Killer at a funeral | 4

I don't know how many hundred people were there, but it was just he's sort of walk and he says, oh, where am I? And what's gone?

Is this?

This is surreal and he was looking at you and you're trying, you know, you don't really want to look at people say hi or whatever. It's just tough that this was going through that very tough.

Did you ever think is the killer in this church? Yep? Do you think he was?

Yep? Because it would have made them look like, you know, they cared.

I believe that the person who killed her was at her funeral. I realized that.

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

My memory of that day is really blurry. Everything around that time is really blurry. I can't remember much at all because it was just, Yeah, it was traumatic. Well, her funeral was huge in my head. There was a thousand people there.

It was packed, there were people out of the doors and it's a big church.

My memory It was mostly young people, like people Rochelle's age. The crowd was big enough that there was standing room only.

They'd come to say goodbye to twenty three year old Rochelle Chance. Her funeral was held at Mary Mother of the Church in Macquarie Fields in Western Sydney. The priest, father Michael Healey, had also presided over Rochelle's holy communion. It was a crisp winter day and the sun was shining.

And they had to stop traffic to let the procession through.

I remember just being in a zone.

I did the eulogy, you know, getting up and speaking, and yeah, I knew I had to be brave, so I had to just put on a real armor.

We'd put together some music and stuff like that for the funeral service, and I remember writing a letter to her to go into in with her.

A really surreal experience, almost like I was watching it, not experiencing it, because I just I was very good at not letting myself feel. For a chapter there.

It screams volumes about the person she was and the circle of friends and what she meant to people. You know, it was the biggest funeral I've ever attended, and even to this day I've ever attended.

I remember but putting my suit on, and I was so skinny and gross, and I just remember feeling I was withering away, you know, physically, mentally, my soul, everything.

Rochelle's dark Graham was known for his speeches at weddings and birthdays. He's an actor voicing the hardest speech of Graham's life, his daughter's final goodbye.

Thank you friends for being here today. I can't begin to describe the sorrow in my heart. For the last two weeks have seen us living out the family's greatest nightmare. The only thing that has sustained us is a love shown by you. Your thoughts, your words, your tears, your prayers have all helped us I mentally. Over the past two weeks, Shelle's friends and workmates have told us many

In the week since Rachelle's murder, police had cast a wide net, but they were convinced she knew her killer. Detectives had boots on the ground at the funeral, anticipating her murderer might be there too.

I remember standing away from the burial site and I had a detective beside me, asking do you know who that person is? Do you know who that person is? Do you know who that person is? And I'm like, I've got no idea all these people are.

I think Rochelle's killer was at the funeral.

What makes you so confident of that? Is it because you profile this killer is someone who knew Rochelle and also that Rachelle trusted, so therefore would have to keep a persona that they.

Cared well, that's right, And if you weren't there, that's a red flag. That's a big question mark for me. You know, that's something would stand out and what the investigators would be looking for finding out who's who in the zoo. And you're trying to seek a close companion of Rochelle's, you're also looking for the emotional side of things. Are we seeing big crocodile tears from somebody that really doesn't seem to care too much about her or didn't

Does any one particular person stand out to you at the funeral?

Yeah?

I remember staring at him at the court case and he wouldn't make eye contact with me. I remember staring at him at the funeral and he wouldn't look at me. I remember the distance he had from everybody else at the funeral. He just made me feel uncomfortable.

Yeah, more conscious of who was there. At this stage, detectives had a growing list of persons of interest. It's believed at least four p or wys were there that day. Plice were looking very closely at all the men in Rochelle's life. Here's her best friend Lisa leading up to her death. What was Rochelle's love life like? Yeah, a bit all over the place.

Men loved her just she just had that personality, you know, that warm, friendly, gorgeous soul. And she was into guy stuff, you know, so that was just a winning recipe for all of them. You know, she was attractive, bubbly, friendly, funny, but love cars, you know, and love cricket and you know, all these things that they loved.

So she would bond very quickly and.

Easily, but never really And this is one of the things I hate for her is that I don't think she ever really got to experience deep and meaningful, reciprocal love. Do you think she was looking for love? Yes, I do, I do, unbeknown to herself. Again with hindsight, yes I do. I think the girl that she was and deep down not the you know what everyone would see, she wanted someone special for sure. She just didn't find her person, I guess, you know. And in the meantime just had had fun.

Yeah, we talked about boys.

A lot, you know.

That was a big part of that really type part of our friendship was where she was living at the time, Embargo, and I was living with my parents about forty five minutes away. It was Monday nights. It was sex and

Fiona used to pop over for girls night too.

Yeah, so there was me, Lisa and Rochelle.

So I still have this fond memory.

She made a salad.

I don't know what we were having with the salad, but I always remember she crushed up dorito's She's doritos and put them on the salad, and it's just been something that has stuck with me for ember.

I just remember who puts the rito's on a salad.

Unique recipes aside, friendships were a big part of her life, and so was navigating dating and love.

In her early twenties. She'd been in a long term relationship that had gone to shit. You know, by that stage it had been there was an unhealthy relationship and how they lived and how much she carried all the finances and the bills and the burdens, and you know, probably he led her astray a little bit. So I was happy when that one ended.

Oh we had a bit of a crunch become a shell.

Lisa is talking about a familiar voice you've heard before in Dear Rochelle.

Got a shell the winning car, mister Shane wats did?

Shane like, Hi, it's.

Been sonny, tad Sonny.

It's good, good bit of track temperature.

His daughter was nice. It was a nice friend. She was a very funny guy and they just jelled. She enjoyed the his personality that was funny. I still got a soft spot for her.

When Christy and I went back to Bargo to see her old house, Christy filled me in on Rochelle and Shane's breakup.

I think leave people very long. I think that was only here for a month or two. But it was so much fun. I remember when Rochelle and Shane lived here.

So how did you come about to live with Rochelle?

So Rochelle and Shane broke up, and you know, to help her pay the rent, I moved out of mom and Dad's and moved in with her. Not that I paid for much of the rent she because I was at Union at the time.

So what was their breakup?

Like?

How would you describe it? Oh?

Yeah, you know, I think I don't think it was a great breakup. They used to fight a lot, but they were both hot headed. They probably weren't a good mix.

Oh look at.

Them, Look at the slower I can't remember.

See that's Shane with Rochelle at Wakefield Park Raceway as they're getting ready for their big race. They small Shelle's all time favorite cart near the track.

I'll just go park over there next to the WALKI was the fastest walking from in Australia.

And Graham and CHRISTI have always loved Shane like family. Rachelle had broken his heart, but nothing could prepare him for losing her forever. And strangely, it was Sash from the Rebels who broke the news to him. Shane Spray painted cars and he'd previously sold a carter Sash, so they knew each other, but they weren't close. Graham Charles has spoken to Sash while he was looking for Rochelle, and after the tragic news came through, Graham asked him to break it to Shane.

I got a phone call from that Sash, the Rebels guy or whatever it is.

Weird.

Thet thing was he was the one that actually told me, and he said just warning, you know, like they will probably think you're a suspect. That's that's when that idea was in my head from him. I was like, what, what are you even talking about? And then yeah, I got a phone call from Mum and everythincoln they all come racing down.

Yeah. I don't recall much after that.

We punched a few holes in walls and tried to run off into the car, but everyone was high in the keys and yeah, trying to calm me down, people were saying to me, oh, you know, you're going to be a suspect, and I'm like, what do you mean? Like I loved her, I still love her, like I love her like crazy, you know, I said, how am I? And they're like, oh, you're the ex boyfriend. You know you're a jealous ex boyfriend. I'm like, oh wow.

Really, even though Shane and Rachelle had a messy breakup, he still loved her, and he blamed himself for not being able to protect her.

Well, she wanted me to go. We were like, you know, whispling up? She's you need to go and start your life. And I knew she was a strong girl. But yeah, I don't know. I just feel like I shouldn't have left.

But you had no idea she was in any danger.

No exactly exactly, I had no idea of that. But yeah, still you look back now and you're like, what if only you know it's only done things differently or something.

I don't know.

Nothing could change it obviously now, but yeah, it still hurts.

I still think about it a lot.

And how long did it take for you to pull yourself together after this happened?

And oh I was a mess for quite a few years. So I was like in a house where i'd move with some friends at Ingleburn there, and you know, we were partying and smoking pot and playing games and.

Stuff like that, and just yeah, it was pretty miserable.

Tried to, you know, just build cars and take my mind off it through building cars and that.

But it's a pretty tough time.

And then I met my wife who I'm with now through that house, and ye got.

Out of that house and moved on with moved on with life.

Is she the best thing that happened to you since losing myself?

Yeah?

Yeah, And that's the thing too, Like I could still like imagine now, like Rachelle would still come over, do you know what I mean, Like she was that kind of girl.

And even my new wife like she'd love a drink with Rachelle, you know what I mean. Like it's it's like we left a really good friends.

Our biggest problem was I think we're better friends and not lovers, you know what I mean.

Like we were We're very had a lot of.

The same taste and cars and everything, and I think we were just better off friends. So I should have just stayed and just yeah, I don't know. I still still blame myself sometimes, but it's tough. Shame yeah, yeah, I still think about it a lot.

Sorry, don't apologize. Yeah, it's just so hard to fathom. And you wrote a letter to Shane. What prompted that? Just to keep in touch and say, you know.

You always in our thoughts and you know, I'm sorry things didn't pan out.

I just wanted the best for their daughter and stuff, so they could see that in me, And yeah, I consider myself to be a kind person and will do anything for anyone.

Take the shirt off me back if they need it.

Rochelle was newly single and excited about her future. This is two thousand and one. There's no Tinder bumble hinge, but there were online chat rooms. Can you tell me about Nathan the guy that she met in Queensland over the internet because the Internet would have only just been emerging into garzand and I.

She said too, I'm going to Queensland for Easter. And I'm like, oh, come, I'm not doing anything. So she got a statesman off the lot and Lisa and her and I went to Queensland. We went to the Gold Coast and met this Nathan.

This complete stranger who we never even seen.

That's shell.

She's like, yeah, I've got a goodeeling about this. Let's go. I think this, you know, this guy sounds pretty cool.

And what was that road trip like with Rochelle? Was she a bit of a character? Oh god, yeah?

At Grafton, at the momhile service station and just little dares like she do cartwheels. We pulled over into a into a cane field actually, and we got the car balled. These the three women taking photos of us in the cane field, and the car got stuck and we were just laughing our heads off trying to get this car on stuck and yeah, good signs, good times.

Idiots, all of us really all a little bit too trusting. I do look back at that, you know, they're knowing what happened to Rachelle and.

She thinking what the actual f were we thinking? You know, driving all.

That way to see some guy who we did not know, who could have been like, thank god he wasn't, you know to my knowledge. We stayed in his house and they, you know, had a fun weekend together and then we drove back.

Would she have gone alone? Was she a risk taker? Now?

That's why she said I'm going to Queensland?

Do you want to come?

He seemed like a nice guy, and he actually came to Nelson Bay later that next month or something to come and see her.

It's important to tell you about the girl's trip to Queensland, not just for the memories, but because that road trip didn't go down well with Rochelle's boss at Camden Holden, Kevin Correll.

He was sort of teaching at the robe, so she looked at him, in my opinion, like a mental kind of father figure. She ad taught him. She'd looked up to him. I could see it at the way that she interacted with him. She was very trusting and she genuinely enjoyed people's company. She took the time to really get to know people. She loved marking around with people and having a joke, and she built friends really really quickly. She established really good relationships really early with people.

Kevin, a father of two, was twenty two years older than Rachelle, and it often lent her cars from the lot, not a perk. Everyone was afforded.

My understanding, and I don't think I read between the lines. I think she probably articulated this.

But he had a crush on her.

She navigated that relationship to her advantage.

I think from what you saw. Could Kevin have played favorites with anyone? Did you get a sense of that?

Yeah, And I think he was doing that with Rochelle, like at the time. It's sort of sometimes it was like that mentoring. But I don't know more. And I'd like to say father daughter, but not other daughter.

I don't know more.

Like he liked her, he liked her, It's my perception.

I don't think it was a romantic relationship at all. I don't think she was remotely interested in him at all. But I think he had a crush on her. But he was also her boss, so I believe there's probably some power play that he had over her there. But she was a little aware of that and was just managing that so that she could still probably work, earn good money and borrow cars that she liked.

Do you think Rochelle realized that Kevin may have fancied her.

I think so. I do recall a conversation that I can't remember. I remember standing at the door of the showroom and Rachelle's shushing me because I was talking about Nathan coming down and boys being at Nelson Bay, and she shushed me. When she was on the phone to him, So it was like she didn't want him to know that.

That's say I was a creepy old guy in my head. I don't think it's normal to be afraid of telling someone about your personal life if they're your boss.

I think that he may have said some stuff to her that, you know, I hope you're not meeting up with any fellas or you know.

I don't know.

It just didn't sit right with me. That's your boss. He shouldn't care about what you were doing on the weekend or who you were meeting or what you were doing.

That's your boss.

And what do you read into that.

Well, that's more than a boss should.

So she didn't tell Kevin that she was going to meet a guy that she'd met online.

Definitely not No, that was definitely a thing we had to keep secret.

And what did she tell you specifically about why she wanted to that kept secret from Kevin?

There was definitely like a little bit of fear, but fear in the sense. My interpretation of that fear, I should say, was that it was just more his her boss. She navigated that relationship to her advantage. I think, you know, in terms of him lending her cars, for example, when we went to see Nathan.

I mean, she just was a bubbling person that people just were drawn to. It was a guy from Beau Repairs that was our a little bit of a thing for her.

I think he had a crush on her too, and I think there was a little bit of playful texting back and forth between them.

Yeah.

I don't know that that was going anywhere, but it was I think light. Maybe Lee worked at the local Beau Repairs tie shop. That's how we met Rachelle the night before she was murdered. That had a secret rendezvous. Let's hear part of his statement to police. These are his words, but not his voice.

On Wednesday, sixth of June in two thousand and one, I had spoken to Rochelle at work during the day. We arranged to meet later that night after she'd gone to her sister's boyfriend's place for a birthday party. This was at Raby. During the night, I sent her messages and spoke to her on my mobile. The conversation was about when we were going to meet. I met up with Rochelle at about nine o'clock at a picnic spot at Elderly, just over the northern side of the bridge.

I then went home.

Rochelle spoke to me on the weekend about getting a VL walk In short, which was her favorite car. She told me that Camden Holden had just bought one and she was getting it as a loan car. Rochelle asked me if I would like to go with her for a drive in it on the weekend. She said she wanted to go for a drive at night as she had the weekend off. She told me she was meant to pick the car up Friday afternoon. She told me Kevin was going to loan her the car.

I'm guessing, as you're listening to this, you probably fall into one of two camps right about now. You're either going What the hell is a walking short like I was? Or you're thinking sick? I can picture it right now. I'd love to take one of those for a spin.

The Holden Commodol v l SS group a walking shawl or otherwise known as a walkie, one of the most iconic Australian cars of all time, once.

Dubbed the plastic Pig.

A classic panorama silver blue muscle machine where it's classic spoiler and ground hugging arrow kit. It looks like a brick stuck on the road under the hood bos a powerful fuel injected V eight engine running its idolized twin throttle body intake or twin throats in common or vernacula.

The Walkie was a product of.

A Bogan boom that swept across Australia in the late nineteen eighties. Only seven hundred and fifty walkies were built, making them extremely rare and today they're worth a fortune. A valuable collectible. They can fetch up to half a million bucks.

That's Ben Hill, a modi mechanic who's an old friend of the child's family. Remember he took a look at Rochelle's old hold It. What were the subject of cars Damien Loone is also interested in the walking short. For him, it's less about the thrill of reving a sick ice blue muscle machine and more about whether it's the key to solving Rochelle's murder.

There's some suggestion of a walking show. She was going to have a walking show for the weekend and Kevin Corell from the yard, her boss, may have promised her a walking shore for the weekend. That would have sent her while because she's a car enthusias to particularly commodols or Holden's.

How critical do you think the walkenshaw is in this puzzle?

Well, if it's used as a ployee to lure you somewhere, then it is very significant. But have we ever found one.

We know was the used car sales manager at Camden Holden. Rochelle's boss, Kevin Correll, wielded a fair bit of power over her. There was also some trouble brewing in the books in the background, and within days of the funeral which he attended, Kevin was fired. Here's the car yards general manager, Jim Morrison. What action did you take against any employees about this fraud scandal that you uncovered?

All we did was take it to the detectives. The business owner sort of played it fairly close to his chest. We didn't make it well known amongst the rest of the staff. We thought made jeopardize think, so it was better to keep it low key.

Take me back to that moment when you decided, along with the business owner that somebody had to go.

That was not long after Rochelle's death, one to two weeks. I know there was certainly that manager's meeting which was a few days after. I know the business owner he had some concerns with the manager at the times, and other discrepancies and things, and there's the things that I'm not privy to, but he just had enough concerns that he made the decision to terminate the person.

Were you involved in that meeting of sacking Kevin, Yes, I was present. How did it go down? And what was the reasoning you gave to Kevin as to why he was being sacked?

The business owner basically controlled the meeting. I was literally there as an observer. Kevin was it certainly wasn't happy, and you recall that, but I can't remember what was actually said at the time.

Kevin Carell has always denied to frauding Camden Hold. No charges have ever been laid in relation to those allegations. Kevin has also always denied any involvement in Rochelle's murder and has never been charged. Well, hear more on Kevin later. But Damien Lun, what are your thoughts on the other men in Rochelle's life that were looked at closely by police very early in the investigation.

When you're investigating these homicides, you always look at the person who they're close to, and certainly the ex boyfriend Shane, he would certainly be one of my intended targets to first of all find about his alibi, etc. And anything else. But there's nothing to connect him to Rochelle's homicide. So I believe now that he's out of the frame.

What about Lee, the young guy from Beau Repairs that she saw the night before she was murdered.

Well, here's an interesting case in this about it because we believe that Rachelle saw him the previous night before a homicide. Now, again, someone who has contact with Rachelle needs to be looked at closely, but his movements on the Thursday night could be accounted for, so he has provided an alibi that's fairly well rock solid, and he was cleaned very quickly.

And what about Nathan and internet romance? Now, he lived in Queensland and they'd met up a couple of times, but there's no evidence to link him to the crime. So what are your thoughts on this internet relationship.

Well, Nathan and Rachelle hooked up together via the Internet, but he came from another state and it was a Queensland, a long way away from where Rachelle lived. And there's no evidence that ever linked him to this crime. And he was quite candid and frank in his admission that he'd met with Rachelle, but there's nothing to say that anything untoward happened.

The night before Rochelle was murdered, Lee told police that Rachelle had told him that she was being loaned to walk in show from her boss, Kevin. What do you glean from that evidence.

Well, we know Rachelle loved her motor vehicles and she was really excited to be loaned this walk commodore, which in its era was the most fantastic commodore made by the Holden Group. And you have to wonder why the motives of Kevin for doing that and she was very excited to be having this car for the weekend, and you have to understand think why Kevin would be doing this and what's the underlying reasons for it.

What about the remaining poise. We've covered off Sash, We've covered off Shane, the ex boyfriend, and a few other men that we know of, and then there are two other men who knew Rochelle. What do you read into their evidence and why they were looked at and ultimately ruled out.

There were two men and because of their contact with Rachaelle via mobile phone on the Thursday afternoon, well immediately would have become persons of interest in this case. Their alibis were checked thoroughly and they were just friends of Rochelle. They were eliminated from the investigation as any further offender

Rochelle's neighbor Bruce, was also a person of interest. What are your thoughts on him.

Well, he's another one of certainly of interest where he's got some sort of romantic connections with Rochelle, and there's a day's secret there that he fancied her.

I've always been quite suspicious of Bruce because I just found him. I don't know, he just always gave me a bad vibe.

I just don't like him, and.

He always just sort of would turn up out of nowhere.

And I think Rachelle even said that she didn't mind him, but she had problems with the fact that he was married with a couple of kids, and he's also the neighbor.

I think he gave her attention and she liked that, but I don't think she was interested in him. That would be my take on that. I remember him coming over once when we were having a girl's night and I remember just thinking, oh, god, dude, like, I don't know who you are or why you're here, but clearly this is a girl's night. I'm giving you the signals that I don't want to hear. But he ended up staying and I think a right twenty three, earning my own money, and I remember paying, you know, for the

He next that he had a thing for her, but nothing sexual, just to hugging a kiss here and there, and I think he was hoping for more. But I think she told him straight away that nothing else is going to happen.

Also sent her flowers a couple of time, which is ill because he has a wife or had a wife.

Yeah, so there was a bit.

Of discomfort for me with him. I didn't like, I want to say full maybe falsefulness, but I just didn't like that a guy thought it was okay to come into her house stay somewhat unwelcomed, given that the other guests clearly didn't want him there, and dine with us and you know, not contribute anything. And yeah, there was no part of her that was Yeah, I think into him or ever thinking about pursuing him. I think she just liked the idea of someone giving her attention. And

And how did Rochelle react when he sent her flowers.

To her work?

I can only imagine actually how she would have reacted and how swiftly she would have made up a story about who they came from.

The thing I'm really pissed off a bit is that they pulled the task force so early, and when I've asked to go to Queensland, because that's when where Bruce and his wife kind of ran off to really quickly, they said no because of budgeting issues. But that my dad has said to them before when they've said that, you know, we've already spent one hundred thousand dollars on your daughter's case, he said, you want me to write your check. You know, we would have paid for them

You know.

It's just ridiculous that it was a budgeting issue that stopped them from going to Queensland and getting that evidence back then when memories were fresh, and now we've got to do it again. Now when it's twenty three years later.

Years later, Bruce would be cleared as a person of interest during a coronial inquest. Here's what Ivor Davies remembers about questioning Bruce and his dad at the station in two thousand and one.

We've pulled in pursings a time. Unfortunately, we were really really pressed and it all sort of happened one really quick. So when they were going at back to the closet about eight o'clock in the evening, and I'll in a police station, fat I hope not just watching them in the truck and the interior livens on.

And at this time I'm watching them because I'm thinking, these guys, you're up in their neck. I couldn't hear, of course, because but I can see the intense conversation. It was almost like they were biking at each other.

On the next episode of Deer Rochelle, I remember saying to Iva Davies, you know at that time that she's told me something.

I'm sure she's told me something, and I'm sure I'm forgetting it. And I went out a hypnosis and I would just being Rochelle.

So I called him and said she's missing that was so weird.

He's not concerned at all.

Did it surprise you when the rebels bike is turned up?

It did, but it also reaffirmed what thought that this is a red hearing place by someone.

There's no doubt about it. There's a red odd suspect.

The sense of fear he created as a woman, you wouldn't leave the house.

De Rochelle is a multi media production from True Crime Australia. If you want to be the first to find out what happens next, go to De Rochelle dot com dot AU. That's where News Corp Australia subscribe its get early access to podcast episodes and breaking news in our live investigation before anybody else, and you'll also find exclusive videos, interactive evidence, feature articles and more. That's derochhelle dot com.

Dot au, DAI, r C h ewl E dot com dot a U. If you have any tips or confidential information to share with me, Ashley Hanson, please send an email to De Rochelle at News dot com dot a you. Our supervising producer and audio editor is Rehys Gunter Rachel Fountain, his executive producer and audio director.

Our executive editor is Sarah Blake. Our senior journalist is Patrick Carline. Video editors are Jillian McNally, Owen Yang and Stephen Woods. Picture editors are Jeff dr Mannin and Christy Miller Sendy. Camera operators are Daniel Andrews and Oscar Viera, with sound designed by Martin Perolta. Thanks also to Greg Thompson and Lenni Panerz, Show Burreo Fayguld, Vanessa Graham, Hailey Goddard,