" Schmidt was just 16 when she was brutally murdered.
In the early hours of Saturday, December 18, 1971, she finished her second shift at the Burger King at Darlington.

She went outside to wait for her dad, who was running 10 minutes late to pick her up and bring her back to their Seacliff home.

Her partially clad body was found later that day off a dirt track at Hallett Cove.
......

With tomorrow marking 50 years since Susi's murder, South Australia Police have launched a new appeal for information.

The anniversary coincides with a fresh investigation following a breakthrough in the case after DNA was successfully gathered during extensive testing of her clothes.


Police have released the details of eight clues in hope that it could lead to solving the case:

• Gold, brass, nickel and other metal filings from key cutting
• Microscopic particles from a shoe repair business
• Welding slag (by-product left from welding process)
• Particles of electrical waste from Phillips Industries (which was at Henley Beach at the time)
• Iridescent blue paint from a 1971 blue Holden Monaro
• Small paint flakes — pink on one side and white on the other
• Missing necklet with "Susi" engraved on the back
• DNA from unknown men

.....
Police believe more than one person is responsible for Susi's death and today they would be aged in their mid-60s or older.
There is evidence two or more people were involved in her sexual assault.
"Most likely, one of more of them is alive, some may have passed," Detective Superintendent Bray said.
....
Detective Superintendent Bray said there were two main suspects questioned at the time of Susi's murder.
"One of those suicided three months after her death and shortly after being questioned by police," he said.
"Another suspect's DNA was not a match [with] the profile we had."
According to police, it does not rule out that suspect was not involved, it is just that investigators only have DNA from one of the perpetrators on file.

SA Police release eight clues that could solve cold case murder

This is great news, a step closer to finding the perpetrator/s.

I wish more of these cold cases could be reopened. It takes time and resources to get through them all, and some never will be resolved.

 

[JustMyself]

Thanks for posting this Prime. It's close to home for me even though I didn't live in Hallett Cove back then. I hadn't heard of Susi until today and am very sad that we have no memorial to her (that I have seen).
I am confused as the reports state she was found on Adams Rd, Hallett Cove but Adams Rd is in Sheidow Park. Maybe back then Sheidow Park as a subdivision didn't exist. I do know it would have been very rural back then.
If Susi started the walk down Seacombe Rd from Darlington to her home at 2am then it is very unlikely she would have gotten into a car with anyone unless she knew them and trusted them. School friends? Family friends? Local doctor/teacher?
It would have been very quick for them to drive straight up the hill on Ocean Boulevard and onto Majors Rd then Adams Rd. Susi probably wouldn't have realised they weren't heading towards home until it was too late.
Thinking of her poor dad who must have had such a sleepless night until going to the station in the morning to report her missing. Is he still alive?

 

[PrimeSuspect]

@JustMyself thanks for posting, it's great to have a local's knowledge about the area and what it would have been like in the 70s before subdivisions, which prompted me to check google maps. It looks like a lovely place in the world to be.
One or more individuals took advantage of the vulnerable position Suzi was in back then, a predominately rural area in the middle of the night waiting for a lift home.

I've searched the internet for other articles, what was reported then compared to now, posting them below. There's no mention if the dad is alive today.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

The 45-year-old murder of Patricia Schmidt will head across the Tasman Sea as SA Police remain determined to solve the mystery
September 20, 2016


......

Ms Schmidt — also known as Suzie — disappeared after completing a shift at the Burger King in Darlington at 1.46am of that fateful Saturday.
She got the job so she could buy her family Christmas presents.
When her father was running late to pick her up after work she decided to walk home.
Following the murder, her father Werner Schmidt told The Advertiser he was minutes away from saving his daughter.
“A few minutes could have made all the difference — I might have saved my daughter’s life,” he said.
Mr Schmidt had driven his daughter to her friend Frieda Piechnick’s house in Seacliff Park about 6pm on Friday, December 19, 1971.
He then went to his part-time job as a barman at the German Club in the city.
About 8.30pm, Ms Schmidt and Ms Piechnick, then 16, walked to the Burger King, on South Rd.
Ms Schmidt started work, her friend walked home.
......

Only nights before, she had been driven home from work by a stranger.
On Tuesday, December 14, 1971, Ms Schmidt worker her first ever night shift, which she had requested because of the penalty rates.
The next day she told a girlfriend that a man had given her a lift home. She had been walking home when the man stopped and offered her a lift, which she accepted.
He had a “flash car”, she had told her friend.
She described him as not very good looking, had pimples and was “old”, or about 30.
Once she got in the car, the man suggested they go for a drive to the Adelaide Hills but she had refused.

He then started driving towards Hallett Cove but Ms Schmidt had insisted she be taken home and the man finally dropped her at her house.
At the time, homicide detectives believed she was picked up by her murderer after her shift on the Saturday morning.
It is unclear if police believed it was the same man who picked her up on the Tuesday morning also picked her up four days later.
......

The Schmidt family was no stranger to tragedy.
Ms Schmidt’s mother had died five years before she did.
After his wife died, Mr Schmidt did everything he could to build a good life for his children.
He remarried Annemarie in June 1971.
The couple worked together to raise Patricia, as well as two other children — Frank and Bettina.
......

In the years after her murder, Mr Schmidt lashed out at the fact no reward was being offered for information relating to his daughter’s case.

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Suzi did accept a lift from a stranger the previous night but after that incident with this creepy man, I'm sure she wouldn't have accepted a lift again from him or a random person. Imo, she was forced into a vehicle by one or more men, she didn't have a chance.
It reminds me of the murder of Anita Cobby, she was overpowered and abducted by several men at the Blacktown train station in the 70s and taken to a deserted area.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Thanks to advanced technology, scientists are now working to match the DNA to relatives who may already be on the database.
SA Police have also been working through gathering DNA from all individuals identified as having a connection to the case to see if it can be linked.
It has resulted in a number of people being excluded as persons of interest and identified several possible familial matches to people on the database who may be related to the offenders.

Ms Schmidt was last seen at about 1.45am on Saturday when she left work on the corner of South Rd and Marion Rd.
......

When she was last seen alive the young woman was wearing hot pants, a red jumper and an orange coat with black lace up boots.
The kangaroo skin purse Ms Schmidt carried was never located, but she was found wearing only her boots, while her jumper and coat were draped over her body when it was discovered.
Her bra was also hanging on a wire fence nearby.

New detail in 50-year-old murder case

It's just so incredibly sad, she was working hard to save money for her future, she wanted to be an air hostess, and these lowlife's took her life, it doesn't make any sense whether it happened today or back in the 70s. It is difficult to stomach that these culprits have remained free all these years! I wonder if one of them kept the kangaroo skin purse as a trophy, or gave it to a romantic partner.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

A shocking murder unsolved – but brother still hopes for answers
Suzie Schmidt was violently murdered 50 years ago, but the case was never solved. Her brother Frank – and the police – have never given up hope. SUBSCRIBE to read the full story.

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I'm not subbed so I can't read the article, I've no doubt Suzi's brother, Frank, would have mentioned their dad and if he's alive.
Mr Schmidt was upset at the time there was no reward, I hope he lived long enough to see there were further developments and a reward offered, that the police hadn't abandoned the hunt for his daughter's killers.

 

[JustMyself]

Thanks to advanced technology, scientists are now working to match the DNA to relatives who may already be on the database.
SA Police have also been working through gathering DNA from all individuals identified as having a connection to the case to see if it can be linked.
It has resulted in a number of people being excluded as persons of interest and identified several possible familial matches to people on the database who may be related to the offenders.

Ms Schmidt was last seen at about 1.45am on Saturday when she left work on the corner of South Rd and Marion Rd.
......

When she was last seen alive the young woman was wearing hot pants, a red jumper and an orange coat with black lace up boots.
The kangaroo skin purse Ms Schmidt carried was never located, but she was found wearing only her boots, while her jumper and coat were draped over her body when it was discovered.
Her bra was also hanging on a wire fence nearby.

New detail in 50-year-old murder case

It's just so incredibly sad, she was working hard to save money for her future, she wanted to be an air hostess, and these lowlife's took her life, it doesn't make any sense whether it happened today or back in the 70s. It is difficult to stomach that these culprits have remained free all these years! I wonder if one of them kept the kangaroo skin purse as a trophy, or gave it to a romantic partner.

Thanks for all of the articles Prime. Her purse and her necklace saying "Susi" were both missing so maybe both taken as trophies?
I agree with you, more than one offender. The man who had given her a lift may have bragged to a friend and they both decided to take her.
Interesting that one suspect suicide after being questioned by police. I think police know a LOT more than they are saying and just need one person to come forward to help them.
I just drove home from Christmas shopping, past Seacombe Rd, up the hill and turned down Adams Rd on a whim and sent my thoughts and wishes to Susi. On that road we now have an entrance to Glenthorne National Park. I wonder if it is possible to get a memorial to Susi there. Just something to say don't forget her.

 

[JustMyself]

@SouthAussie Hi! Just reaching out to see if you're aware of this cold case? We could do with your super sleuthing skills!

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Thanks for all of the articles Prime. Her purse and her necklace saying "Susi" were both missing so maybe both taken as trophies?
I agree with you, more than one offender. The man who had given her a lift may have bragged to a friend and they both decided to take her.
Interesting that one suspect suicide after being questioned by police. I think police know a LOT more than they are saying and just need one person to come forward to help them.
I just drove home from Christmas shopping, past Seacombe Rd, up the hill and turned down Adams Rd on a whim and sent my thoughts and wishes to Susi. On that road we now have an entrance to Glenthorne National Park. I wonder if it is possible to get a memorial to Susi there. Just something to say don't forget her.

I think that would be a wonderful gesture to have a memorial, a plaque of some kind.

@SouthAussie Hi! Just reaching out to see if you're aware of this cold case? We could do with your super sleuthing skills!

Yes! We should have @SouthAussie in this thread, great sleuthing and fact finding skills, one of the best!

 

[SouthAussie]

@SouthAussie Hi! Just reaching out to see if you're aware of this cold case? We could do with your super sleuthing skills!

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I'm not subbed so I can't read the article, I've no doubt Suzi's brother, Frank, would have mentioned their dad and if he's alive.
Mr Schmidt was upset at the time there was no reward, I hope he lived long enough to see there were further developments and a reward offered, that the police hadn't abandoned the hunt for his daughter's killers.

Thanks for the invite! I had to stop and read up a bit as I haven't heard of this case before. I didn't live in this area at the time. But I agree with JustMyself that the area would have been semi rural back then.

I can read the article .... Suzi's and Frank's father is no longer alive. Frank mentions that he is sad that their dad died without ever knowing who raped and killed Suzi.

Suzi's best friend said that she and Suzi had hitchhiked into the city dozens of times together. She said they were so naive, but she did make Suzi promise to not hitchhike alone. However, she thinks that Suzi likely accepted a lift that night because they thought everyone was nice.

 

[SouthAussie]

I also want to mention that from where Suzi worked to the suburb where she lived is a bit more than 3½kms.

Google says it would take about 45 mins to walk the distance.
Which might have given Suzi the desire to catch a 5-min drive home.

Google Maps

 

[JustMyself]

Thanks for the invite! I had to stop and read up a bit as I haven't heard of this case before. I didn't live in this area at the time. But I agree with JustMyself that the area would have been semi rural back then.

I can read the article .... Suzi's and Frank's father is no longer alive. Frank mentions that he is sad that their dad died without ever knowing who raped and killed Suzi.

Suzi's best friend said that she and Suzi had hitchhiked into the city dozens of times together. She said they were so naive, but she did make Suzi promise to not hitchhike alone. However, she thinks that Suzi likely accepted a lift that night because they thought everyone was nice.

Thanks so much for coming onto this one South Aussie! I've become slightly obsessed with this one, probably because so close to where I live and because we've all done naive stuff as teenagers that we were lucky to get away with and it just feels so unfair that Susi didn't get that luck, especially after losing her mum.

Susi lived on Thomas St in Seacliff Park so yes a long walk at the time of night (unless she was hoping her dad would intercept her)

A couple of points I've thought of:
Westfield Marion opened in 1968. There would definitely have been a Mr Minit type key cutting/shoe repair shop there then (there are still 2 I know of, but don't know if they date from then). Police mentioned key cutting as one of their clues. Westfield Marion is on Morphett Rd. As far as I can see back in the 70s Morphett Rd continued all the way up the hill (past the intersection with Seacombe Rd) and joined up with Adams Rd, which was a dirt track back then. If you look at Google Maps you can see the track continuing through the O'Halloran Hill reserve/Glenthorne Park even today. So someone working in Westfield back then would be very familiar with the road up to Adams Rd. And could definitely be very local.

 

[JustMyself]

As an example, here's a car sales ad for a 1971 Holden Monaro (police found paint specs from a blue 1971 Holden Monaro at the scene). This is not supplied by police, this particular car sale is in no way connected to this case.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1971-holden-monaro-gts-hg-manual/SSE-AD-11913722/
Susi said the man who gave her the lift the previous time had a flash car. Looks like a flash car to me.

 

[SouthAussie]

Thanks so much for coming onto this one South Aussie! I've become slightly obsessed with this one, probably because so close to where I live and because we've all done naive stuff as teenagers that we were lucky to get away with and it just feels so unfair that Susi didn't get that luck, especially after losing her mum.

Susi lived on Thomas St in Seacliff Park so yes a long walk at the time of night (unless she was hoping her dad would intercept her)

A couple of points I've thought of:
Westfield Marion opened in 1968. There would definitely have been a Mr Minit type key cutting/shoe repair shop there then (there are still 2 I know of, but don't know if they date from then). Police mentioned key cutting as one of their clues. Westfield Marion is on Morphett Rd. As far as I can see back in the 70s Morphett Rd continued all the way up the hill (past the intersection with Seacombe Rd) and joined up with Adams Rd, which was a dirt track back then. If you look at Google Maps you can see the track continuing through the O'Halloran Hill reserve/Glenthorne Park even today. So someone working in Westfield back then would be very familiar with the road up to Adams Rd. And could definitely be very local.

I noticed in the (paywalled) article linked above that it says that there was a man who was a key cutter that Suzi knew 'quite well'. This man apparently lives interstate now, but gave a DNA sample when police went to see him there, and his DNA eliminated him.

They do believe the guilty party's name is in their case file, and they are systematically going through that file, obtaining DNA from various known people, so they can count them in or count them out.

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[JustMyself]

I noticed in the (paywalled) article linked above that it says that there was a man who was a key cutter that Suzi knew 'quite well'. This man apparently lives interstate now, but gave a DNA sample when police went to see him there, and his DNA eliminated him.

They do believe the guilty party's name is in their case file, and they are systematically going through that file, obtaining DNA from various known people, so they can count them in or count them out.

No Cookies | The Advertiser

Ah so the key cutting materials are probably from this man who has been ruled out already?
Interesting that the police are presenting it as one of their 8 factoids of info. It means that on that list is the real info they want to get out there hidden amongst irrelevant ones.
Maybe the car is the clue. The reference to pink and white paint flakes struck me as odd. Pink was such a common house paint (interior and exterior) colour in the 70s.

I wonder if the police have been in touch with any of the Holden car clubs in Adelaide or with previous employees of Phillips round that time to cross reference owners of electra blue 1971 Monaros with employees? I mean probably, I'm not doubting their capabilities, just interested in where they are going apart from DNA .