Before we begin this episode, this is a content warning. This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence and coercive control that may upset some people. Listener discretion is advised.
This is the case of Marion Barter, a mother teacher friend missing for twenty five years.
You know, know someone that she was going to vanish.
That's for sure.
The bizarre circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
I'm not sure if it was intentional or there is something more foul afoot. If you could imagine a teacher coming straight from say little house on the prairie to the eighties, that was Marian.
Barterho what.
I say, where do you find Marian Bart dead or alive? I honestly believe somebody has that key piece of information.
And the relentless quest of a daughter to find her mum.
Something had happened, Something has happened to make her leave.
I am one hundred percent sure, one hundred percent sure that somebody knows something.
The Lady Vanishes Episode forty four. I'm Alison Sandy.
And I'm Brian Seymour.
The explosive evidence revealed in our last episode has certainly made waves. We're hoping the story of marrying barter Rick Blum and Gelaine du Bois d'An nois, the latest of his alleged victims to step forward in Belgium, is spread far and wide. There are other women out there, possibly in Australia, Europe or elsewhere, who have had dealings with this man, and we want to hear from them.
Last time, we went through the extraordinary police statement of Alexandra Pireboom, who detailed how her mother in law Julane was love bombed by Frederic de Herdiveri and then scammed of her life savings. Well, we've been in touch with Alexandra with the help of our researcher as Stelle Sanchez. Alison interviewed Alexandra over the phone. The interview was in French, which has been translated to English and subsequently revoiced in English by Stelle.
My name is Alexandra pierrebum. I'm forty eight. My mother in law was a victim in two thousand and six of the Swindow orchestra traded by a man named Frederic d'dovari. It's the name under We knew that person at the time, so she reported it to the police and since then we never heard anything new from it, and so she
kept hoping for developments regarding the case. Since then, we often research about that person on the internet to find out whether we can learn anything new, and that's how that recently, while researching on the internet, I stumbled upon an article from your Lexemple colleague. So I was fastly in contact with Jennie Clambert. That's how he gave me your contact. He gave me two email addresses, the one from crime Stoppers that I sent a message to and
your email address I found it. I don't exactly remember how I found it on the internet, and I wanted to testify because what was shocking to me when reading Marian Barter's story is that Frederic d' davari proceeded exactly in the same way with my mother in law. What stood out to me was how fast he events unfolded. We were a unified family with a grandma who would often see a grandchildren. At the time, my son was two years old, so he would go to his grandmother's
very often, so we were very close. She lived a little outside of Brussels, half an hour away from her house. We'd see each other very often. She had other grandkits that she would see very often as well. So everything was like in a normal family, if you will. And out of the blue she announces to us she had the big news to share with us that she's going to get married with that guy Frederick that she introduces to us the first time, that she's leaving for Australia.
And a few days after she tells us that she's going to sell a house, a car, that she won't keep anything in Belgium, and that she will directly leave for Australia with him. And so it was very brutal.
Was she surprised when she learned who that he was known as Rick Blum and he had more than thir he leases it's Gonnai.
The first time we saw him, we directly understood something was off with that man. He was a normal and we even well to tell you honestly, well I saw him, I got scared because I felt something was unealfy. I directly felt something abnormal the first instant to saw him face to face, it was immagate to be scared, to be scared for her. But at that time I even thought she's going to leave for Australia. He's going to kill her and we'll never see her again. That's what I thought as soon as I saw him.
What does she remember Rick Blum telling them about her around himself, like, what was the sort of things that he said, Kisku.
Well, we didn't know all the details, but he said he was a widower, that he traveled a lot for his business. At the time, he was taking care of numismatis, so it was going to fairs to find different ancient coins, rare coins, as he said, Golish coins, rom and coins, anti collectible items. So that was his activity. And before that he said, well, not to us, but to my mother in law, that he worked in the banking sector, that he had a lot of money because he was single.
He was traveling a lot to forget maybe to forget his loneliness. He said he was going to sell his house because it was too big for him and he was all alone. And he said to her, if you come, everything will be all right. I won't have to sell it. It will be just the two of us. That's a detail that I remember about it, because no doubt that it made the decision easier than if the whole house issue hadn't been there.
How long did he keep her with this bruise? Did he he fake the relationship with her before she realized, So that is.
Very hard to tell because we didn't know about the relationship from the time we learned about it. There's probably one month that went by, two months, free months, but no more than that. It was a fairly short period of time. But unfortunately she doesn't remember when she met him exactly.
Two to three months. That ties in with the time he seemed to spend with the others who also accuse him of trying the same fraud on them.
So it asked her to live with him without telling anything to it children and to send them a postcard once in Australia. That was very brutal. She refused that. So we had a first family dinner and my partner, who his son, told her, before you leave, i'd like to get to know Frederick a bit better because we've only seen him once. I'd just like to meet him so we can feel at ease for you to live
with him. We asked that because we were worried. We weren't at ease, so it insisted a lot, and my mother in law didn't want to refuse him that, but Frederick was absolutely against it. My mother in law insisted as well, and Frederick finally agreed. So him and my mother in law were going to come eat at her house, and that was after our holidays in France. So at the end of August beginning of September a date was set up. It was right before the departure. She'd already
started to empty a house. So on the day of our get together, my mother in law arrived at our place from her house and Frederic had been in Amsterdam for his business. I don't know all the details, but he went to Amsterdam for a few days and so my mother in law is there. We're waiting for Frederick. He's late. She gets worried and tries to call him and no answer. Time goes by and is still not answering his phone. So she started to get very worried. She started to shiver. We could see. It made her
very emotional. We don't know how to react. And then she explained to us he had a very big sum of money on him and she's worried that he might have been attacked during the trip. Then I said, if that's what it is, then you should go to the police. So we went to the police, but she was a bit embarrassed. She didn't know how to explain the situation to the police. She said, well, I haven't known him for a long time. What am I going to say? I'm not his wife, I'm not They'll make fun of me.
No doubt that in her mind she already knew there was a problem that he swindled her, but she didn't admit it to us at that instant. On our part, we were still hesitant. We were mostly in action mode. We knew we had to go to the police. We didn't ask ourselves questions. Then it all happened very fast. The same night she called us and told us he is a swindler. He took all of my money.
How did she react? Did she see just saying when she realized that she was she angry?
Was she sad?
Was she devastated?
What was the grecution?
She definitely tried to hide it from us because she felt very ashamed to have fallen for his show, to have lost all of her savings. So it was a feeling of shame, so she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't explain everything in detail. She isolated herself. It was quite terrible because we were ready to help, but she didn't want us too because she felt guilty about what happened.
How long did it take her to recover.
She has incredible energy, so she acted as if nothing had happened. She continued on with the life. What happened was she sold the house and she left for France,
so that's probably what saved her. During that trip to France, right before finding out about Frederick, one of her sons, who lives in a farm in France, told her, it would be good if you buy the land next to mine where there's a farm as well, because it will be helpful to me, And because she didn't need the money she got from selling her house, she agreed to buy it. So she sold her house in Belgium and
she bought this farm. And not having a house anymore and having nothing left, she told herself she didn't have another choice but to leave for friends without all of her belongings, because moving everything was very expensive and she didn't have any savings left. So she went to live in a big farm on her own in the middle of nowhere, and she kept going on with her life. That farm wasn't the most comfortable, so she ended up selling it. Later on, she moved on. She's never been
crushed by it. She has incredible energy and never let the situation get to her too much. She really has exceptional strength. If you talk to her, you'll see what we thought was. We imagined Frederick would grab the money she got from selling a house, but because she didn't have that money anymore, because she bought another house, maybe he told himself, well, that situation isn't interesting anymore.
That's what we thought. How did she fear like mention that she feared for a life? In more way? Could she explain that?
Which as little bit more.
Face listen for that The better is to ask her directly. There are several things. There are gloomy details that I described in my letter. There was something coolish about him here.
Alexandra does revisit the reasons she outlined in her letter, which we detailed in the previous episode, including his insistence that she have a liver scan. Given will be speaking to Julane more about this soon. We thought it better we just hear it from her, But Alexandra did recall another additional detail which was quite alarming.
Because they slept in the same bed. You told her, you don't breathe correctly during the night. You need to do a check up to find out whether you have sleep abney, which she did have. Afterwards, we thought he was looking for a weak spot to say, well, she died, but it's normal. It's her liver and she had to sleep atney and herself. She said at one point you should ask her directly about it. But she said that at one point she got scared that he would use a pillow to smother her.
Well, I guess that's the next question. Do you think he was capable of violence and what makes you think that?
Yes, that's what we believed. Now it's only intuision. You see someone and they scare you, but you can't explain exactly why. There were a lot of things in this behavior that weren't that of a stable person. He was of an imposing size, He had a lot of strength. It's more a feeling than concrete. We didn't see him apart from the time he insisted for her to do a medical examinations where it was verbal violence. But we didn't see him being violent, but we could feel he was.
We felt it was likely to happen. The answer is crystal clear she wouldn't have come back. I'm sure he would have killed her. I felt it. I can tell you that the day of that family reunion, I left the table to go to the toilet to cry my eyes out because I imagined I thought the situation was not normal, that it was not going to end well. I had an intuision. So when we learned from the police that Frederick already done I don't know how many
swindles at that time, and I'd been in prison. What I told myself at that point was how lucky we were that she was still there, because she wouldn't have survived. So we put things into perspective. We were relieved because it was a close call.
What do you hope happens from this? What would you like to see happen to Rick Blum?
That he would be found guilty and that he would finish his days in prison. That would be a big relief that we would all feel.
Well if enough people come forward, potentially.
Of course, and that's why we've contacted you. That's what I hope is thanks to the media, maybe we can change things.
Does she know much more about the other case she mentioned.
Yes, so she can probably tell you herself, but the police contacted her a few years after because a woman from Tulnay, a town in Belgium an hour away from here, followed Frederick on a trip. Frederick made sure she wouldn't tell anything to her family, so the family didn't know anything, and so she found herself in Bali on her own. I don't know the details, but I know you abandoned her there and afterwards she had to get back without any money, without a phone, without anything. So it was
local people who helped her contact Belgium. She apparently had to borrow money from family members just to be able to pay a flight back, and she finally complained to the police.
The other thing is when she contacted crime Stocks in Australia. So what response has she gotten so far?
I received a message of confirmation from them stating that they received my message. What I know is when I went to the police here in Belgium, they had missigned a document that a test that I did submit the testimony, Okay, I not victim? Do I strongly encourage all the victims to talk about it, because well, of course there would be a shame to have full in for his show.
I can imagine that it would be very difficult to talk about it, but it would be worth it, and it's important to understand that in this case he's a professional swindler, even a killer maybe, although we have improved it yet, there's no shame in talking about it. He knows how to manipulate and he could happen to anyone. There's no reason not to talk about it. By talking about it, it will help the victims, it will help the investigation to progress. The benefit justifies the cost.
We have also reached out to Alexandra's mother in law, Julain, but had to wait until she returned home to France. The different time zones are also proving a bit of a hurdle, but she'll be in our next episode. However, our colleagues at the Luxembourg Word, Tom and Yannick have sat down with Gulaine and reported her story with their permission. Here's some of what she told them.
The journalists met with Julayne in early November in a restaurant in the south of Brussels. Tom and Jiannik described Julayne as young for her years, sharp, quick witted and with a clear memory. Before she retired, she was an insurance agent with about five hundred clients. She raised four children and has been a widow since the age of fifty. In hindsight, she struggles to understand why she believed in Frederick de Headeberry at all.
She tells Tom and Yannick, I'm not supers and never have, and yet I believed everything this man said. She caught me at an awkward moment. I wasn't twelve, I was lonely, and he took advantage of that. I was like the bird.
To the camp, she brought correspondence from police at the time and a photo of Frederic de Heteravari from around the early two thousands. The image is a close up of his smiling face. It's clearly the man we've seen outside the courthouse in Byron Bay, although obviously younger. His hair is white and overgrown. He's wearing glasses and at first glance, appears quite feminine. This is how Jilaine describes how they met.
I had placed a personal ad in a little paper called Lamb and received many letters. I like he's the best, a long, inspired letter in French, beautiful handwriting, not spelling mistakes.
So we arranged to meet and he told me about himself. He wanted to marry me in Bali and emigrate from there to Australia. He said he had a big house there and a good job in the management of a bank.
He saw that loving my four children was my weakness, and so he told me, with my money, he would set up an Australian account for each of my children, because surely they would visit.
Juliane trusted him, closed her savings account, sold her car, and gave him the money around seventy thousand euro. She also sold her house, but never handed over the proceeds because by that stage she had doubts. However, other valuables also witnessing. When Julane was packing up her house, Frederic de Heavy provided boxes that he wanted to be packed
up urgently and sent to Australia. Julane's daughter in law remembers the silver cutlery service having to go in the box, and Julaine told the Luxembourg Word newspaper that her wedding ring had to go into the box because Frederic de Heavery told her that continuing to wear it would bring bad luck to the new relationship. And as for the beautifully written love letter that he had penned to Julane in response to her lonely hearts ad all that went
into the box too. This is what she had to say about that.
He said, we'll have a friend over our bed.
In Australia, Julaine told Tom and Yannick that the head of Barry was very good at covering his tracks.
Once we were on the gate with friends of mine, footos were taken that he was also in. He asked if he could see the camera, and during that chance the pictures were then gone.
Jelaine also noticed that some financial documents and the valuable watch that had belonged to her late brother went missing after d'headeveri had spent time alone in her apartment. She then reveals that she was intimidated by d'headaveri. He was physically superior, tall and strong, and looking back, she feels lucky she is alive.
She sent me to the hospital to have a nottral sound of the liver.
My liver was always fine, that's what the doctor said.
To He insisted a way. I think he wanted to poison me.
Remember, Jelayne's daughter in law Alexandra, told police that Frederic d'heveri had spoken extensively about his knowledge of poisons the first time they met, and when packing up Jean's home, he was very interested in a book about poisons that
kill without a trace. She went to police around the twelfth or thirteenth of September in two thousand and six because he failed to show up at a family dinner and she was worried about him as he was meant to be in Amsterdam and carrying a large sum of cash. Some time later, Jelaine said she saw him on the street in Brussels, but he disappeared into a crowded chocolate store.
After that chance encounter, Frederic de Hedivery apparently called Julaine and threatened her with words to the effect of if I hear from you ever again, you will see what you will get. There will be hell to pay. Jelaine waited some years before officially reporting her case to authorities because she was so embarrassed and could only talk about it after her lawyer made it clear that she had been the victim of a professional. But the story doesn't
end there. In twenty thirteen, Julane said she was contacted by police in Tournay, Belgium. That's the birthplace of Rick Blum, because another woman had reported being swindled after he promised to marry her in Bali, she went with him to Berlin.
She left her there with ammonia papers. She had to see for herself how to get back to Belgium.
Julaine doesn't have any details on how much money he allegedly took from this other woman, but another journalist, a colleague of Tom and Yannick, is in Tournay trying to track her down. Additionally, Julaine has a handwritten page from the Belgian police of all of Rick Blum's pseudonyms, and she also has the name of another of his alleged victims, one that you'll know, Janet Oldenburg from Australia, which Belgium
police also have. Now that she has come to terms with what happened to her sixteen years ago, Gulaine wants to share her story widely.
I'm saying, I'm Elaine. My money is gone, though, but I hope the police can prevent this man from doing further damage.
Of course, when I contacted Rick Bloom, he denied the accusations made by Julaine Deui dan Lois and her daughter in law However, thanks to their explosive account, it appears police have more work to do. For a start, can Rick Bloom be extradited to Belgium to face possible charges arising from Julaine's complaint and that of the woman in Tournay? Australia does have an extradition treaty with Belgium. Mister Bloom is alleged to a stollen seventy thousand euro from Julaine,
plus valuables worth thousands more here in Australia. New South Wales police already have plenty of things they can charge Rick Bloom with, including perjury and multiple counts of fraud or obtaining benefit by deception, which is an indictable offense and not subject to a statute of limitations. New South Wales police also need to investigate Rick Bloom for benefiting from the proceeds of crime. It's a charge which carries
a maximum jail term of fifteen years. Then there is his mysterious assault and robbery in twenty twelve, when mister Bloom claims he re entered Australia with the final installment of his mother's inheritance fifty thousand euros. He claimed he took it to the Pacific Fair shopping center on the Gold Coast in Queensland to exchange it for Australian currency, but he was assaulted and robbed by two more men.
You might recall the police report of that alleged robbery found that it most likely never happened as it was in a camera blind spot in a crowded public area, with no witnesses reporting anything, and mister Bloom appearing casual and unconcerned about what he claimed had just happened. It seems a slew of further charges could be bought by New South Wales police, including obstruction of justice. Detectives need
the reports and documents held by Belgian police. They need to interview Alexandra and Julane and the twenty thirteen victim and other witnesses. They also need to access bank records in Australia and Europe. Police should also get a search warrant and go through mister Bloom's property with a fine tooth comb. They need to do this now. Who knows how many more victims there are. Surely now there is enough circumstantial evidence to make the case that Rick Bloom
was involved in Marion's disappearance. We break from programming with a major development from the Chris Dawson murder trial. A recent high profile murder conviction was obtained with circumstantial evidence in a case where the victim, Lanett Dawson, was killed in nineteen eighty two.
I find you guilty.
You message down.
This case is more recent, and we have uncovered a trove of evidence outlining a pattern of behavior that is undeniable, and we believe proof that Marian did not abandon her family, she was taken from them.
This week, we have been receiving some incredible snippets of information from listeners who also knew Rick Blum and his family at different points in their lives. First, an anonymous email from a listener who claims to have known that a head of very family between nineteen ninety seven and nineteen ninety nine, around the time Marian disappeared. They say the children of Rick and Diana Headevary, David, and Matey were given large sums of money during this period when
they were teenagers. We do not actually know if the anonymous person who sent as this message is a male or a female, but here is the message in full, as read by a voice actor.
I knew the dhada Very family around nineteen ninety seven to nineteen ninety nine. In nineteen ninety eight or ninety nine, both children of Rick and diane'd Heeadeveri received in inheritance from their grandmother. They both received approximately thirty thousand dollars each. I thought it was strange at the time, and remember thinking it was strange as the grandmothers on both sides had been deceased for a while before they got the inheritance.
I don't think anything was mentioned about the parents, Diane and Rick, getting any of that money, and it was directly to the grandchildren. I'm sure the money was left to them from the grandmother overseas. From Rick's side of the family, Mita used her inheritance as part of a deposit for a unit in Shaw's Bay Area in Ballina. I'm not sure what David did with his money. When I heard about the eighty thousand dollars coming out of
Marion's account, the inheritance struck a chord with me. I contacted crimestoppers a while ago to give them this information anonymously, but I'm not sure if they have looked into it. After listening to the latest episodes, and this also weighing on my heart. I wanted to ensure someone was looking into it. I hope and pray that Sally gets the answers she needs, and I know this team is looking more closely at all areas and that more will come
out eventually. On another note, I believe Rick was lying to his family about many things. I heard he was once a multi millionaire, a spy, and many other things in his younger days. And I also wondered how the family were living in a rental and what had happened. Is fortune obviously a huge lie. I wish to remain anonymous, so.
There are definitely some things that could be chased up here. At the very least, there should be a deep dive into all of the bank accounts ever held by the son and daughter of Rick Blum, but particularly when they were children or young adults living with their parents, and any large sums of money put into these accounts needs to be investigated. Additionally, if MITA did put a deposit on a unit in Shaw's Bay, when did this happen
and how large was the deposit. We've reached out to MITA before, but have been repeatedly told that neither her nor David want any involvement in the podcast. Furthermore, this anonymous person has contacted crime stoppers, but it would be good if they could come forward and make an official statement to police. And to anonymous, thank you for getting in touch. Your recollections are valuable.
We also received a message from a woman who only wants to be known as Ingrid n. Here are her recollections as she wrote them.
I became acquainted with ricta Hedvri and his wife Diane in mid two thousand and nine when they moved into unit one in Miami on the Gold Coast with their grandson. My husband, Martin, and I lived in unit two. It was a duplex. Being so close to the neighbors, we became quite friendly. We frequently invited them for barbecues and drinks in our backyard. Rick told us that he is a French citizen born in Paris and that he'd worked at Latuur de Agen restaurant.
Just jumping in there. Latour Darjon Restaurant in Paris is an historic Michelin star restaurant founded in eighteen fifty two. It's known for its luxury surrounds and fine dining and counts the likes of Franklin Delano, Roosevelt, Marlene Dietrich, and the Wright brothers among its illustrious cliontelle over the years. Now back to Ingrid's message.
Rick told many lies which he later changed. For example, he told us that his whole family was murdered in a German concentration camp and he grew up in an orphanage. When I asked him which concentration camp, he had to think about it and then said Oschwitz.
We have heard versions of this story before, though Rick has never explained how he escaped the Nazi death camps. Like many of Rick's claims, he is the only source of evidence and his story frequently changes. Continuing on.
Later, he said that he has a brother with whom he is no longer on speaking terms. He also mentioned that he and his wife had lived in the south of France. Rick often complained about lack of money, that Australia was very expensive, and that he might move back to Bali and start painting again. I never saw him paint, but he ran a coin business out of his garage. He told me that his business was money, like rare
banknotes and coins. I once saw him punch blank coins with a stamp and hammer to make them look like rare antiques. He asked my husband if he knew anyone who could make a set that could stamp coins in large quantities, something like a mint press. He also printed a lot of material. His bin was often full to the brim with paper. Martin once saw something that looked
like photocopies of bond certificates. In March twenty eleven, Rick approached my husband and asked him to sign a passport application, which he did on the fourteenth of the third, two thousand and eleven. The name on the application was David Copnall.
When asked about the name change, Rick explained he needed to travel to Paris to sell some coins that in the past customs officials had confiscated his stamp end coin collection worth tens of thousands of dollars, and would do so again if he traveled under the name to Headevy, I never bought his Cockenball's story and felt very uncomfortable. His wife, by the way, was present when Martin signed the application, as she was present when he told us
his many invented stories. Some time later, a letter addressed to Willie Rooters was accidentally dropped into our letterbox. It was then that I was convinced that Rick and his wife were up to no good. I contacted the Immigration Department, informing them that Rick da Headey, David Coppennall and Willie Rooters were one and the same person. They replied that they would investigate. I also got in touch with Sentlink
by email, but got no reply. I also wrote to Queensland Transport because Rick had a disability sticker on his car and always parked in the disability parking spot. Yet every morning I saw him and his wife going for walks on the footpath along the beach between Miami and Burly Heads. Neither of them had a disability. He had no mobility walker. Then, we never witnessed or overheard Rick
being verbally or physically abusive to his wife. We always had the distinct impression that Diane was the dominant person in that marriage. She was very assertive and he seemed to jote on her. Beck and Diane moved out of their unit sometime in twenty twelve to twenty thirteen.
Thank you, Ingrid. Some similar themes there, the fantastical stories of his past, the multiple identities and the coin business. Although this is the first time we've heard anything about mister Bloom trying to press his own coins to make them appear old and valuable, it's also the first time we've heard of printed bond notes, and interestingly, Ingrid believed Rick Bloom's wife was not only aware of him stories,
but a dominant player in the relationship. There is also the mention by Rick that he and Diane lived in the South of France, something we have no record of, but which rings familiar with Rick's attempts to lure women to start a new life with him in France.
As always, Joni has been hard at work tracking down and talking to anybody who had anything to do with Rick Blum in the past. One of these people is Angela, who as a teenager was in the same swimming squad with Rick and Diane's children when they lived in Tasmania. I caught up with her this week.
Yes, that's right, Yeah, I swam the swimming club that the family joined when they moved to Tazzi in the late eighties and early nineties. Yeah so, which seemed a bit these days. Tazzy's kind of cool and lots of people moved there, but it certainly wasn't there, and it seemed a really bizarre things for most of us as to why a family wouldn't move from northern Yssus Wales to Hobart, and then why they would live.
Where they lived?
Seen very strange.
Where did they live?
So they live in a place called Midway Points, which was close to the airport but kind of not really near anything else and again just not the kind of I mean, growing up live my Tasmanian hat on, it's like twenty minutes or those then twenty minutes from town, and you're like, who would live so far away? And of course that's nothing most people from big cities. But yeah,
it seems like a very strange place to live. But you know, maybe it's that concept of that sort of mainland distance of that's nothing, you know, that's very close and it is you know, it looks the water and all those sorts of things. So there was some good things about it, and now lots of people live there and commute to them from Hobart, but it absolutely was not the dumb thing then.
So what do you remember about Rick Blum?
And I guess, Diane, well, I always remember Rick so I knewhi as Rick, the head of Arry Well, you know, mister dedhead of very. I always remember he was this tall, domineering, ever present person that was always there, always kind of lingering, always was kind of a smuggish kind of grin on his face, but not necessarily actually doing anything or engaging.
Diane was always lovely, kind nurturing, gentle, caring. That's, you know, my over that's kind of my overall impression was that she was kind and caring and gentle, and he was the exact opposite. I mean, it was sort of definitely his way was the way things went, you know, I don't know that you know, it was kind of dad once this or dad, you know, he was he wanted them to succeed, and he wanted them to do well, and his way was the way that, you know, it
was what happened. There wasn't a degree. I don't think there was much negotiation in terms of as a couple in my observation, I don't know observe, observing any specific conflicts or anything, but I mean, he was very dominant and the kids just seems like normal, lovely people. And but hearing all of this about Rick does not surprise me.
In the least.
Angela goes on to recall the friendship she had with mike A mainly, but there was one interesting memory that stands out.
There's lots of questions about one kind of what they were doing there, but also neither of them seemed to work, and sort of to how were they how were they living? I know a bit more about that now, obviously, But and then there's the dimension of the coins and things. But a lot of people are like, well, that's very
strange because you can't earn an income from that. But then I also remember, and this sticks in my mind that when so normally the standard thing with the uniforms were that, you know, you'd make an order and then you maybe pay deposit or whatever uniform get ordered, and then you pay for it when it was delivered. But in this instance, I remember Rick ordering uniforms for the kids, and I was with Mum and he's like, and so he started opening his wallet. Month's like, oh no, that's fine,
you know, you can pay when they arrive. It was like money I'd never seen, and just him peeling off fifty or one hundred dollar notes and kind of like, here you go, keep the change, and I just remember being like wow, like I'd never seen anything like that.
Angela said they were there for a couple of years before disappearing as suddenly as they came, without any notice. She saw them again at national tournaments and learned they'd moved back to Ballina later. Angela, then in her professional capacity, working in health and living in northern New South Wales, saw Rick again on numerous occasions.
But I did encounter him many many times when I was living in northern New South Wales. So I was working in northern New South Wales and I came across Rick, but with a different name as Rick Blom and the Rick in Tazzy had been ric k and this is Riic, you know, I don't know. We would have probably had indirections fifty times, I'm guessing, but I didn't realize it was him. It was often him, And there was a
lot of similarly aged women, not so many men. And there's never any mention of him having a wife.
How utterly unsurprising. Thanks to Angela and all of these people for their information and recollections, and anyone else who thinks they may have some snippet or insight that might be relevant. Don't hesitate. Please reach out to us on the Lady Vanishers at seven dot com dot au, or leave us an anonymous tip at www dot the Lady Vanishers dot org. You never know, you may have the missing piece of the puzzle that makes all the difference.
Now, let's revisit what Geulaine Dubois dan Loyd mentioned about having a liver ultrasound because Frederick Head of re demanded it. As we've previously noted, Marion Barter had tests on her liver too before she went overseas well. Sally Laden has been investigating the medical procedures her mother underwent in nineteen ninety seven, and she wanted to share what she's found out.
So I thought I'd jump in and just have a chat with everybody about some medical information that we do have and that we have worked on in the past, which is now seemingly quite important. I have a bunch of receipts that I received back in nineteen ninety seven from Leslie love Jane. They have mum's address at Southport on some of them. They also have care of Leslie Loveday at her home in nashmal on some of them. We're talking seven or eight receipts, just.
To remind everybody. Leslie Loveday was Marian's friend and former neighbor in the weeks before Marion went overseas. After she sold her house, she stayed with Leslie and had her mail directed there back to sale.
I've got a bill there from the surgeon who did mum's chronoscopy. We've got blood test results from Queensland Medical Laboratory. We've got a Medicare receipt. We've got receipts from pathology and also the Teacher's Union Health Society, which is just a benefit advice. Note. I've got two of those and another one there. These have held on too, thankfully because they do hold a lot of information. And obviously having a missing person in your life, particularly your mother, and
not knowing what medical problems she might have had. One of my big hurdles in everyday life is going to the doctor and they're asking me, is you do you have any family history? And I don't know because I'm not privy to the information. And I'm just lucky I've kept those receipts because they have item numbers on them, and those item numbers is what we did a big deep dive on to try and get some idea as to why she was having all these teens done just
prior to going on this twelve month holiday. So some of that information is the following. So on the first of April ninety seven, Mum had a day procedure at the Pindara Private Hospital in Benoa in Queensland. It included a fiber optic colonoscopy which went beyond the hepatic flexer hope I get that right, with the removal of one polyp and the item number for that was three two
O nine to three. The hepatic flexer is the right angle bend in the colon on the right side of the body near the liver that marks the junction for the ascending colon and the transverse colon. This procedure was the fourth most involved and expensive of five different colonosopy
procedures available at that time. Dodtor was the doctor who did the kolonoscopy, and doctor was the anethetus and doctor did the histological examination of the biops in material on that day one specimen only and the item number was seven two eight two three.
So why did Marion have such an involved colonoscopy had there been an ongoing health issue that the family didn't know about. Here's Sally again.
Then on the seventh of May nineteen ninety seven, Mum had two blood tests at Queensland Medical Laboratory mL Pathology Center. One was a liver function test or an LFT and the item number was six six two one one, where six or more elements were requested. This is the highest amount of different elements in the liver function test category. Mum also had a hormone and hormone binding proteins test,
which is item number sixty six four one three. Requests were for five items and this can detect testosterone, estrogen, cortisol and thyroid levels. There are multiple other item number lists on those receipts, but they pertained to add men costs and inpatient private information for patient exit.
Marian had these liver function tests just a month and a half before she headed overseas. Why would a woman with no known history of a liver disorder have such tests and what did they reveal? Did a doctor provide a referral for her to undergo these tests because Marian was unwell, or because Marian requested them, or maybe somebody else did. Sally has similar questions.
Now. Some of the questions that we poised at this time two years ago, two and a half years ago, was why was she having a liver function test? And what symptoms was she experiencing to suggest to have those tests? And how serious was this issue and what was actually wrong? And why was she having hormone tests? What symptoms was she experiencing or were they just doing a check? Could this have been related to her hysterectomy and hormone balance in balance as she aged? So the whole menopause this
thing has come up quite a bit. I've had a lot of private messages from women all over the world saying do you think your mum could have been going through menopause? There's changes in women, you know, they feel, you know, unsure about themselves and sometimes feel a little lost at that time of life. I was always of the opinion that having a hysterectomy she most likely wouldn't go through menopause. But I need to do a little bit more research on that and find out if that
is the case. But what I thought I might do additional to that is just read you out some information that has been gleaned from the brief of evidence with relation to mum's doctor. Who's so let me just read this information because I find it interesting at this point to have this information available to us. So it refers
to her medical profile. And on the third of December twenty nineteen, Detective Pisoto requested records from Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme PBS in relation to Marion Barter and all known aliases for the period of one January nineteen ninety four to the date of request. Records were only identified under the name Marion Barter and the last transaction being the thirteenth of August nineteen ninety seven, prior to
her disappearance, appeared to be Marion's general practitioner. On the ninth of July twenty twenty, I, being Detective Panazza, contacted the surgery of I had a conversation with the receptionists for the practice, who indicated that she had no patient record for the surname Barta on her computer database. She indicated that she would have doctor contact investigators on the tenth of July twenty twenty. The next day, I had
a telephone conversation with doctor contacting investigators. Doctor had contacted Detective Shean to verify my identity and credentials. Doctor advised that he saw Marion on a number of occasions and sent her for tests, the last one of which she did not return to discuss. Doctor stated that Marian was quite anxious about some symptoms that he thought to be linked to perimenopausal or menopause. He does not recall holding
any concerns for Marian's physical health. Doctor indicated that he had downloaded Marian's pathology results in August twenty nineteen after receive some strange calls seeking those results. Doctor said that he provided the pathology results to Detective Shean in meeting with him in person around that time. Advised me that at the time Marian was his patient, he was working for I contacted in relation to records held in the name of Marion Barter. I sent a request listing all
of Marian's no one aliases. I was advised some days later that no records were identified in any of the names provided. On the thirteenth of October twenty twenty, I verified the transcript of a recorded conversation between Detective Shan, Detective Sergeant Erickson, and doctor on the fifth of August twenty nineteen. On the fifth of August twenty nineteen, Doc provided a version to Detective Sheen in relation to his recollection of treatment provided by him to Marion. Barter I
verified that transcript. The following is a summary of that account. In nineteen ninety six and nineteen ninety seven, Doctor saw Marian as a patient on a number of occasions. Marian had multiple concerns. She reported that her hair was thinning, and she was having hot flushes, and she was getting symptoms perhaps attributed to anxiety or feeling stressed. Doctor stated that Marian was attributing these symptoms to changes being inplemented
at TSS. She talked at great length about the Goonski concept and how it was going to change the system for the better. Without his clinical records, he was unable to be more precise about Marian's medical status. Indicated that he wasn't aware whether were still maintaining their handwritten records. Marian never spoke to about problems in her family life,
traveling overseas, or wanting a lifestyle change. She did mention having a misunderstanding or perhaps people not comprehending her style of teaching and was facing some antagonism from her colleagues at TSS. Marian spoke about the dynamics at work not being right. Records reflect the last saw Marian on the thirteenth of June nineteen ninety seven, to just interject their mum flew out on the twenty second of June. He summarized that it was likely that appointment was made to
gus the test results that he had ordered. Around that time, DOC conducted only consultations with Marion and did not conduct any actual procedures. Doc clarified that the Medicare code zero zero two three reflects a standard consultation, whereas zero zero three six reflects a longer consultation likely to discuss results
and alike. Doc also outlined a number of strange phone calls received at the surgery on the first of August twenty nineteen from someone asking to obtain Marion's pathology results. This request was not fulfilled. DOC was aware that Marion's status was a missing person at that time. After seeing something in the media and having been contacted by a reporter and via email, Doc reported, due to Marion's concerns, he was looking at her hormonal status to determine whether
she was prairimenopausal, menopause, or postmenopausal. He said, in the context of hot Flush's sweats, anxiety, libido, that's an interesting one hair loss at her age. He summarized that Marian was premenopausal or menopausal. Further to that, on the tors of October twenty twenty, Detective Panazza contacted in relation to
a doctor an optimologist. Records attained in relation to medical treatment received by Marion Barta showed four presentations to doctor between June nineteen ninety six and February nineteen ninety seven. I spoke to the practice manager, who indicated no records had been held from that time. I was advised of records shredded after ten years. On the tours of October twenty twenty, I contacted the practice of doctor A gastro entrologist.
Records obtained in relation to medical treatment received by Marion Barter showed an endoscopic examination by doctor on the first of April nineteen ninety seven. I was advised that a record on their system in the name Marion Barter was present, but no correspondence was attached. I forwarded a request seeking a thorough search of all existing records in the name of Marion Barter and all other known aliases on the
thirteenth of October. The next day, I received a response from his practice to indicate that the file for Marion Varda had been destroyed. A check of all known aliases
also failed to identify any records. I sent a further query in relation to the nature of the examination listed on the nineteenth of November twenty twenty, I received a response signed by doctor which ultimately stated, in the absence of any files of miss Barda, we are unable to speculate for what reason she presented and what was found, so that gives you a little bit of an understanding.
Really disappointing to know that those files were available for ten years after mum technically rent missing and had since been destroyed. I was unable to gain any information from any medical practitioner, obviously for privacy issues. I've got a little handwritten notes on these receipts saying that it's spoken to secretaries asking them if they could pull files from storage,
and none of them ever got back to me. It's been a very hard slog to try and get any information about Mum and her medical history and another issue that I have having a missing person and having privacy issues, you know, not made available to the family or the next of kin of missing loved ones, because that would help.
We've spoken about this in length over the period of the podcast as well, about absentia and how you know the rule of thumb in most countries in the world is that that rule applies and after seven years, if a person is missing and has not contact but they're next of kin, absentia ruling comes into play, and that means that the privacy of that person is lifted and
we can access and gain that information. So imagine if that had actually happened and I was able to get that information back then I would have a lot more detail Now. As I said at the beginning, I'm very happy and very lucky that I've kept those receipts because those item numbers have become extremely vital to this part of the investigation.
Yes, it's so fortunate you hung on to those receipts, sal and all of those other documents along the way. There are questions to ask about when concerns for a missing person's welfare and safety should override confidentiality rules and decisions need to be made about granting access to personal documents in a much more timely fashion to ensure that they are not destroyed.
This next insight was sent to the Marion Barter Missing Persons facebook page and passed on to Aspire, Sally and Jonie. It's from Caitlin macminimon from the University of Sydney. She is a PhD researcher of poisoners. This is what she had to add.
I'm a PhD researcher of poisoners and poisoning in ancient Rome. As a result, I'm an expert in why and how people poison others. I've read thousands of poisoning stories and so I have a few basic observations that may assist you. One poisoners rarely offend once. They are usually serial poisonoers. However, they may only be caught once. Two Poisoning requires planning when, where, why, How,
It's rarely spontaneous, always insidious. Three Poisoning requires expert toxicology knowledge how much poison, how long it will take to have effect, does it leave any outward signs? How easily will poison be detected. Planning is put into sourcing the poison for poisoning usually occurs out of passion, feelings of anger, revenge, fear. It can also be driven by a calculated motive, such
as desire to remove a political opponent. In this case, it would strike me as very unusual to see someone poisoning more than one woman simply to take their money. When their money can be taken without killing them, as in the case of this most recent lady. That doesn't make it impossible. It would just make Rick an anomaly. However, some poisoners get a thrill from successfully poisoning someone, like serial killers. It's a way to show off their knowledge
and power. That's why Rick would have mentioned his poisoning knowledge at that dinner. Anyway, I couldn't help but view all this from my background as a historian. I'll let you know if anything else comes to mind.
Thanks Caitlin, Please do keep in touch.
Our ace researcher Joni has also raised some good points about signs of coercive control in the relationships that Rick Bloom has had with women over the decades.
Just in the midst of everything going on, I thought I would send you a quick voice clip. I just don't think the notion of coursive control has really been truly recognized in Marion's disappearance. There's this notion around of dishonesty in the multiple relationships with middle aged women that Rick Blum has had over the years, because he had a wife and family at home, etc. He was being dishonest.
But is that really all there is to it. I remember listening to the first few episodes of The Lady Vanishers back in twenty nineteen, and just with the background that I do have in my mind, my mind was just going tick tick. The speed at which Marion literally collapsed her life, the secrecy, the petrol station incident with the tall man in the car, the stress and anxiety noted by Sally getting on that bus hauling all that
luggage to the airport completely alone. What would possess a woman to have such a marked change in behavior, to collapse her life literally into two suitcases and a carry on bag, never to be seen again by any family member or friend. Many who knew her well were thinking and saying over the years, a man had to be involved. You had Laura Richards come on in episode ten, who has had years of experience in this space, and I'm
so pleased she agreed to look at Marion's case. It's worth going back and listening to her interview again if you haven't, just.
To refresh your memories. Laura Richards is a criminal behavioral analyst. She's the former head of the Homicide Prevention Unit at New Scotland Yard. She was the driving force for law reform on a number of occasions, and one of those occasions was when she spearheaded the criminalization of coercive control in the UK. Here's Joni again.
A key thing she said was that there's all sorts of behaviors that manifest and it is a strategic pattern. It's not something that just happens accidentally in a relationship. These are power and control crimes. It's not just about the money. Basically, these behaviors fall into five broad categories love bombing, isolation, emotional manipulation, psychological abuse, financial abuse, and threats and intimidation. Often these occur as a cycle, so round and round we go. Once in, it's very hard
to get out of. It's akin to finding yourself in a physically violent relationship. You swear you would never let this happen to you, but it takes many times to leave and with coercive control. This is compounded because there's very little law enforcement can do or charge an offender with. This can mean that shame is often immense, with many asking how could I have let this happen? I'm an intelligent woman, How could I have been so stupid? So silly?
The shame? If you reflect on the testimony given under oath in the coronial inquest, all of these elements are arguably present in one way or another, with the women who did give evidence the same cycle running over and over custom fit to the individual. I really want to focus on the starting of a new life in a foreign destination halfway across the world. Example here it is a huge clue. This tactic combines the first three elements
love bombing, isolation, and emotional manipulation. The effect this has on a woman is that it places them into a heightened emotional state of happiness and anticipation of a brand new life, and also stress that comes from quickly packing up and traveling halfway across the world, saying goodbye to relatives, friends, loved ones. It removes them totally from their support systems literally physically too. Remembering back in the nineties, communication was
done via postcard, letter or public phone. Mostly then this really isolates them, with only one other person to rely upon in a strange new place. Here we think of Janet Oldenburg, and then the cycle continues round and round and round. The notion of that man was just a con man, a serial fraudstar, a likable rogue. He wouldn't hurt a fly, He's not a violent man is also
very much misplaced. The Honorable Terresa O'Sullivan, who is presiding over Marion Batter's inquest, is the chair of the Domestic Violence Death Review Team. This is what they found in twenty nineteen. The dvdrt's work highlights that coercive control is a feature of a considerable proportion of domestic violence homicides that occur in New South Wales. The DVDRT has identified that a significant proportion of its cases were not preceded
by an evident history of physical abuse. Instead, homicides were preceded by histories of other forms of coercive and controlling behavior in ninety eight percent of the cases. In this review, they found that a focus only on previous incidents of physical violence was very much misplaced. It didn't bear out in the evidence at hand. We have really had to
push for this to be included in the submissions. Despite the obvious patterns present in the testimony, there are real ramifications of being in a coercive and controlling relationship and some end up in a coroner's court as missing persons like Marion. With coercive control legislation currently making its way through both Queensland and New South Wales state parliaments at the moment, hopefully it won't be long before other states follow.
This will mean that the awareness of coercive control within policing and the courts, and the ability to bring this pattern of behavior into court proceedings will be far easier. If you do have an interest in the role coercive control has played in Marion's case, we believe. Please do go back and listen to episode ten of the podcast,
especially the section of Laura Richards. There are also other cases such as Dirty John podcast or I Think on Netflix and The puppet Master on Netflix that can really highlight the patterns of behavior and just how dangerous they can become to those entrapped in these kinds of relationships. Thanks a lot for all of your.
Support, and thank you to you too.
Joni, and I'm sure we'll speak again soon.
Now to expand further on some of the themes that Joni mentioned there. Clinical psychologist Ade Gray prepare to report on Rick Bloom based on her observations of him in February and April while he gave evidence at the inquest into Marion Barter's disappearance. Allison spoke to her after receiving Miss Gray's psychological assessment of Rick Bloom.
I'm a clinical psychologist, um and so I've done a master's in clinical psychology. Advocates the pop level of my studies, but I predominantly work in court so as an expert witness, so I write assessments in all different court but I also have a history of therapy and working with cornatized kids in a lot of other areas as well.
The report is significant, twenty six pages long. Miss Gray has taken notes on how mister Blood presented in court, his appearance, his behavior and mannerisms, his evidence, the allegations against him, and the story of his life, the marital affairs, and his history of fraud. She's encapsulated the enormous amount of evidence and information into an easy to understand and very accurate account of events. Now we won't revisit all of that evidence again. You can go back through the
inquest episodes instead. What we will share, though, is MS Gray's professional assessment of mister Blum.
And in his case, it was very concerning. As I sort of mentioned in my report, I didn't assess him in person, so my conclusions, I suppose are somewhat limited. However, I questioned how valuable that would have been anyway, because of the concerns regarding the reliability of his self report.
So typically I would do psychometric testing which sort of compares him to his peers and looks at personality traits, and I would also use professional judgment tools to look at risk of recidivism, but I was limited as to using those. But they the psychometric tests have validity scales built into them, and they assess whether people are likely being honest or giving a reliable response, And in his case, I feel like the testing would have been invalidated anyway.
So basically that on sort of a few levels I questioned his self report, and that was really related to whether or not he was trying to make an impression that was more positive than accurate, whether he was trying to sort of make out that he had more issues, so perhaps dementia and a wide brain injury, or whether in fact he did have any cognitive decline, which I found was unlikely or unlikely. Well, there wasn't enough evidence, I guess to support that because we don't have any assessments.
And intellectually he actually presented as quite intelligent by estimate, But I feel I felt like he was using some of these things to make excuses for inconsistent responses and to avoid responding honestly.
The following is one of the conclusions from Miss Gray's report.
The evidence provided by mister Blum was often inconsistent, illogical, and vague, likely reflecting positive and negative impression management. Negative impression management may involve malingering, conveying that functioning is more
impaired than is accurate, or playing the victim. Positive impression management may include deception to avoid being linked to Miss Bart's disappearance, accusing those who speak against him of lying, or diverting attention from himself by offering other persons of
interest in this matter. Mister Bloom has a long history of dishonesty, deception, and criminal behavior, which raises significant concerns about the reliability of his self report, It may be helpful to reinterview mister Bloom over time due to the inconsistencies in his reporting and increased difficulty in maintaining a consistent false narrative, particularly if he is experiencing cognitive decline. I think it's really important because otherwise you might be
chasing some of the things that he has said. So, for example, he might say he's in relation to this that he hasn't gone away for example with Marion. Whereas if you can prove that you can't rely on his self report, then you're more likely going to rely on his history and the accounts of other people who have who are more reliable. So it sort of dismisses what he has to say, which of course increases the likelihood he's committed the crimes that he's being accused of.
In her evaluation, there was also this signs of antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Mister Bloom's presentation is consistent with both antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, but definitive diagnosis cannot be made in this context, as mister Bloom was not assessed in person, perhaps stemming from his early childhood history of instability, insecurity, and trauma. His behavior over time has been unlawful, deceitful, and without empathy or remorse. He has used aliases and condovers for personal profit or pleasure. He has been interpersonally
exploitative and struggled to emotionally connect with others. He presents with grandiose fantasies and arrogance, perhaps to counter feelings of inadequacy related to being labeled as an invalid. I really did discuss two disorders that I think need to be considered, and that's antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. Obviously, because I haven't assessed him, I didn't make a definitive diagnosis, But there are just so many traits that he presents
with us that are consistent with this disorder. And these traits are also linked to criminal offending of the nature that he's being accused of. So I think that's something I mean. I would like him to be fully assessed so that we could say these things.
The report also considered the case of repeated offending.
The best predictor of future behavior is often considered to be past behaviour, and mister Bloom has a significant history of fraud, theft, concealment, and deception, and there have been further claims of coercive control by multiple women. He presents with numerous risk factors that predict violent or general recidivism.
And those risk factors that mister Blum portrayed including offending that has diversified, intensified, or continued over an extended period, antisocial personality traits and attitudes, a history of violence, including coercive control, cognitive distortion, social isolation, lack of empathy, sense of entitlement, refusal to conform to legal directives, lack of insight, problems of interpersonal relationships, tro experiences, and dishonest intent.
Well, as I said, I use those tools normally that sort of give a risk of recidivism, but also I look at the reliability of the information that's been given, as I sort of mentioned, So it's not only the history that a person has in terms of criminal behavior, it's also their dynamic factors, so their psychological presentation and their sort of psychosocial factors that make them more likely to reoffend. So it's about none of these things are causal.
You can't make a conclusion that therefore they will then reoffend or they are more likely to commit these sorts of offenses. However, it increases the risk, so you can sort of make a determination in terms of whether or not they're a low, moderate, or high risk of offending.
In the same way, the reason it's really important to look at the reliability of their self report is that that's another area that if what they're saying is unlikely to be true, then also they're more likely, I mean, it's more questionable as to whether or not they've committed a crime if the report can't be relied on.
Miss Gray's assessment also contained considerable mention of coercive control. In fact, more than three pages were devoted to this topic.
Pulled from the evidence regarding mister Blum's alleged victims and next lovers Janet Oldenberg, Jeanette Gafney Bowen, Monique Cornelius, and Marion Barter, even his own wife of forty six years, Miss Gray provided extensive examples of emotional manipulation and psychological abuse, love bombing, financial manipulation, isolation, threats and intimidation and humiliation, and degradation.
Individuals who commit intimate partner homicide may be financially motivated, usually have a history of coercive and controlling behavior, do not necessarily have a history of physical violence, and commonly present with traits shared by mister Blum, including antisocial traits. However, mister Blum vehemently denied involvement in the death or disappearance of Miss Barter in late nineteen ninety seven or taking
her money and belongings. If the allegations of attempted romance fraud are accepted, mister Blom's fraudulent history diversified over time, his behavior became predatory in nature, and there was an escalation in what he was willing to do to defraud others. This is quite extreme because he's got such a history as well of deception that he can't really deny. You know, He's been convicted of so many things that involve deception and involve all the sorts of things that he's being
accused of in this case. So no, and I am surprised basically that and hope that this will become a criminal matter because I feel like there is so much evidence may be circumstantial, but it is so significant that that I hope that it will be become a criminal case. I understand that mister Bloom's come forward quite late, so perhaps that's still to come, but certainly there's just so
much circumstantial evidence in this case. I listened to podcasts and felt somewhat frustrated hearing about mister Bloom and when this is exactly what I do iss people like this, and normally the referral comes from the judge or the register or magistrate, but in this case it's a little bit of a different process, and he's not such a party as in most of my cases are where somebody's been accused or their party in proceedings, but in this
case it's a little bit different. So that's why I think if it becomes a criminal matter, I think this could be quite useful as well and assessing him a little bit further. I think everyone wants to help Sally as well if you hear this story, and yes, I felt like I could whatt something. So I hope it's been of existance.
Thanks to Kate Gray for reaching out and providing her expertise, her insights, and such a detailed analysis. We were going to bring you an interview with retired detective Sergeant Damian Lhone, who was pivotal in the solving of the Lynn Dawson case, her husband Chris, having just recently been convicted of her murder. But we had so much reaction to our last episode to include, and we've ended up having to split this
episode in two. It's so important that people continue to come forward with anything, no matter how insignificant they think it is, to help us achieve not only justice for Marian, but justice for all the victims that have been unearthed by this podcast.
The Lady Vanishes is different from other true crime podcasts in that when we started, authorities didn't consider a crime had even been committed. There were no previous inquests or trial to draw upon, no person of interest. It wasn't a matter of piecing together a puzzle. We had to find the pieces first. We did, and finally the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. When I met Sallie, she was virtually alone in believing her mother was missing.
She'd had a few allies along the way who trusted her instinct was correct, but she'd hit brickwall after brickwall. We believed Sallie, and now she has an army of helpers and supporters behind her. Before this podcast launched, Sallie couldn't even obtain access to Marian's records all the police file because it was considered to be an invasion of her mother's privacy as she was still believed to be alive.
The Seven Network agreed to fund her fight for that access in the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal. That legal support continued throughout the inquest and look what's been achieved. There's still a long way to go, but together we can get there. Stay tuned for Part two of Tainted Love, to be released in coming days.
If you knew Marion or have any information about her or her whereabouts, we'd love to hear from you. Our website is sevennews dot com dot au, slash news slash the Lady Vanishers and you can also message us here. You can also send us an anonymous tip at the Lady Vanishes dot org. If you like what you're hearing, don't forget to subscribe. Please rate and review our series.
It helps new listeners find us. Presenter and executive producer Alison Sandy, investigative journalist Brian Seymour, producer and writer, Sally Eels researcher Joony Condos sound design, Mark Wright graphics, Jason Bland, transcripts and translation Estel Sanchez. The theme and much of the music by Nicholas Gasparini at the Dark Piano dot com. Thanks again to the Alliance Francais. This is a seven News production.