SA court hears Dieter Pfennig told prison inmate that Louise Bell’s body was in the same place as the body of Michael Black
IN sensational evidence, a murder trial has heard a convicted murderer told a fellow prisoner that the body of missing schoolgirl Louise Bell rests in the same place as the boy he abducted and murdered in 1989.
DIETER Pfennig told a fellow prisoner that Louise Bell’s body rests in the same place as the boy he abducted and murdered in 1989, a court has heard.
The Supreme Court has heard a Mount Gambier prison inmate will detail a conversation in which Pfennig explained why he has never revealed the location of Michael Black’s body.
Pfennig is serving a life sentence for abducting and murdering Michael, 10, on the banks of the River Murray in January 1989.
The 67-year-old is now on trial for Louise Bell’s murder after detectives arrested him in Port Lincoln Prison following a cold case review.
Sandi McDonald, SC, prosecuting, has told the Louise Bell trial that Pfennig — who liked to canoe — spoke of both children while smoking cannabis in prison at Christmas 2006.
“Pfennig started to talk about Michael Black, how he had murdered him,” she said.
“He said he couldn’t tell anyone where Michael Black was ‘because there is a chick there’.
“The other prisoner asked ‘what chick?’ and Pfennig replied ‘Bell’.”
Pfennig, a former high school teacher, has pleaded not guilty to having murdered Louise, 10, between January 4 and March 1, 1983.
Prosecutors have alleged he abducted Louise from her home and evaded arrest for decades until a “one in one billion” DNA match linked him to her torn pyjama top.
They claim he lived seven minutes’ walk from her home and liked to canoe on the Onkaparinga River — and that Louise’s top tested positive for trace elements from the river.
In April 1990, Pfennig was convicted of Michael’s murder and ordered to serve a minimum 38-year term — one of the longest imposed in state history.
Michael disappeared while fishing and accompanied by his dog — prosecutors alleged Pfennig had taken him in a white van.
They further accused him of leaving the boy’s dog, fishing rod, clothing and bike near the river to give the impression Michael had drowned accidentally.
Michael’s body has never been recovered.
During his trial for Michael’s murder, the judge took the unusual step of allowing the jury to be told Pfennig had a “propensity” or tendency to abduct young boys.
Jurors were told Pfennig had pleaded guilty to the abduction and sexual assault of a boy, 13, at Port Noarlunga South in late 1989. Pfennig would later challenge his conviction in the High Court, saying that evidence was inadmissable, but was unsuccessful.
In the Louise Bell trial, Ms McDonald said the prisoner would give evidence that Pfennig had used his computer to bring up a map of Hackham West.
“He pointed to a street and stated ‘that’s where she lived’,” she said.
“He said ‘I did it ... I took her ... it was an accident ... I killed her’.”
On Wednesday, the court heard evidence from Priscilla Grace, who taught Louise in 1982.
“I got to know her very well ... she was the type of child you only get every few years ... she was quite unique,” she said.
“She didn’t want to go out and play with other children ... she was shy, quiet and wanted to help me in the classroom, keen to stay in every recess and lunch.”
Ms Grace said she would ask Louise whether she would rather play with her classmates, only to be told “I’m fine, I’m happy, I just want to stay and help you”.
She said Louise would often accompany her on yard duty “and hold my hand” and stay after school to clean up the classroom until her parents came to pick her up.
“She was very polite, always loved to please and always respected and admired adults,” she said.
“(On the bus to camp) she did not mix with the other kids, she sat on her own for most of those bus trips.”
Ms Grace said Louise was in the same year level as Pfennig’s daughter, Petra, but in a different class — although they would interact during shared lessons.
She said she was pleasantly surprised when, on camp, Louise became involved in a pillow fight with other children and when she joined the school’s basketball team.
The team’s coach, Patricia Murrell, also gave evidence.
She said both Louise and Petra were members of the team, but Petra was more of a “reserve” player who did not always attend games.
Ms Murrell said she would occasionally drop Petra home after games but had “little interaction” with Pfennig and his then-wife, Sandra.
Asked about Petra’s relationship with Louise, Ms Murrell said they “were really good friends”.
She based that judgment, she said, on “the normal little girl chitter-chatter” she observed between them.
During Ms Murrell’s evidence, the court watched a home video recorded during the basketball team’s “breakup BBQ” in November 1982.
Louise was featured prominently in the one-minute piece of footage, wearing yellow bathers as she plays in Ms Murrell’s pool.
She was also one of several girls who received trophies, after the pool party, while her father Colin — who had assisted with the team at times — looked on.
Ms Murrell said that party had also been attended by Petra, and that Pfennig had picked her up that day.
She said it was the last time she ever saw Louise.
The trial continues
