A husband confesses to murdering his wife, then takes his own life
Major Crime detectives believe the body of missing Clare mother Annabel Strzelecki lies in bushland north of Port Augusta — where her husband buried her.
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In all likelihood, the tragic secret behind the disappearance of loving mother Annabel Strzelecki lies hidden in the red earth at a lonely site north of Port Augusta.
The unknown gravesite is where Major Crime detectives believe the murdered mother-of-two was buried almost 21 years ago.
And although it will never be conclusively proved, her husband, Jim, was almost certainly responsible for killing her at their home in Clare, in the Mid North.
Detectives believe Mr Strzelecki, then 71, murdered his Filipino wife at the home they had shared for nine years after she told him she planned to leave him and take their two young children, Richard, 7, and Rachael, 5, with her.
It is suspected Mr Strzelecki killed his wife shortly after she was last seen by friends on June 3, 1998. He said she left their Phoenix Ave home on June 5.
On June 9, he hired a van from Cut Price Rentals at Mile End, returning it seven days later having driven it 1774km during that period.
Evidence suggests Ms Strzelecki was killed in her home and detectives believe he used the van to dispose of her body in arid scrubland on Carriewerloo station at Tent Hill, 20km north of Port Augusta.
After almost two years of protracted investigations, Mr Strzelecki remained the only person of interest when he took his own life at his Clare home — shortly after he confessed to a male friend.
Major Crime case officer Detective Brevet Sergeant Rebecca Rayner said detectives were corroborating the information the Polish immigrant revealed when he killed himself.
Sadly, Mr Strzelecki never left a suicide note confessing his crime — or where he had disposed of his wife’s remains. With the only suspect in the case dead, detectives are turning their efforts on locating Ms Strzelecki’s remains to return them to her family.
“He was the only identified person of interest so the investigation as such has been suspended, but we want to recover Annabel’s remains,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
“He told one friend what he had done, so there may be others he told. We are also seeking any information concerning his movements at or around the time she disappeared.
“At the time Annabel had two small children, who unfortunately today do not know where their mother is. They have a lot of unanswered questions and are unable to lay her to rest.’’
Rachael, now 25, still has fond memories of her mother despite the passage of almost 21 years.
She remembers her “kind and comforting presence’’, someone who would often sneak lollies in her and Richard’s school lunch boxes.
Rachael said she had thought about what had happened to her mother “every day’’ since her father had simply said her mother “had gone to Moomba to work’’ and vanished.
“It weighs on my mind constantly,’’ she said. “It has been really difficult to grieve without any sort of explanation, we have had to cope in our own way, rather than in a healthy way.’’
Rachael urged anyone who may have been told by her father where he buried her mother to come forward.
“Please, just say what you can — there is nothing to lose at this point. It would mean the world to us,’’ she said.
“It would give us closure. It would be like closing a book.’’
Ms Strzelecki was the second Filipino wife Jim had taken since he migrated to Australia in 1949.
He had five children from his first marriage which ended when his wife left him.
“He had multiple relationships with ladies from the Philippines,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
Annabel Sabellano left her family’s Filipino coconut plantation in 1989 when she was aged just 19.
She had been liaising with Mr Strzelecki, who was then aged 63, through a penpal group and they married in the Philippines, with her parents’ blessing, before she arrived in Clare.
Their marriage produced Richard and Rachael, who were later taken in by one of Mr Strzelecki’s daughter’s from his first failed marriage.
Annabel had a small circle of friends, who were also Filipino migrants and resided at Clare with their husbands. They told police they had last seen her on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 3.
Mr Strzelecki told detectives he last saw her on Friday, June 5, when he said she left with an unknown man and a woman. When interviewed he said the marriage was unhappy but he denied murdering her.
“He gave some details about the marriage and that she had been planning to move out,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
When detectives discovered he had rented a van shortly after she was last seen, he simply said he “needed some time away’’ and had driven north to Port Augusta and a location at Carriewerloo station.
“A lot of investigational work was put into tracing the route he took and substantiating his story,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
“His story revolved around him moving the family after Annabel left on June 5. He said he needed a few days away after Annabel left and said he drove to Tent Hill where he said he once worked.
“He gave a version of events on which roads he took, where he stayed and said he burnt some rubbish there.’’
Despite exhaustive searches of several locations at Tent Hill, nothing of significance was located.
Investigations discovered Mr Strzelecki booked into the Augusta Hotel on Sunday, June 14, but somewhat curiously, he did not stay in the room he had booked for that night. “It could have been an attempt to create an alibi to place himself there at a certain point in time,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
Several months after his wife vanished, Mr Strzelecki told The Advertiser he did not know where she was.
“No, I’m not upset. Do you expect me to be the grieving husband?’’ he said.
Detectives believe it is possible there may be people in the Clare community who may still have knowledge that could assist in locating Ms Strzelecki’s remains, although they may well be elderly now.
A short time before his suicide Mr Strzelecki confided in a male friend they had a troubled relationship and that he had killed his wife and had “disposed of her in the far-north and no one would find her’’.
“We’d like to hear from anyone else he may have confided in,’’ Det Bvt Sgt Rayner said.
A reward of up to $200,000 is available for anyone who provides information that leads to Ms Strzelecki’s remains being recovered.
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