Derek Percy's mother Elaine admits she 'got rid of things' as cops investigated child serial killings

DEREK Percy's mother allegedly "got rid of things" as police investigated her son's crimes. | Book extract | Comment | DNA clues | Victim's mum haunted

THE elderly mother of child killer Derek Percy allegedly admitted she "got rid of things" when police began investigating her son's crimes.

Suspected serial killer Percy, who abducted and murdered 12-year-old Yvonne Tuohy in 1969, died yesterday morning without making the death-bed confession the families of up to eight other victims had hoped for.

But author and TV producer Debi Marshall - one of the few people Elaine Percy has spoken to about her eldest child's evil acts - urged the elderly woman to speak out if she holds answers for any of those grieving families.

"I think his mother remains the only hope," Ms Marshall told the Herald Sun.

POTENTIAL EVIDENCE: Percy DNA tested before his death

Percy was a suspect in the murders of Christine Sharrock and Marianne Schmidt in Sydney in 1965; the three Beaumont children in Adelaide in 1966; Allen Redston in Canberra in 1966; Linda Stilwell in St Kilda in 1968; and Simon Brook in Sydney in 1968.

COMMENT: Percy's death won't end his evil

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Ms Marshall said that she met with Mrs Percy several times while researching her book, Lambs to the Slaughter.

During one meeting Mrs Percy allegedly told her she "got rid of things" relating to her son, who began to attract the attention of authorities as a boy when he started stealing underwear and mutilating dolls.

UNSOLVED CASE: Families rocked as Percy takes secrets to grave

Ms Marshall said she hoped Mrs Percy would tell police if she knew anything at all that could ease the pain of the families.

"How can these families move forward? They need answers, and deserve them," she said.

The coronial inquest into Linda Stilwell's death in 2009 was told Mrs Percy, who now lives in Queensland, may have destroyed some of his notes.

The memorial plot of Yvonne Tuohy, 12, who was killed by child sex fiend Derek Percy in 1969. Picture: HWT library

But coroner Iain West ruled he would not subpoena her to give evidence.

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During one of Ms Marshall's visits, she says Mrs Percy telephoned her son in jail and put to him the names of the missing and dead children he is suspected of killing.

When she got to Simon Brook, aged 3, Percy denied responsibility as he had done with each of the other suspected victims.

"She said, "I don't believe you, son'," Ms Marshall said.

But Mrs Percy, now in her late 80s, has always maintained she knew nothing of Percy's offending.

Percy was a rare beast, a sadistic paedophile the likes of which few experts had ever seen in Australia.

In 1970 a jury found him not guilty of murdering Yvonne Tuohy on the grounds of insanity, meaning he would be locked up until deemed fit for release.

FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: Percy was to be forced to give evidence

But a 2009 Supreme Court hearing was told Percy suffered no mental illness. He was assessed as remaining a high risk to children at his last court bid to be moved from prison to a secure institution.

He kept detailed diaries and writings of his sick fantasies, described by those assessing him as "chilling" and "among the worst" they had ever seen.

TIMELINE: Child killer's disturbing history

Some of his written fantasies were identical to the horrific acts he is known to have carried out in killing Yvonne Tuohy, and what was done to three-year-old Simon Brook.

A huge cache of Percy's vile writings, drawings and newspaper clippings was found in a South Melbourne storage unit in 2007. It is unknown how he managed to move the material from prison to the storage facility.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: Did Percy kill little Allen Redston?

He told a police officer after his arrest that he'd had "sordid thoughts" towards children while visiting beaches in the past, and agreed that he might have acted on his urges had the children been alone.

But Percy told detectives investigating the other child abductions and killings that he could not remember whether he committed the crimes.

BOOK EXTRACT: Now read an extract from Debi Marshall's definitive Lambs to the Slaughter.