Why family believe Rachelle Childs’ killer attended her funeral
A criminal profiler has given a startling insight into why the Rachelle Childs’ killer would have likely attended her funeral — in front of her grieving family. See the video, listen to the podcast.
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Exclusive: Rachelle Childs’ killer almost certainly attended her funeral to avoid arousing suspicion.
Most of the nine men of interest identified by police sat among 600 or more colourfully-dressed mourners at Mary Mother of the Church in Sydney’s Macquarie Fields, a fortnight after her murder.
One of Rachelle’s closest friends studied one of the men, specifically.
“I remember staring at him at the funeral and he wouldn’t look at me,” she said.
“I remember the distance he had from everyone else at the funeral. He just made me uncomfortable.”
The day before the funeral, police searched the flat of that mourner.
Watch the video of the Dear Rachelle investigation above.
Criminal profiler Kris Illingsworth believes the killer had been a trusted figure for Rachelle.
She thinks he was probably at the funeral, not to fulfil some disturbing pleasure, but because it would have looked odd if he did not go.
During the service, police officers also discreetly asked mourners to help identify this or that person.
Rachelle’s mother Anne remembers a crushing gaze of scrutiny from so many mourners that some spilt outside of the church.
It was a crisp winter day. The funeral was “surreal” and “very tough”.
Father Michael Healy led the service: he had decades earlier presided over Rachelle’s Holy Communion.
Police escorted the convoy, which stopped traffic, to the cemetery for the burial. Anne Childs was “very, very conscious of who was there”.
LISTEN TO EPISODES 1 AND 2 OF THE PODCAST BELOW:
Graham and Kristy Childs eulogised Rachelle, who was later buried at a gravestone which nodded to her love of Holdens.
Graham Childs said his daughter knew how to help with problems. She had a unique perspective. She found the positives in everything and everyone.
A natural speechmaker, these were the hardest words he ever delivered:
“Rachelle was a very special person. In many ways, she was a son I never had. Her approach to life was full on. She never saw a challenge too big. She had an insatiable thirst for life and for making friends. After five minutes with Rachelle, you felt she was your best mate and you knew the friendship would last forever.”
Kristy, then 18, was dressed in white. She may have unwittingly addressed the killer when she said: “We only hope that who took her life will be brought to justice.”
For more information about our investigation, visit dearachelle.com.au
If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@news.com.au.
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