Beaumont Children: Satin Man author standing by theory

AS EXCAVATORS begin digging for the remains of the missing Beaumont children, the researcher instrumental in identifying its former owner as the prime suspect stands staunchly by his theory.

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AS EXCAVATORS begin digging for the remains of the missing Beaumont children, the researcher instrumental in identifying its former owner as the prime suspect stands staunchly by his theory.

Stuart Mullins, who co-wrote the book The Satin Man, said he had no doubt late businessman Harry Phipps was the killer — even if today’s search fails to find any trace of Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont.

Mr Mullins said he doubted claims made on Adelaide radio this morning by a member of the Phipps family that the two-metre deep hole on the northern edge of the Castalloy factory was dug to bury pet dogs.

“Why did it have to be a grave-size hole for dogs? Why not just dig a hole two or three feet deep and throw them in, it doesn’t really explain the hole,” Mr Mullins said.

“Why was he digging a hole at the back of the factory three days after? Did all the dogs die three days after?”

Arnna, Grant and Jane Beaumont.

Two brothers, who were teenagers at the time, have claimed Phipps paid them to dig a two-metre deep hole in the days after the disappearance, while Adelaide and the nation were in shock and a mammoth search underway.

Mr Mullins said Phipps was a sexual deviant who had also raped a teenage girl who lived near the factory in the late 1970s and nothing would sway him from his belief the businessman was the culprit in a case that changed Australia.

“Absolutely not — because what we’ve got is a 14-year old girl that was raped, that was sodomised in a horrific way here by Harry Phipps,” Mr Mullins said.

“That can’t be discarded, he is a predator, he is a paedophile.”

The latest hope of solving the Beaumont mystery came from harrowing allegations by Phipps’ late son Haydn, a troubled man who said he was repeatedly sexually abused as a child by his millionaire father.

Mr Mullins said he believed the bulk of Haydn Phipps’ claims, including that his father brought three children to their home on the intersection of Sussex St and Augusta St at Glenelg on the day of the disappearance.

SA Police Superintendent Des Bray supervises the dig. Picture: Dylan Coker

“I met Haydn several times and once he said to me over the phone, ‘Stuart, I was no angel’, and I was like ‘oh really Haydn’ and he laughed, and he wasn’t an angel,” Mr Mullins said.

“He would say he was a bit of a bastard and yes he was, but then again with what had happened to him I’m not surprised.”

Mr Mullins said his main wish was that the children’s parents Jim, 92, and Nancy, 90, would discover what became of their kids.

“I think for Mr and Mrs Beaumont it’s the not knowing. Can we put this to rest, can we give (the children) a decent burial, that’s all we can hope for,” he said.

“For the whole state and nation, it’s that not knowing, and for Mostyn Matters, the detective that was on duty that day that spoke to Mr Beaumont, he said to me years ago ‘it is just the not knowing’.”

A large media and police contingent have surrounded the northern boundary of Castalloy — which Phipps sold before his death in 2004 — in the latest in a long line of efforts to find the children.

Mr Mullins said Jim and Nancy Beaumont were forced to endure countless hoaxes, well-meaning but wayward theories and false reports since the Australia Day of 1966.

“It’s made it a circus really. Every theory and every conspiracy theory, I’ve had calls, Alan Whiticker has had calls and Bill Hayes has had calls with their theories and you can discount them very, very quickly,” he said.

“But there was one thing we couldn’t discount was the information that we received regarding Harry Phipps, the satin man.”

An elderly woman among the steady trickle of walkers and residents along Kinkaid Ave said she was praying today’s dig yielded answers.

“It must be just terrible for the poor Beaumont parents. Life was very different back then, there wasn’t even a thought that things like this could happen,” she said.

“When we were kids we used to take off down to Port Noarlunga and walk along the cliffs, our Mum would just say ‘they’ll be back when they’re hungry’ — and that’s just the way it was until this happened.”

THE CASE THAT CHANGED A DETECTIVE’S LIFE

THE disappearance of the Beaumont children became an obsession for the police officers that investigated the case and for journalists who wanted to finally break the case.

Former South Australia Police detective Bill Hayes has been following the case for more than a decade and as the latest step in the case unfolds he is torn between wanting to solve the case and the grim realities the excavation may hold.

“I’m glad (the dig) is here and that we are doing this but it is a bitter sweet event really,” Mr Hayes said.

“I’ve asked myself about what is a successful outcome about this, what is a successful day. Is a successful day finding something, which means that three small children met a terrible death?

“I wouldn’t class that as successful, it would be very, very sad.

“On the other hand there is the aspect of finally having the answers and that’s the whole point, to find the children and finally have answers.”

The case became an obsession for detectives as the years since the disappearance dragged on.

Mr Hayes said it was a common occurrence but had vowed not to let himself be seduced by obsession.

“The difficulty is becoming obsessed by it and there is a tendency for that to happen,” Mr Hayes said.

“I made it very clear when I came on board that I would not become obsessed, I would treat like any other investigation as unique at is. I wouldn’t become obsessed with the outcome because that is when you start trying to make the evidence fit.”

Over his lengthy police career Mr Hayes said he had never had to comfort anyone with the level of loss and lack of closure as the Beaumont parents.

“There hasn’t been another case like this where three siblings went missing never to be seen again anywhere in the world,” Mr Hayes said.

“I haven’t dealt with anyone who experience that.

“This is a very significant loss and event and whether we find something here today or not the information had to be followed up.”