Krystal Fraser: Coroner finds Peter Jenkinson ‘involved’ in disappearance

More than 13 years after a pregnant young woman vanished without a trace from a Central Victorian town, a coroner has made some startling findings.

More than 13 years after a heavily pregnant Krystal Fraser vanished without trace from a Central Victorian town, a coroner has found she was murdered and the potential father of her child was “involved” in her disappearance.

After a seven-day inquest earlier this year, coroner Katherine Lorenz handed down her findings on Thursday, concluding Ms Fraser, 23, had been killed in the early hours of June 21, 2009, near Leitchville, 28km from where she was last seen.

She was due to give birth to a boy just three days later.

Ms Lorenz found Peter “PJ” Jenkinson was “involved” in transporting her from her unit in Pyramid Hill to an area near Leitchville and was “involved in her disappearance in some way”.

Ms Fraser had identified Mr Jenkinson, of Gunblower, as one of several possible fathers of her son.

Ms Lorenz said while there was insufficient evidence to conclude Mr Jenkinson was responsible for her death to “requisite legal standards”, she found he had “evidence about what happened to Krystal after she was taken to Leitchville”.

“I find he has lied to police,” Ms Lorenz said.

The case and investigation paralysed the small town of Pyramid Hill, population about 350, near the NSW border.

During a week-long hearing in July, the coroners court heard distressing testimony from 23 witnesses.

Mr Jenkinson had been subpoenaed to give evidence to the inquest but was excused on the grounds he risked incriminating himself.

The court heard Ms Fraser was unsure who the father of her baby was, but multiple witnesses told the inquest she had said a man didn’t want to be the father and she was concerned he “might hurt her”.

She was nine months pregnant when she checked herself into the Bendigo Base Hospital on June 16 after experiencing contractions.

Peter Jenkinson did not give evidence at her coronial inquest on Monday, July 18 because of the likelihood that anything he did say would be incriminating. Picture: Hayley Elg

She checked herself out on June 20, telling a nurse she wanted to go home for a “birthday party”.

Phone records reveal that at 11.59pm she was in the Pyramid Hill area when she received a 40-second call from a phone box in Leitchville.

Her phone later pinged two towers, in Patho then Litchfield.

Ms Lorenz found Mr Jenkinson made the call and drove the heavily pregnant woman to the area where her phone last connected. Her body was never located and a missing persons investigation continues.

In written submissions to the inquest, counsel representing Mr Jenkinson argued there was insufficient evidence to prove he had made a phone call from a public box on the night she was killed and that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding he had caused her death.

Who was Krystal Fraser?

Growing up in a small town, Krystal Fraser stuck out.

The young woman was known locally as a “troublemaker” who would often say and do things to get a reaction out of people.

She had been born in 1985 with fluid on the brain – a condition which left her with an intellectual disability, poor memory, childlike behaviours, an overly-trusting nature and compulsive lying.

“It was hard to work out what were her little stories and what weren‘t,” her sister Chantel Fraser said.

Krystal was talkative, usually carried a “big smile” and had itchy feet – often travelling around regional Victoria on public transport.

But she maintained strong family connections, calling or visiting her family every single day.

Krystal Fraser with mum Karen.

She lived independently in a public-housing flat, but had little interest in caring for herself and would often rely on her family and friends to feed her.

“Krystal could only do so much,” mother Karen Fraser said.

“Looking after herself was not a priority for her. Her priority was her friends.”

Her family say Krystal was terrible with money and would spend it on people around her, leading them to fear she was being taken advantage of.

“It was like a drug fix, when she‘s got money she’s got to spend it,” her father Neil said.

“She’d go around town and buy people things,” Chantel said. “She’d quite happily spend her entire pay without paying rent.”

Numerous people in Krystal’s life have raised concerns men in Pyramid Hill and Bendigo had taken advantage of her for sex, drugs and money.

“She couldn’t tell she was being used. She attracted what I would call the undesirables – people without work, drug users and alcoholics,” Neil said.

“Nearly every man she met touched her. I don’t know why that was just her,” friend Robert Glennie said.

“She was too trusting. It was like she couldn’t say no.”

Copy photo of Krystal Fraser who disappeared at Pyramid Hill.

What happened on the night of her death?

Krystal was nine-months pregnant when she checked herself into the Bendigo Base Hospital on June 16 after experiencing contractions.

She was placed in a medihotel room and kept under observation, but regularly checked in and out visiting places around Bendigo and her hometown of Pyramid Hill.

The day before her disappearance she left the hospital, returning home to visit, but was taken back in an ambulance shortly before midnight after experiencing blood spotting relating to her pregnancy.

The following afternoon, she told nurse David Reid she wanted to go back for a “birthday party”.

“She was talking of getting the train, talking about the times the train was going to leave,” he said.

“She seemed more excited about the party than thinking about her heavily pregnant state.”

David and another nurse, Jenifer Randell, had reservations, telling her they didn’t think she should go, she told them she’d be around friends who could assist if something went wrong.

“We didn’t really want her to go,” Ms Randell recounts.

“I don‘t think there was any doubt in my mind that she was going to go.”

She caught the train to Pyramid Hill Railway Station, arriving at 8.40pm.

Pyramid Hill station where Krystal Fraser arrived from Bendigo the night she disappeared.

In her findings, Ms Lorenz said police had found no evidence of a party in the Pyramid Hill area.

“It is possible someone lured her out of hospital and back to Pyramid Hill with the promise of a party,” she said.

On the train she spoke to Hazel Whitmore who said she was in “good spirits” and spoke excitedly about the upcoming birth of her baby.

Around 8.45pm she visited a bakery her father used to own while in the company of a man.

Two bakery workers said she wasn't overly talkative, averting her eyes and told staff “he has the s---s with me”.

By 9pm she arrived at the home of her friend Robert Glennie and was alone, during the inquest he claimed she was acting “completely out-of-character”.

She left about 20 minutes later.

This was the last confirmed sighting of Krystal although police believe she visited her flat to drop off a bag and her wallet at some point in the night.

Her phone records shed some light on what happened next.

At 11.59pm Krystal was still in the Pyramid Hill area when she received a 40-second phone call from a Telstra phone box in Leitchville – 27km away.

The phone at Leitchville where the last call to Krystal Fraser was made on the night of her disappearance.

Data charges reveal her phone was connected to the Pyramid Hill tower at 12.17am, connected to the Patho tower at 1.45am and then connected to the Leitchville tower at 2.49am.

Coroner Lorenz found the evidence established Mr Jenkinson was the person that made the phone call to Krystal and had driven the heavily pregnant woman to the area where her phone last connected.

Between May 14 and the day Krystal was killed, she had received 19 calls from the public phone box which Ms Lorenz found Mr Jenkinson had done to “conceal” his contact with her.

“I conclude he did this because he was involved in her disappearance,” she said.

Despite an extensive air and land search Krystal’s body was never located.

Ms Lorenz said there had been significant speculation and rumour in the years since Krystal disappeared, but these proved to have little investigative value.

She rejected rumours that Krystal had run away because of fears her baby would be taken from her, that she had met foul play because of significant drug debts, that local police were involved in her disappearance and that her family had been involved.

She said some of the evidence given by 23 witnesses during the inquest had likely been “tainted” by the rumours that had circulated over the years.

A missing persons investigation remains ongoing.