On January 12, 1970 a three year old girl went missing from Fairy Meadow beach in News South Wales and this sparked a search that went on for many days. Police and volunteers intensely searched the thickly studded foreshore known as Puckey's Estate but no trace of Cheryl Grimmer was ever found. Nearly fifty years later the police arrest a sixty-five year old man and proceeded to charge him with the little girl's murder.
What is astonishing is it has now been made clear that this man confessed to abducting and killing Cheryl Grimmer when police interviewed " persons of interest " during the investigation that followed her disappearance. That began when the manager of the Metropolitan Boy's Shelter told police that one of its guests " may be in possession of information that could be of interest to their investigation. "
The confession quickly followed and it was learned that the body had been concealed on farm property at Balgownie. This was intensely searched, but without result and some parts of the confession was at variance with the locations described. Police prosecutors decided that there was not enough evidence to support a murder charge in court and the seventeen year old suspect was released.
This week the public again got a shock when the murder charge collapsed. That confession was the integral part of the prosecutions case and it was determined that it could not be used because when it was obtained the suspect was a juvenile and did not haver an adult present during the interview, nor did he receive the required warning before the interview proceeded. It was also noted that the accused was vulnerable, had below average intelligence and had a very disturbing upbringing.
Policing fifty years ago was very different from the standards that exist today. Many of the older police of that era had been recruited on the basis of their good character and simply learned their tradecraft on the job by instruction from their seniors. The police of today undergo long and intensive training at the police academy at Goulburn and are required to do followup training as their career progresses. The world of forensics is ever expanding and uniformed police are supported by technical services that are capable of extracting evidence by the use of science as it evolves.
The evidence of crime today is carefully preserved to await the time when advancing science may reveal facts that can not be extracted at the time the crime was committed. It is not uncommon for prosecution to proceed many years after a case has been consigned to the " cold case " department. In fact, such cold cases are regularly reviewed in light of the advances made and sometimes deliver surprising results.
It is unlikely that the Cheryl Grimmer case will find resolution. It seems the identity of her killer is now known, but prosecution is technically impossible. But we can be sure that the police will not stop looking.
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