Police reveal likely motive in cold case killing of mother of four
Major crime detectives have revealed the murder of Aboriginal woman Emily Wanganeen is likely to be connected to a group of drug dealers and users in the northern suburbs.
The murder of Aboriginal woman Emily Wanganeen is most likely connected to a group of low-level drug dealers and users in the Elizabeth area, police have revealed.
Major crime detectives believe she was killed in a northern suburbs house before being loaded into a vehicle and finally dumped in an isolated gully at Hillbank.
Detectives believe her killer carried her body for several hundred metres to the site, off Hilltop Rd next to the Boral quarry, where it lay for 14 weeks until two boys stumbled across it.
Major Crime case officer Detective Brevet Sergeant Alicia Arkit said Ms Wanganeen, 41, was the victim of a homicide and “some effort’’ was made to ensure her remains were not easily found.
“It is an isolated area and difficult to get to. The nearest access track is several hundred metres away,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
“And it is not an area that she would ever had gone to as part of her routine.
“That has contributed to our belief that she was murdered and her body taken to this location.’’
The last confirmed sighting of Emily Wanganeen, who had four children aged between 15 and 21 years, was on February 27, 2010, in the vicinity of Tolmer Rd at Elizabeth South.
Most likely because of her transient lifestyle and the fact she had no fixed abode, she was only reported missing by family members on March 17.
Police initially conducted a missing persons’ investigation, which included searches of several houses and vehicles belonging to her known associates. Following the discovery of her remains on June 13 the case was declared a major crime.
Detectives have been able to glean little evidence from the crime scene. Emily was naked and her remains had been scattered over a small area. No attempt had been made to hide them and her few belongings were found nearby.
While investigators have not revealed how Ms Wanganeen died, the surrounding circumstances indicate she had been murdered.
Det. Bvt Sgt Alicia Arkit said Ms Wanganeen was often seen walking in the Elizabeth area carrying a green Woolworths bag containing her belongings.
“She lived a transient lifestyle, the majority of the time in the Elizabeth area,’’ she said.
“She would often be seen walking throughout the area and would stay at the homes of family and friends.’’
Since the discovery of her remains investigations have concentrated their investigations on her wide pool of associates and relationships. She mixed in a circle of drug users in the area and was also a heavy drinker.
“She would go from house to house, so it is people that she would stay with or drink with,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
Detectives are also investigating information that her death may have been connected to her drug habit and that she may have owed money to a dealer in the area.
“That is a viable consideration and is something that has never been able to be discounted,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
Ms Wanganeen had also been involved in a long-term relationship with a man. He has been interviewed on several occasions.
“It had been an on-and-off relationship but it is unknown where the relationship stood at the time of her death,’’ Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
“There is nothing to suggest that person had any involvement in her death and he has been spoken to as a matter of course in an inquiry such as this.’’
Detectives have gleaned a considerable amount of information from her associates and have several persons of interest in the inquiry.
“Relationships change over the years and people who may have had allegiances to some may not be as close now,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
“She had a lot of associates at the time. These people are still talking amongst themselves about her murder.
“We believe some of these people still hold information that they have not provided to us that can assist the investigation.’’
Perhaps the best lead in the inquiry arose in a crimestoppers call in December 2016 in which the caller provided specific information relating the Ms Wanganeen’s death.
The information suggested she had been murdered by people associated with the drug scene and that she was killed at a particular location.
“We would like the caller to contact us again so we can speak with them at length, particularly about the vehicle that was used to transport her body after she was murdered,’’ Det. Bvt Sgt Arkit said.
A $200,000 reward is available for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for her death.
Loving memories of a happy-go-lucky sister
Cecil Wanganeen remembers his little sister as a “gentle soul’’.
He says Emily was a kind person, loved laughing and “did not have an angry bone in her body”.
“She just loved having a good time,’’ he said. “She liked people and the company of her friends; she was happy-go-lucky.
“I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to harm her. She never argued with anyone.’’
Mr Wanganeen, 55, said he can remember the last time he saw Emily – a fortnight before she vanished.
She would regularly drop in at his northern suburbs home to see him and his children.
“She was her normal, happy-go-lucky self,’’ he said. “It wasn’t unusual not to see her for a few weeks at a time, but she would always show up.”
Mr Wanganeen said he fondly remembers them growing up on Yorke Peninsula, mainly at Maitland, Port Victoria, and Point Pearce.
“Emily played hockey at school at Maitland and just loved it; she was good at it,’’ he said.
Even when they shifted to Adelaide as they grew older, they kept in touch regularly.
The first inkling Mr Wanganeen had that something might be amiss was when Emily did not attend his son Stefan’s 18th birthday party. His first thought was she had gone home to see their mother, who still lived on Yorke Peninsula at the time.
“Mum is gone now but I thought Emily might be staying with her when we didn’t see her for a while,’’ he said.
“But as time went on, I realised something was not right, that it was strange, and that she may have been in trouble.’’
Mr Wanganeen said he was devastated when he learnt Emily’s remains had been discovered, and even more distressed to learn she had been murdered.
“She didn’t have an enemy in the world that I know of,’’ he said. “It has me puzzled.
“The only thing I can think of is that something happened when she was out having a drink somewhere.’’
Mr Wanganeen said he believed there “must be people who know about this’’ and urged them to contact police.
“People have to know, someone out there knows,’’ he said. “Things like this don’t happen without people hearing about it.
“A lot of people knew Emily and cared about her. I think they all would like to see this fixed.’’