Bikies, ink and a vicious rumour | 2

She was the first time met us.

Everything to me, having now spent so much time with Christy, this is hard to watch. I'm looking back at the family's first press conference from the Channel nine archives and my heart is breaking. Christie's told me so much about this time in her life. She's pale, bewildered. And it's just a week after Rochelle's death. It's June two thousand and one. There are no clear suspects, and detectives are

Love I very much and we're always will And if anyone's got any knowledge, you know, to help us in our party, then come forward.

I'm Ashley Hanson and you're listening to episode two of Dear Rochelle, a podcast by True Crime Australia. This is the untold story of Rochelle Charles, a twenty three year old who was brutally murdered. Her killer has never been caught.

The four of us were so close.

I think this sort of a thing would either rip a family apart or bring them closer together. And it definitely brought the three of us close together. But we kind of grieved away from one another. We would talk about her and talk about the case all the time, but being upset and crying, and you know, we didn't do that in front of each other, which is interesting.

And did you go into a bit of a fog? I know you've described before that you don't remember a lot of that period after that, which is totally understandable. So how did you pick yourself back up?

I don't know.

I don't remember that. Probably the next six months are very blurry. I was very angry, I was very sad. I was very angry, rightly, so, yeah, And I was an eighteen year old with attitude anyway, but I was just angry.

Yeah.

I don't honestly don't remember much. I do remember that day. This is horrible, this part. I didn't talk to Mum and Dad.

For a little while.

I just sort of stayed away because I didn't want to see them feel that.

I just didn't want to say it.

But later on I was sitting on my bed and Dad was sitting next to me, and I was born, and he was cuddling me, and we're talking about it, and he said there's more. When I said what and he said when they put her down at to row while they set her on fire. I don't know how Dad told me that. Then he was crying and I was screaming, and.

It was horrible. That's very clear in my mind.

Poor dad, Have you ever thought why me? I've lost so much over there is? I never say why me? I just think of why all of it? There's some awful people out there. She was so good.

I just don't.

Understand how do you process new grief.

You never get over it, never, but you just learn to manage it. And yeah, you have to get on with life because I've still got another daughter and granddaughter there so and you can't put yourself out there and be complaining and carrying on because it just brings everyone else down and it's not good for yourself. You've just got to cop it and always wonder why and to

No rules.

Yeah, that's understandable. He's taken so much from you. He has no idea, oh idea really. Rochelle might have moved to Bargo for the peace in the space a small community offered, but the people of Bargo had encountered evil before.

The nation was shocked by the most brutal of crimes, the rape and murder of Bargo schoolgirl Ebonie Simpson.

She was Daddy's little girl, nine year old ebone Simpson.

She was abducted, raped and thrown alive into a dam, where she drowned.

In nineteen ninety two, nine years before Rochelle's murder, Ebonie's innocent smile was seen in the minds of Australian parents. I remember when it happened. I was the same age as Ebonie, nine years old, and I wasn't allowed to walk to school anymore like so many other children. Her pedophile killer, Andrew Peter Garforth, was senten to life in prison and his papers marked never to be released.

My name is Mick Ashwood, a police officer from New South Wales Police Force between nineteen eighty four and twenty ten, twenty six year service. I retired in twenty ten as a detective inspector.

Mick Ashwood recalls escorting Garforth to the Bargo Dam where he drowned little Ebony.

We call miss a Girl's Missing and that was the one case I've worked on where I would say every decision from the top down was made, was excellent. When the young offender, when he admitted to what he'd done, then wanted to show where the body was, so I just drove him with the others out to the scene. We've found a body later in the dam.

Garforth was even part of the volunteer search group pretending to look for Ebony before he began to unravel. Cases like that, they stick with you and Mick would never forget. When Ebeney's family met Rachelle's.

The irony is grand child's came to speak to one of the detective's training courses and Ebide Simpson's mum was there and just you know, I broke down because it's the first some way I'd put my head into the world of the victim, you know, And so because you know, her pink lunchbox was floating on the water when we got there and the lights were turned on. It was only in the two thousands, ten years later that it got to me.

Two very horrendous crimes connected to Bargo. How does that change your community?

Well, it is a stigma, and people say the old usual thing, blame the media. Don't want the media in here, and that's I understand that, But it's the evolution of a rural area that into urbanization. Garforth was a guy who got out of jail, came over and start up a new life here and was just looking for another victim. Could have been any area.

And at what point did you join the murder investigation of Rochelle Child's I.

Think it was about one year after the death occurred. I was asked by my boss to undertake an intelligence review and assist the local police who are leading the investigation.

And how would you describe the investigation when you joined it.

The initial meetings didn't occur in the normal way at a police station. They occurred at coffee shops, which was a bit unusual. They had five or six persons of interest, and how the position they were in there was sort of stuck. My initial concern was after a year homicide investigation generally does not have five or six persons of interest, or they were referred to at the time as suspects. It's quite unusual. It's usually one two usually that's the case.

Rochelle's murder was always comples from a police perspective. They quickly came to the realization they were hunting an extremely dangerous sex offender. But this wasn't a random attack. Detectives believe Rochelle knew her killer and he was hell bent on covering his tracks. Rochelle's body was badly burned, destroying forensic evidence. There was a lot of finger pointing and someone was spreading rumors.

Graham Child's wife Ann and daughter Christie last saw a twenty three year old Rochelle last Wednesday night.

The following evening she was murdered.

Don't know something like that could happen here.

Rachelle's parents say their daughter's body cannot truly be put to rest until it's known who is responsible for her death.

We heard that she had been tied to a tree and set on fire and possibly tortured. That was some very early reports. Police were not, you know, sharing a lot of information during investigations, and that's quite common. They want to keep a few things secret. So these torture allegations, the tying up, that took us a long time to even have that dispelled, that she'd been tied to a tree. My name is Mark murray On, the crime editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. You've got a small country town.

But do they always share the truth. Rachelle was popular, She had no known enemies. She was single, gorgeous, friendly, and maybe a little naive. She was only twenty three. He from her best friend Lisa and work mate Fiona about their final conversations with Rachelle.

I gave her a serving. She had told me at that point that she was going to a rebels clubhouse, and I just ripped into her and I said, that is idiotic, stupid, don't you dare?

Do you know how dangerous that could be?

You know, just ripped into her, and in my head she was going to a particular clubhouse, but probably because that's the only one I knew of.

The only time she'd ever mentioned rebels to me was that she'd been invited to a party and would I ever go? And I said, no way, and that was the end of the conversation.

She kind of fought back a little bit, and I think we hung up on each other in fury, but she ended up texting me back afterwards. Saying, you know, you're a good mate, Lisa, and I get where you're coming from. But don't worry. You know what, I trust this Sash person, which was the person that was going to take her there, and I'll be fine. So I think that that put me at peace a little bit. But also I was still twenty three and fiery, and

Yeah, there's only one person or people responsible for Rochelle's death and it's not her loved ones.

Logic knows that, ah bo.

Yeah, the Sash Lise is referring to is Sash milchah Reck Senior. He's one of the first persons of interest police explored. Remember nine pois were identified and scrutinized. At the time, he was a senior member of the Bargo chapter of the Rebel Outlaw motorcycle Gang and he also owned a car yard in Bargo. You can imagine after Rochelle's murder it was a pretty unnerving time for locals. Everyone was talking about it and they wanted to know who did it. A killer was on the.

Loose, cropper in a Larma General Checks.

Sash and other members of the biking group were hauled in for questioning. Here's the Daily Telegraph crime editor Mark Mourray. Again, there were.

Rumors that the potentially had some involvement with bikes. You know, there was suggestions that the Bargo had a biking influence. And we do know country towns bikes, especially some of the lower members, they make their money selling dope, and particularly in those smaller towns like that. So there were those rumors that she could have been involved with the biking member or just knew some of them, which would

We did hear that police were taking the rumors seriously. They were investigating whether Rochelle was involved with the Rebels bikei club and was she selling drugs.

I'd never ever seen her with drugs. If she was selling drugs, she'd have had money. If she was selling drugs, she'd have probably been doing.

Drugs like that.

It just makes no sense whatsoever, and it makes me angry.

But it was sort of like a case of Chinese whispers.

And you know, the Rebels are known for not being nice people and for being into drugs and crime and things like that, so they're an easy target to point the finger out. And it's an interesting story.

You know.

I heard someone say that she was dealing drugs for the Rebels and she ripped them off. I can tell you for free. She was lucky to put more than five dollars at a time in her tank at the petrol station. She was broke, she was terrible money. She didn't have any money.

Let's explore those two points. Was Rochelle involved with bikeis and could she have been dealing drugs? First, Rochelle's friends say she'd been invited to a party at the Rebels clubhouse, but she'd never mentioned anything like that before, so they were shocked. And then after she was killed, a rumor has started the bikes were responsible because she owed them money for drugs. Police weren't ruling anything out, but let's

We do awkward?

Well, see is that part of what you love about Mint?

She snorts.

It's one of the first things I noticed about her.

But that's on did you when you laugh?

Ad?

How would I describe Mindy as the best friend?

She's incredibly loyal, hilarious, She's hilarious, she's feeding me lies, Chris. She's incredibly loyal, incredibly kind, incredibly giving, pretty fierce backs the younger dogs. She reminds me of Rochelle in a lot of ways.

How would I describe my friendship with Christie easy natural.

It's just Christie.

She's the best true story.

Yeah, no, bullshit.

Just she just loves you. That's true. I do.

I it makes me angry.

I'll just get angry.

It's not right.

It's twenty three years. Shouldn't have been twenty three days, shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, so.

I don't know what it would be like to be in that position, to ship position. I mean, it just makes me angry. They deserve it, they deserve to know. None of it should have happened in the first place.

But to be.

Waiting not knowing is.

Shit.

I don't know how she does it like it kills me.

And yeah, I don't know.

She is probably one of, if not the strongest person I know.

She's just.

I don't think she believes it, but she's pretty fierce herself.

I think.

Already ready to blame always.

I did.

Chadwick, Christie and Mindy A going to have the words team shell tattooed on their legs. It's a tribute to Rachelle and also a symbol of their commitment to finding the truth.

We're going to do exactly why Rochelle made it, How to make.

That slight.

I'd like to do it a little bit bigger than your okay, because you know something you want to hide. It's something that you want people to see. Is this something that Rachelle wrote?

No, they've created the design by using Rochelle's handwriting.

Did you put that together?

And have just put that together?

She got in trouble with the police, had a driving incident and she had written all over the statement from the cloth with all these arguments down the side about how wrong he was the chatty tattooist.

Is Dash milcharek? He actually knew Rochelle. You've heard him mentioned earlier in relation to a party at the Rebels clubhouse?

Is that little bits too bad?

Though?

Didn't have.

To that is awesome?

Coo are.

Sorry?

Mum got another one.

Christie is keen to speak to anyone connected to her sister's case. Do fill in the blanks.

Did you fire Carl Fair?

Or did she.

Oh deah oh there.

In two thousand and one, Sash lived in Bargo and he ran a business there called Sash Has Used Cars. His slogan was don't buy trash, see Sash and save cash. He was a well known character in town, either through his car yard or through his membership with the Rebels motorcycle club. As you just heard, Sasha had brought a car from Rochelle's boyfriend, and it was common practice to wheel and deal cars and parts between other businesses, which included Camden Holden where Rochelle and Fiona worked.

So, guys, I meet with smaller caryards, we go and buy them from the big kayaks, same as where Rashaul worked.

If he had needed anything brought down. She lived there, so it made sense that she would drop them in to the caryard. I assume if he needed stuff for his caryard, so it wasn't that usual for him to call and.

Ask for her.

In regards to parts, I would assume.

I only remember her Camden holder trying to order a car for my wife. That's when I made the phone call they to see the that car come in. She thought was going to come in on a Tuesday or something, and was it a Thursday? It was a Thursday on it and then I said, she goes, We'm me Thursday afternoon should be in by then, you know, But it wasn't a been. That was the end of it. Yeah, and the young girl said that she left about five ten minutes ago. Whoever was on the counter, Yeah, and that was it.

That call Sash made to Candid Holden asking for Rochelle just minutes after she was seen for the last time, were to put him on the police radar very early. And don't forget the Rebels biker group are considered by Australian authorities to be a criminal gang known for drug trafficking and other serious crimes. Not that we're suggesting Sash had any involvement in criminal activity. Sash says he met Rochelle through her boyfriend at the time, Shane Loakes. It was hard.

It was hard, and everywhere you walked and then you're started hearing people saying this about you and saying that Abelian and saying you've done this and you've done that. You think, how do you get this shit? How does this come? You know, like fucking blame on me? What because I'm in a bike club fun. We're in the bikes and chase you know, chasing fun and whatever and drinking beer and you know it's and chasing that dream, going for arrive your mates and whatever. You know, Chilling people,

I didn't need to have definitely didn't have any money.

And you know, I never ever, ever, ever, I never been in a house, never even knew where she lived. I knew that Shane and her lived up Bargo, you know, because I've filled out the paperwork obviously, and I knew there were locals because they would have said I live up the road. But yeah, that's that's about im. I don't know how many times I met shame with her, but it wasn't that many times, you know what I mean. It was many fank walls, the carcomers car coming. It

Yeah, and you know that probably better.

You mean you know the whole story better than I do. I mean you only read in the papers, and then you can't really take that as gospel. I wish all the best with him. I hope this has made you happy.

Yep, I love it.

Don't get your mom. Don't get your mom bringing me shouting at you. Ken and my daughter at tattoo. She's a respectable school teacher.

I'm a school teacher.

Let's break this down. In a chat with Christy, Sash says he has nothing to hide. He's happy to answer her questions. I'm there and he's okay being recorded, but he doesn't agree to do an interview with me. He says that's because he doesn't trust the media, and he has had his fair share of news coverage over the years. I'm watching him closely and he doesn't appear nervous in

She got along really well with Sash. She quite liked him.

And Sash was initially a person of interest though, wasn't he?

Yeah?

And I think because of the rumors about the Red Bulls by gang and Rachelle wanting to go to a rebels party, which I've never heard her say in life. Because of those rumors, and because of the fact that there's phone calls between them and things like that, because of their line of work, I think that's how he kind of became a person of interest.

Well, Sash gave evidence at the inquest, but he answered every question. You know, he said that he wanted to help. Nothing worth mentioning came out.

He just pretty much repeated what his statements were and there wasn't really anything suspicious.

And do you think that someone has used the biki's rumor to divert police?

Oh, definitely.

It's a convenience escapegoat because of the stigma attached to bikis and bikey gangs, Sash and the rebels out it.

You know Bargo, they've got a reputation.

Even talking to one of my closest friends recently, they believed that the rebels were responsible because of that rumor that there's no evidence to back that up, in my opinion, fabricated. I'd be happily proven wrong if someone can tell me exactly what happened.

In the end, it was Sasha's signature on a credit card receipt from a Chinese restaurant that confirmed his alibi.

And they still hounded and hounded and hounded. I'm thinking, Jesus Christ, you know, come on, you're wasting time. I said to him, you're wasting time. Fucking he get on with it. Yeah, move, move, fucking wasting time, you know. Even And I remember I had cash on me. I sold of the cars and I didn't want to break and lucky I paid for it by credit card because I had to sign for him those days and get credit card. You signed it on the white slip, and I had I had money in my pocket. It was

That when you're turning up the volume in the car, yeah.

Saying when I tell you, I've got to do it all perfect, and I'm very ac dc.

You know, Damien Luna and I have looked into all the persons of interest. Here's his take on Sash.

Well, clearly Rochelle was not involved with bikis or the drug scene. Sash doesn't come up on the radar with me. He was very cooperative with pleas from the outset, and that's sometimes unusual for members of outlaw motorcycle games. And I believe that he's no longer a personal interest. And the investigating police came to the same conclusion as I have.

After getting inked, Christy, Mindy and me headed to Seven Mile Beach to meet either Davis, the first lead investigator on Rochelle's case, and you're going to hear about a crucial piece of evidence for the very first time. The tank. It's where detectives believe Rochelle's killer had intended to hide her body.

So again, when you're considered the amount of crown Land catchment, but right there like so you pass all of that just to come here from that white line to where that tank was like fifteen meters, So the idea of concealment would have been in that tank. That's why the top was shoved off it. Everybody going to shol over and heads or the short cut down an arrow, so we never had to expressway there.

And can you compare this area and this spot to what it was back in two thousand and one?

Was much the same. It wasn't solid brush. There was a lot of hoopeness slug. It is near scattered trees, you know, the lantana is all over the place, but it was more clearer. So just picture of a concrete tank. I don't know how deep it was. It might have been maybe a meter meter a half, but above the ground was maybe three to four hundred and it had a concrete lid on it about a meter and a

So the tank's gone.

I'd say the water board shifted it.

It's getting dark and we can't find the tank. Christy and IV are certain that were in the right spot.

I've been down here a number of times.

I used to go like I'd have to duck in under trees and there'd be a big There was a big, round concrete lid on top of a pit, and I didn't I didn't ever know what was in there until I was just told us that it was actually part of the water services down to the camping area and there were water junctions in there. I didn't know what it was, but I remember in the early days there was black across it, like from the fire, so I knew which side she was on.

And was it deep enough to put a body in there.

Well, I couldn't see in it, and I did try and push the lid over or open it, but it was quite a thick concrete lid that was quite heavy. It was quite bit and round, and I didn't know what was under it. So if it was empty, if it was, yeah, for sure.

Well what's your reaction to Iver's.

Suspicions that someone.

Wanted to put Rachelle in that tank?

Well, it makes sense and we've always said that it would have to be someone who knew this area well to pick that spot, because if you have a look, even just on Google Maps, the scrub between Bargo and here, I doesn't matter which way you go.

Why here so far away and it's so close to the road.

So it would have to be someone who knew that was there. So it would have to be someone who knew the area well.

Someone who did know the area well. With Stephen Frank Fesis, his wife's body was found on a track leading to seven Mile Beach.

The couple had been married for four months when Stephen reported Joding missing in August nineteen ninety seven. A month later, her body was found partially uncovered at seven Mile Beach, south of Wollongong.

Eighteen year old Jody was murdered four years before Rochelle. The young mum was found dressed in her pajamas, just a few hundred meters from where Rochelle's body would later be discovered.

My name is Stner's suit I was This was closed for us for almost twenty years, sixteen years as a pine clothes detected.

Can you recall the day that you were called out to respond to the murder of Jody Feesus in nineteen ninety seven.

Oh I camp.

There was a Friday night and at six o'clock the very next morning, I attended the crime site, which is seven Mile Beach. It's like the lovers Lay place. It's a track down there. You drive down to Belie and right at the very end of the track that was three. And Jody's body was very but they say three. It was almost like the killer didn't want to forget where he buried Jody and he wanted her to be discovered.

What insights can you share with us about that area where JODI's body was buried?

We asked that that was a common burial ground for racing greyhounds where if a greyhound overdose or it was pretty dirty tray back then, and they used a couple of years off and bury the animal. And there was quite a few apparently very in that very area.

In episode one, you met Carmen. She used to run this seven Mile Beach holiday park. It's camping and caravan site is split across both sides of the Crooked River Road, within walking distance from where Rochelle's body was found. Here's commen again.

And then I remember thinking the next day about Jody, and then because I thought about Jody and then I realized what had happened to Rachelle, I started thinking, oh gosh, this is going to be one of those stories like Ivan Malt where he took people to this remote location that he knew of, that nobody else knew about, and no one could see from the road.

And she wasn't alone in her suspicions. Australia is a huge country, twice the size of India and thirty two times the size of the UK. So what are the chances the bodies of two young murdered women would be found just a few hundred meters apart in a remote scrub on the east coast? Were they looking for a serial killer? Here's Dennis.

Where the body was? It was set fire to just next to the highway. Again to killer want us to find that body? And then you know, obviously you've got to connect the dots. Was it the same person or did Stephen Thesis want us to believe that it was the same person? Or was he in cohbes with a person that killed Michelle Charles or said insteader in here and perhaps they'll throw the coppers off and they'll think that there's a serial murder. These are all things that

Off whether that's the case bes.

But the guy that deal with now Damien learned he's Doe some great thing. I've got a lot of faith in Damien and I think possibly this could be the break in the case the family needed. So if anyone can find it, learn again.

Stephen Thesis was the prime suspect in his wife's murder, but police say there wasn't enough evidence to charge him, and now detectives are asking did Stephen feesis also murder Rochelle. On the next episode of Deer Rochelle, here it is, This.

Is where the take was.

Oh my gosh, that's it.

It is here.

Do you think the reason maybe the body wasn't placed in the tank was not that it couldn't fit, couldn't lift it.

I look at it and go, well, what happened to you in that car? Were you killed in that car?

There any drop it?

There was something underhanded going on. We just had to take that to the to the detectives.

Where's Where's black and white?

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