‘Massive red flags’: NSW serial killers fears over dozens of slain women in 30-year period

Dozens of women who were brutally murdered or disappeared on the NSW North Coast, but whose perpetrators were never caught can be revealed among fears some of them could be the work of one or more serial killers.

• Mapped: 64 women missing or murdered

A list of more than 60 women who were brutally murdered or disappeared on the NSW North Coast, but whose perpetrators were never caught can be revealed among fears some of them could be the work of one or more serial killers.

NSW Upper House MP Jeremy Buckingham will today receive a briefing from the NSW Police over the devastating list of women who were found dead or vanished between Newcastle and Byron Bay over a 30-year period. In all these cases, no culprit was brought to justice.

For years police have suspected that some of the deaths or disappearances of the women were connected, but while some had operations set up to explore the potential connections, others may never have been properly investigated.

Former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing, who commanded the homicide squad between 2011 and 2017 said the way cold cases from decades ago are prioritised has led to many not being properly reinvestigated, leaving police open to missing possible connections between cases.

“There are a lot of these cases that just sit in databases and have never been reviewed,” he said.

Premier Chris Minns rejects calls for inquiry into cold cases after revealation of 64 women who vanished

“There are unsolved homicide cases that sit there - there are many cases that are not even looked at.

“So you could miss things that are connected to other things - ideally what you need is a database that links all these cases together across Australia.”

Mr Willing said while there had not been a serial killer identified in NSW since Ivan Milat murdered multiple hitchhikers along the Hume Highway in the 1980s and 90s, there was a possibility some of the disappearances along the North Coast could have the same perpetrator, though many would also be isolated incidents,

“You would think there’s a possibility that some of them could be connected,” he said.

“The thinking around a few of the cases was that maybe Milat might be responsible - but there is no evidence of that,” he said.

What people don’t realise about unsolved homicides is that most of them were solved by DNA but some of the old exhibits that were collected have been destroyed.”

A NSW Police spokesperson said there had been multiple investigations including taskforce Fenwick and strike force Arapaima had been established to investigate links between some of the north coast abductions.

These included 18-year-old Robyn Hickie who was last seen standing at a bus stop on the Pacific Highway in a suburb of Newcastle in April 1979. Two weeks later 14-year-old Amanda Robinson was walking home in nearby Swansea after attending a school dance and was never seen again.

Eight months later, 20-year-old Leanne Goodall disappeared after spending the evening at a Newcastle club. Her body was never found.

One year earlier, 17-year-old Anni Tominac and 18-year-old Joy Hodgins had also disappeared after a night out at a Newcastle club in July 1978. Neither girl was seen again and no culprit has ever been found.

Despite police investigating the links between the cases of the missing women, there was not enough evidence to establish a connection.

Bronwyn Winfield, who is the subject of a 2024 podcast by The Australian, is also on the list after vanishing from Lennox Head.

Two women on the list, it has been suggested, could have been the victims of John Wayne Glover, known as the Granny Killer who was convicted of battering to death at least six older women.

The murder of Josephine McDonald, 73 who was found bashed to death in her Umina, Central Coast home in 1984 has never been solved. Neither has the death of Wanda Amundsen, 83, who was found dead at Umina in 1988.

Other unsolved murders, where a culprit has yet to be brought to justice include the case of German backpacker Simone Strobel whose naked body was found covered in palm fronds near a Lismore caravan park in 2005. Charges against a man previously accused of killing her were dropped last year and her death remains unsolved. There has never been any evidence her death was connected to any other missing women in the area.

Mr Buckingham will request parliament call for papers from police detailing how the unsolved crimes have been investigated including any possible connections.

“When I looked at the list of country towns, Coffs Harbour, Taree and Grafton, what you see in all these towns stretching all the way down to Newcastle there were murders everywhere that had a similar modus operandi,” he said.

“That is young women who had been picked up hitchhiking, gone walking, seen getting in cars who had either disappeared or had almost egregiously been found dumped in remote areas.”

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said the number of women who had been killed on the north coast was “extremely disturbing”

“If people are going missing at the same time and place it’s a massive red flag,” he said.

“Beyond Milat there may have been another serial killer or possibly two operating in the area.”

“With such a significant number of people involved, there’s an argument to reopen those cases and drill down a bit further.”

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Do you have information about a possible Byron Bay serial killer, or one operating in any part of the state? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]