Wynarka/Belanglo murder bombshell: Karlie Pearce-Stevenson was victim of $90k identity fraud after she was killed
THE family of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson was cruelly tricked into believing she was still alive and well by offenders who stole her identity after her brutal murder. Deaths echo Snowtown
- IDENTIFIED: Little girl in the suitcase finally has a name
- THEORIES: Could a serial killer have been responsible?
- BREAKTHROUGH: The one phone call they needed
- THE HIDING SPOT: Belanglo, the forest of nightmares
- MYSTERY: 13 questions that need answers
THE mystery surrounding the horrific murders of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce Pearce has deepened after police today revealed shocking new details.
Police believe at least three people who lived in Adelaide’s northern suburbs stole from Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s bank account hundreds of times after her death, and even impersonated her in calls and text messages to worried relatives.
SA Police’s head of Major Crime, Detective Superintendent Des Bray, revealed that police now believe Ms Pearce-Stevenson and her toddler daughter Khandalyce died in separate killings.
“We believe that Karlie and Khandalyce were killed in mid to late December 2008 and the last confirmed sighting was in Charnwood in Canberra,” Supt Bray said.
“We believe Karlie and Khandalyce were killed at different times and at different locations, but we can’t say any more about that at the moment.”
Their bodies were discovered 1100km and five years apart — Ms Pearce-Stevenson in a NSW forest in 2010, and Khandalyce inside a suitcase dumped by the side of the road at Wynarka in SA’s Murray Mallee this year.
Supt Bray said at least three people — one male and two females — had continued to use Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s phone and identity documents after her murder.
He said her family in Alice Springs had been cruelly duped into believing she and Khandalyce were alive and well by a woman who phoned claiming to be Karlie.
“We know that from time to time the message bank on Karlie’s phone was accessed … the offenders sent some replies to those text messages confirming that Karlie was alive and well and elsewhere,” Supt Bray said.
“We know, tragically, that some of those SMS’s were sent to family members, again to suggest that Karlie was still alive.
“On at least a couple of occasions … a female represented herself to be Karlie in communication with either family or friends.”
Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s family reported her missing in September 2009, but the report was withdrawn several days later after her family received information that she was still alive and well.
Supt Bray said the deception extended to tricking Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s mother Colleen — who died in 2012 — to deposit money into her account.
“Certainly some of those communications induced someone in Karlie’s family to forward some money and that money was later withdrawn by the offenders,” he said.
Supt Bray said the deception was elaborate and involved at least three offenders.
“People who we believe may be the offenders and other have taken over Karlie’s identity, her telephone, her bank accounts and her Centrelink and family payments,” he said.
“It appears that those involved in her murder, and I say those only because we don’t know if there are one or more at this stage, they have retained her phone and it was used until mid-2011.”
Supt Bray said numerous deposits — including the wages of an unknown person — were placed into the bank account, with more than $90,000 in transactions between the murders and March 2012, when it was accessed at Charnwood in Canberra.
Supt Bray said the three people had lived at, or been associated with, homes in Davoren Park, Hillbank, Holden Hill and Charnwood in Canberra.
Transactions were recorded in SA, NSW, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Police believe that in June 2010, a woman in a wheelchair impersonating Ms Pearce-Stevenson attended Australian Central Credit Union at Elizabeth to update banking records.
In December 2010 a woman claiming to be Ms Pearce-Stevenson also attended a compulsory interview with Centrelink at Salisbury.
Detectives are investigating if it was the same woman on both occasions.
“All up we believe over $90,000 was transacted through her account,” Supt Bray said.
Supt Bray said police had “good suspects” and expected to quickly identify those involved in the fraud.
“This investigation is going extremely well, last week we did a number of raids and in effect cast the net out and gathered a lot of information and that information significantly progressed the investigation,” he said.
Supt Bray urged those involved in the fraud to come forward before they were arrested in order to clarify whether they were also involved in the murders.
“We have a very strong focus on who may be involved and we have a very strong focus on people in this state who know they were involved,” he said.
“Because it is certain that if we follow the money and investigate the financial aspect of the case fully, we will identify those people.”
Supt Bray said it was not too late for those involved in the fraud to assist the investigation.
“If they weren’t involved in the deaths of Khandalyce and Karlie they need to pick up the phone and call Crime Stoppers,” he said.
“Anybody who does anything to assist those involved in this terrible crime, or impedes the investigation or withholds information deliberately, faces a very lengthy term in prison.”
Supt Bray said he could not reveal further details about how many people had been investigated or the suspects.
Police believe that at least one of those involved in the phone and bank scam was also responsible for the murders.
Supt Bray said there was nothing to suggest that the pair had fallen victim to a serial killer.
“It is something that you keep in the back of your mind as to whether this person could be responsible for something else given the terrible nature of the crime, but there is nothing to indicate that at this stage,” he said.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.sa.crimestoppers.com.au
In pictures: The Wynarka murder clues
Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s body was found in the notorious Belanglo Forest in NSW in August 2010, while her daughter’s remains were found inside a suitcase on the side of the Karoonda Highway near the tiny town of Wynarka in July.
Their identities were established through forensic testing this month and were jointly revealed by NSW and SA police on Wednesday, October 21.
Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s mother, Colleen Povey, died in 2012, aged 44, still believing her daughter and granddaughter were safe.
Her grandmother, Connie Duffy, died in 2011.
