WA: No timeframe on Claremont killings inquest, WA police say

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2004
WA: No timeframe on Claremont killings inquest, WA police say

By Tim Clarke

PERTH, Feb 11 AAP - West Australian police have rejected reports that the prime suspect
in the Claremont serial killing investigation could be questioned in public as early as
next year over his part in the deaths.

A report in The West Australian newspaper today said the deaths of Jane Rimmer, 23,
Ciara Glennon, 27, and 18-year-old Sarah Spiers were likely to be referred to the WA state
coroner within 12 months.

This raised the possibility that the 46-year-old Cottesloe public servant, whom police
believe was involved in the murders eight years ago, could be questioned over the case
at any public hearing.

But in a statement, the WA Police said they did not want to state specifically when
any coroner's inquiry into the three deaths might be held.

"While this case will ultimately be referred to the Coroner's Court, the Western Australia
Police Service has not stated that this will occur next year," a statement said.

When asked if the matter could be referred to the State Coroner within 12 or 18 months,
Assistant Commissioner Mel Hay said: "It could be. I don't want to put timeframes on it."

After the disappearance of three women from the affluent Perth suburb in 1996 and 1997,
WA Police formed Taskforce Macro, which has become Australia's longest-running and most
expensive murder investigation.

Ms Spiers, 18, went missing from outside a Claremont nightclub on January 27, 1996
and has not been seen since. She is presumed dead.

The body of Ms Rimmer, 23, was found in bushland south of Perth in August 1996 after
she disappeared from Claremont in June of that year. Ms Glennon, 27, was found murdered
on April 3, 1997 - 19 days after she was last seen in Claremont.

Today's report quoted Assistant Commissioner Hay as saying the case could be sent to
the coroner within 12 months, following intensive internal reviews.

"We would have all the witnesses and statements that would go before that jurisdiction,"

he told the newspaper.

The West Australian also suggested any referral of the investigation to the coroner
could signal the end of any further police inquiry.

Earlier this week, a forensic expert said the search for the killer had become stagnant,
and in need of an independent review.

Robin Napper, a former British detective superintendent now based at the University
of Western Australia's Forensic Science Centre, believes the case will not progress until
outsiders are brought in to review all the evidence.

Mr Napper told the ABC that WA Police should learn lessons from British authorities
investigating the Yorkshire Ripper Case in the 1970s.

But WA Police say there have been 10 independent reviews of MACRO, including one in
the UK and four in the USA.

AAP tc/cmc/bri

KEYWORD: MACRO

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