Coober Pedy, Sth Australia ~ The disappearances of Karen Williams, and Anna Rosa Liva ~ Unsolved

[kelynn]

An excellent read :
Anna Rosa LIVA

Lost - Two Women And A Town's Innocence

SUNDAY AGE

Saturday May 9, 1992 - Catharine Lumby

AS A place to dump bodies, Coober Pedy is hard to beat. Abandoned mineshafts stretch in a 40-kilometre radius around the town. Just 100 metres below the surface lies an unmapped labyrinth of tunnels, blast holes and dead ends. As one local says: ``If you want to bury someone out here you just drop them down a hole and follow them up with a stick of gelignite. There are a million shafts and it's impossible to search every one." Murder isn't new to Coober Pedy. Locals will tell you that plenty of arguments have been settled with explosives in the past. But this time it's different. This time the possible victims are those of two young women. And their suspected murders have released a flood of anger and grief in the town.

Karen Williams, a local Aboriginal girl aged 16, was the first to vanish. As far as police know, she was last seen at 5am on 4 August 1990 by a young local boy. The pair had been out with a group of friends, dancing at the local disco.

An attractive outgoing teenager, Karen was living at home and studying in a local TAFE course. There was no reason for her to leave town unexpectedly. The local Aboriginal community has contacted communities all over Australia but she has not been seen since.

Anna Rosa Liva disappeared 14 months later in equally mysterious circumstances. The 30-year-old Italian tourist arrived in Coober Pedy by bus at 10pm on November 27, 1991. Next morning she booked a 2pm tour of the opal fields and headed off to the council chambers to inquire about local church services.

As a Jehovah's Witness, Anna was thrilled to discover that the tourist information officer was her resident pastor. They talked, and she promised to attend a meeting scheduled for 7pm that night. She walked out of the council building, on to the main street and was seen no more.

When she failed to board the 10pm bus to Adelaide that night, a search of her room revealed a neatly packed suitcase containing her ID. Her passport and bank accounts have remained untouched and she has not contacted friends or relatives since.

 

[kelynn]

IN August 2016, Nikola Novakovich was acquitted of Karen Williams' murder or manslaughter. Man accused of killing missing teen Karen Williams walks free

A man who stood trial for murdering Coober Pedy teenager Karen Williams in 1990 has walked free from the South Australian Supreme Court after being acquitted.

Nikola Novakovich, 45, was accused of killing the teenager who went missing in the town 26 years ago.

Justice Tim Stanley delivered his verdict this morning, finding Mr Novakovich not guilty of murder and not guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

There was an allegation Mr Novakovich shot the teenager because she had seen him and his associate Aleksander Radosavljevic commit armed robbery.

Mr Radosavljevic alleged to police that he helped Mr Novakovich dispose of Ms Williams' body down a mineshaft.

Justice Stanley said he was satisfied both men "had some involvement in the death of Karen Williams and the disposal of her body" but took issue with the evidence.

"Having considered all of the evidence in this matter, I am unable to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused killed Karen Williams, let alone that he did so with the specific intent of killing her or inflicting grievous bodily harm," he said.

"The state of the evidence is such that it is impossible to make a finding beyond reasonable doubt as to how Karen Williams died. As a result, the accused also cannot be guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter."