Dear Rachelle investigation: Did she know something she shouldn’t have about key suspect in her murder

More than two decades ago Rachelle Childs was murdered and her body burned. The key suspect – her boss – was fired weeks after her death. Listen to the podcast.

The man who became the chief suspect in the 2001 killing of Rachelle Childs was fired weeks after her death for suspected fraud from his job where they had worked together.

Kevin Steven Correll, the manager of the used car section at Camden Holden, south west of Sydney, was accused of duplicating car contracts, altering the sale price and pocketing the cash deposits of his customers.

The fraud suspicions coincided with paperwork, found after Rachelle’s death, that suggested that she had been underpaid her sales bonuses in the months before she was killed.

Kevin Steven Correll is the main suspect in the murder of Bargo woman Rachelle Childs. Picture: Julian Andrews

Bargo woman Rachelle Childs’ burning body was found at Gerroa on June 8, 2001

The details come after the Dear Rachelle investigation revealed Mr Correll was separately charged with – and acquitted of – four sexual assaults in Sydney in the early 1980s.

As Rachelle’s boss at the car yard, he was flagged as a person of interest in the days after the 23-year-old’s burning body was discovered in the early hours of June 8, 2001.

Mr Correll, who went on to be named as the key suspect at a coronial inquest in 2006, has always denied any involvement in her murder and was never charged.

LISTEN TO EPISODES 1-7 OF THE PODCAST BELOW:

Camden Holden’s then general manager Jim Morrison uncovered discrepancies when a customer inquired about a car repair which was supposed to be carried out before the customer took ownership of a used car.

The customer said that the repair work was noted in the sale contract.

But Mr Morrison’s contract copy did not mention repairs.

Camden Holden principal Paul Wakeling with general manager Jim Morrison.

He visited the customer and looked at his contract.

“I was seeing the deposit amounts on one contract and not on another (contract) against the same vehicle,” he said.

“And that’s when the penny dropped that there was something underhanded going on.”

Together with dealer principal Paul Wakeling, Mr Morrison sat in the meeting in which Mr Correll was sacked, ostensibly for poor work performance.

No mention was made of Rachelle’s death in the termination meeting.

“(He) certainly wasn’t happy, I do recall that,” Mr Morrison said.

Investigators considered whether Rachelle discovered the suspected fraud or was complicit in fraudulent dealings in the workplace.

Camden Holden Dealership, which is now a Farm Machinery Sales Yard. Picture: Camden Images Past and Present.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Julian Parmegiani, a consultant for the crown solicitor for the inquest into Rachelle’s death which delivered an open finding, said that covering up fraud could, broadly speaking, be a motive for murder.

Police found no evidence of Rachelle’s involvement in fraud.

Mr Morrison, for his part, discounted this idea – she was “too honest and upfront”.

Police investigated the fraud allegations, but were unable to obtain original sales contracts and related records.

The investigation was deemed impossible to complete. Mr Correll was never charged.

Rachelle Childs with racing legend Peter Brock.

Rachelle, who was always short of cash, had inquired about her sales bonuses with the dealership’s finance manager in the weeks before her death.

After her death, her father Graham became concerned that his daughter had been underpaid sales bonuses.

Paperwork showed that she received a $550 bonus on May 22, 2001, her first sales bonus payment since April 10.

Records showed that Rachelle made 10 sales between May 1 and June 7.

On June 26, almost three weeks after her death, the dealership paid a $1500 commission back payment to the Childs family.

Mr Morrison, on a business trip, once chatted with a man who had earlier worked with Mr Correll.

“Just be careful when you shake his hand,” the man told him. “You might want to check how many fingers you’ve got, make sure he hasn’t stolen any.”

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 [e-mail].

You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group.

Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: Did she know something she shouldn’t have about key suspect in her murder