New leads in cold case murder of Brahma Lodge mother Gail King
MAJOR Crime detectives are reviewing the 21-year old cold case murder of Brahma Lodge mother Gail King and have launched new inquiries in the puzzling investigation.
AT first glance, the culprit in the cold case disappearance and presumed murder of doting mother Gail King may appear obvious.
As is often the case in such investigations, suspicion falls on those closest to the victim or the last person to see them alive, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary from the outset.
In this case, that was Ms King’s de facto Marvyn Upton in both instances. Not surprisingly he became a person of interest to Major Crime detectives fairly soon after she vanished in July 1997 – and remains so today.
Well aware of this, Mr Upton has co-operated fully with detectives and has denied harming his partner.
In several interviews he has consistently maintained Ms King, 28, the mother of his two children, left their Minlaton property, on Yorke Peninsula, to return to their Brahma Lodge home to attend a work meeting the next day. He maintains when he arrived at their home a day later, her car was parked in the driveway but she was gone. No trace has ever been found of her.
The disappearance and presumed murder of Ms King is being subjected to a comprehensive review as part of Major Crime’s Operation Persist initiative and several new lines of inquiry will be investigated. Case officer Detective Brevet Sergeant Tanya Mason said the case was challenging, presenting investigators with many contradictions and unanswered questions.
“It is difficult, there are certainly some odd things about it that came up in the early days that caused us to look at one individual,’’ she said.
Detectives are confident Ms King has been murdered and has not simply run away to start another life. Her bank account, which contains a significant amount of cash, has not been touched.
Detectives believe, based on the evidence, it is likely there are just two scenarios in which she has met with foul play.
The first is someone closely associated with her was responsible and may have had assistance from one or more individuals. The second is she either left Minlaton voluntarily, or was taken from there or her Brahma Lodge house – or another location in Adelaide – by one or more persons and killed.
The fact Ms King was having an affair with another man at the time of her disappearance will be closely examined by detectives.
Police investigations have revealed Ms King arrived at the Minlaton house Mr Upton and her were renovating on the evening of Sunday, July 6, 1997. Mr Upton had arrived there with their two young children, Tyson and Bethany, several days earlier.
On the Monday they had visited several locations including Troubridge Point and Pondalowie Bay, before arriving back at Minlaton about 5.30pm.
Mr Upton has told detectives Ms King advised him she had to return to Adelaide that night as she had a work appointment, an occupational health and safety meeting, to attend the next day. She apparently left about 7pm, just 24 hours after arriving – a factor detectives find puzzling.
The fact that inquiries with her employer, an aged care facility at Gilles Plains, ascertained there was no scheduled meeting also prompted further suspicions.
“That, and the fact she would intentionally travel to Minlaton just for one night is odd,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Mason said.
Mr Upton said he drove his gold Ford Falcon station wagon with the children back, arriving at the Brahma Lodge property about 6pm on Tuesday, July 8.
He found his partner’s white Toyota Corolla parked in the driveway. It was locked. When he entered the locked house it was in darkness, apart from a single light in the lounge room. Besides the usual clutter, there were no signs of a disturbance.
The overnight bag she had taken to Minlaton that contained some clothes was there, but her black vinyl handbag and purse were missing. Her house and car keys were also missing. Mr Upton told police there was half-eaten KFC takeaway in the fridge, which the two children finished off.
“This indicates she may have returned to Brahma Lodge but we cannot discount the scene may also have been staged if her car was returned by someone else’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Mason said.
There is also the possibility the KFC may have been left in the fridge before she left for Minlaton on July 6.
Besides her handbag, the only items Mr Upton says were missing from the house were several photo albums containing family pictures.
Curiously, Mr Upton told detectives he had washed the clothing she was wearing when she left Minlaton, a blue tracksuit top and green bottoms, after he returned home.
Unfortunately, this had denied detectives the opportunity to forensically test them.
Ms King and Mr Upton had been together for just over six years. Besides having Tyson and Bethany with him, Ms King was also three months pregnant.
Detectives have established there was some friction between the pair over the purchase of the Minlaton property. They were renovating the old farmhouse with the intention of moving in.
While Mr Upton’s family resided in the area, Ms King’s family lived in Adelaide. She was unsettled about the prospect of living there and, in all likelihood either commuting to Adelaide for work or resigning.
“She wasn’t happy at the prospect of being there all the time. We know she wasn’t happy being around Mr Upton’s family and they were not all that keen on her either,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Mason said.
Detectives believe if the first scenario is correct, then another person must have assisted the offender in returning Ms King’s car to Brahma Lodge to stage the scene and “a set of circumstances that are not true.’’
“That is one scenario we are looking at,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Mason said. “Either that, or she has been killed by another person mostly likely that she knew in Adelaide after she had returned from Minlaton.’’
Detectives have interviewed the man she was having an affair with and he has been co-operative. While he is not considered a person of interest, he is still on their radar.
Detectives also have an unconfirmed sighting of Ms King at the White Horse Inn at Bolivar on the night of July 7, but this is uncorroborated.
While there has been some information provided by the public, it has been spasmodic. Last year information was provided that nominated another person as being involved. That information is still being investigated as part of the current review.
Despite the lack of information from the public, detectives are confident there are people in the community who may be aware of what happened to Ms King.
Major Crime officer in charge Detective Superintendent Des Bray said this proved to be the case following the recent breakthrough in the Colleen Adams murder case at Maitland when people contacted police after her remains were found.
“Their information was extremely valuable and would have assisted at the time she vanished 45 years ago,’’ he said. “That could well be the case here, so if there are people in the Minlaton community who have knowledge of this we would like to speak with them.’’
Detectives are particularly interested in anyone who may know how Ms King’s Toyota Corolla came to be at her Brahma Lodge home following her brief trip to Minlaton.
“Either it was brought back to Adelaide by someone assisting the offender or she drove it herself. Confirming either of these possibilities could change the direction of the investigation,’’ Det. Supt. Bray said.
Mr Upton could not be contacted by the Sunday Mail.
A $200,000 reward is available for anyone with information on Ms King’s murder or that leads to the location of her remains.
Brother’s quest for answers
FOR the past 21 years Peter King has been waiting for answers. Like the detectives hunting the killer of his older sister Gail, he has his suspicions of who may be responsible, but they are just that.
“It is frustrating. I know the police are doing all they can, but it is still frustrating,’’ said Mr King, below. “My views on who may be responsible have not changed, although there might be others involved.’’
Mr King, 45, said a person had contacted his wife Cathy through Facebook and provided information which detectives were investigating.
“I think every little bit of information will help. Hopefully one thing will lead to something else,’’ he said. “It is clear there are people in the community, particularly around Minlaton, who may know what has occurred.
“I would appeal for anyone who has any information to contact police, no matter how insignificant they think it might be.’’
Mr King said many aspects of the case puzzled him, such as whether Gail did in fact return to Brahma Lodge. While he is longing for closure so his family can move on, he said he often remembered Gail as a “caring person.’’
“I think that was evident from the work she chose to do as a carer,’’ he said.
Sadly, Gail’s parents Wilfred and Joyce, died before finding out what had happened to their daughter.
“This is something that impacts generations of people in the family, so some closure would be good,’’ Mr King said.