Chief suspect in Rachelle Childs’ case was once arrested allegedly mid-rape of another woman

A police officer has told of how he arrested the chief suspect in an unsolved murder for a separate offence – allegedly mid-rape. WARNING: Graphic

A police officer has revealed how he arrested the chief suspect in Rachelle Childs’ murder for a separate offence – with his “pants down”, allegedly mid-rape.

Wayne Neilson told the Dear Rachelle investigation he is still shocked by Kevin Steven Correll telling him the alleged victim “deserved it”, as she was a “moll’.

Mr Correll went on to beat the charge.

It is one of four sexual assaults he was accused and acquitted of in the 80s – but the incident has stayed with Mr Neilson as it was rare to have “arrested them basically in the act.”

Rachelle Childs was killed in Gerroa, south of Sydney and her murderer is still on the loose.

The retired NSW police officer was on night shift patrol in Liverpool, south-west Sydney, in May 1983 when he heard “very loud screaming” coming from a parked car.

He and his patrol colleague jumped out of their car and were confronted by a young woman running up the road in distress, holding her dress against her body because the straps had fallen down.

Retired NSW Police Officer Wayne Neilson. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

When the alleged rapist exited the vehicle, his pants fell down. That same man identified himself to police as Kevin Cornwall, who later changed his name to Kevin Correll and became a suspect in the 2001 death of 23-year-old Rachelle, his former employee.

He has always denied any involvement in Rachelle’s case – and has never been charged with her murder.

She was set on fire and left to rot in the bush more than two decades ago, but police botched the investigation so badly that no one was ever charged.

Kevin Steven Correll was the chief suspect in the death of Rachelle Childs, whose body was found in bushland.

When Childs’ scorched, half-naked body was uncovered along a lonely stretch of highway in the early hours of June 8, 2001, it was one of the biggest crimes to rock the sleepy town of Gerroa, south of Sydney.

LISTEN TO DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:

LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES AT DEARRACHELLE.COM.AU

The podcast team at News Corp are now working with Rachelle’s family and ex-detectives to re-investigate the case and uncover long-forgotten evidence. So far, the podcast has had more than 1.3 million downloads and captivated international audiences, dominating the charts on Spotify and Apple.

Rachelle Childs (right), with her sister Kristy.

Mr Correll was Rachelle’s boss selling used cars at Camden Holden when she died.

He was voluntarily questioned by police over Rachelle’s death on three separate occasions. His alibi was that he had driven Camden to Campbelltown on June 7, before going to his partner’s house in Picton to find she wasn’t home. He then drove 10 minutes to Tahmoor where he ordered a bag of chips, a piece of fish, a battered sav and a coke.

No one was able to corroborate his alibi.

A coronial inquest into Rachelle’s death in 2006 failed to identify her killer, and delivered an open finding, but ex-detectives working with the podcast have described the case as “solvable”.

As the podcast investigation unfolds, some of Mr Correll’s friends, ex-girlfriends, colleagues and family members have come forward, shedding new light on the man they knew and who is the main suspect in Rachelle’s murder.

For more information about our investigation, including early access to new episodes and case files, visit dearachelle.com.au.

If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at [e-mail].

You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group.

Originally published as Chief suspect in Rachelle Childs’ case was once arrested allegedly mid-rape of another woman