Former William Tyrrell suspect had ‘shrine’ to missing boy
A new investigation has raised questions about why a man who had a “shrine” to the missing boy was never called to give evidence.
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EXCLUSIVE
A man once considered a “person of interest” by police investigating the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell had a “shrine” to the missing child at the end of his bed.
The collage of images, discovered in the years after William went missing and featuring photographs of him from media reports, dominated a wall in the man’s isolated house near where the toddler was reported missing.
It also included handwritten poetry about the police investigation and a quote from the former lead detective, Gary Jubelin, about leaving “no stone unturned”.
The man, who news.com.au is not naming, said he had not been called to give evidence at an inquest into William’s September 2014 disappearance, which is due to conclude within months.
Mr Jubelin, who was taken off the investigation in 2019, has previously written to NSW’s director of inquests saying the man’s behaviour was “concerning” and he should be called as a witness.
When questioned during news.com.au’s podcast investigation Witness: William Tyrrell, the man said he was “different from the mainstream” and had no alibi for the morning the three-year-old went missing, but denied any involvement.
It is not suggested the man was involved in William’s disappearance and he has never been charged with any related offence.
The podcast has uncovered potential gaps in the police investigation into William’s unsolved disappearance from his foster grandmother’s home on the NSW Mid-North Coast 10 years ago.
It also raises serious questions about the methods used by police and the leads that were – or were not – pursued as part of the long-running Strike Force Rosann investigation.
The man, whose property is a few hundred metres through the bush from Benaroon Dr where William went missing, said he was home alone at the time the toddler was reported missing.
Known as “Gorillas in the Mist” among detectives working the case – in reference to his off-the-grid lifestyle – the man told news.com.au his property was not searched until two days after William’s disappearance.
Years later, during the time Mr Jubelin led the investigation, the man was placed under surveillance and his property searched, uncovering dozens of small bones contained in a number of barrels.
These were later found to be animal bones. When asked about them, the man first denied they were there, then claimed they were planted on his property by police.
“What I don’t like is the way people who are slightly different are singled out here,” he said.
“They get harassed, they get persecuted because they’re odd.”
Asked about the police investigation, he said, “I don’t like the way people are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
“It could have been someone who was driving past (who was responsible for William’s disappearance). That’s as likely as anything else isn’t it?”
Mr Jubelin, who left the police in 2019 and was subsequently convicted of illicitly recording conversations with another person of interest, said he did not question the man in detail at the time as he expected him to be called at the inquest.
“(The man) should at the very least be called as a witness,” Mr Jubelin wrote to coronial officials in 2020 after leaving the police force.
“There were a number of things about (the man) that I consider concerning.”
These included allegedly putting a basketball down his pants near school kids, and turning up at Port Macquarie police station demanding to speak to Mr Jubelin.
On a separate visit to the police station the man allegedly put “his hands across the service counter and motioning (sic) for himself to be handcuffed and arrested for William’s disappearance”.
When questioned by police about these incidents “he provided what I would consider exculpatory explanations”, Mr Jubelin wrote.
“What was not put to him and is most concerning is he had what could best be described as a shrine to William Tyrrell at the end of his bed.
“This included a picture of William and quotes from myself regarding the investigation.
“I had an expectation this would be done at the inquest.”
Ten years after William was reported missing, the man continues to live a quiet life on the outskirts of Kendall.
When visited in his isolated property, he claimed a detective had previously and falsely accused him of being involved in William’s disappearance.
“Admit it, mate, you took the bastard didn’t you?” the man said an unnamed detective asked him.
The man’s response was, “You’re kidding aren’t you?”, he told news.com.au.
Asked about William’s disappearance, he said, “I told Jubelin it’s somebody who knew he was there. It had to be somebody who knew he was there.”
The man said “Gorillas in the Mist” was a “great nickname”. He also accused NSW Police of having “made a bungle” of the initial investigation.
“There didn’t seem to be much cohesion. There didn’t seem to be much organisation,” he said.
He also claimed Mr Jubelin was “making up all kinds of nonsense stories about William, like he had a heart attack and they dumped him in the bush”.
After leaving the police, Mr Jubelin was replaced by Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw, who is currently leading the investigation into William’s disappearance.
The strike force has since focused on William’s foster mother and sent a brief of evidence to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, seeking advice on whether she should be charged.
The foster mother, who cannot be named, denies any involvement in William’s disappearance.
Her lawyer last year publicly called on prosecutors to “expeditiously determine” their decision.
The inquest into William’s disappearance is due to resume in November.
Originally published as Former William Tyrrell suspect had ‘shrine’ to missing boy
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