‘God’: Tyrrell foster mother’s grilling before secretive crime commission revealed
William Tyrrell’s foster mother tearfully denied having any knowledge of the little boy’s whereabouts when she appeared before the NSW Crime Commission.
William Tyrrell’s foster mother exclaimed: “I didn’t touch him” and “God, I can’t believe you guys are saying I did that” as she was confronted with allegations she dumped the toddler’s body.
An inquest is examining the disappearance and suspected death of three-year-old William, who vanished from his foster grandmother’s home on Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast on September 12, 2014.
The inquest, before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame, is examining a police theory that William died in an accidental fall and his body was hidden in bush by his foster mother.
The foster mother has denied the allegation and any knowledge of William’s whereabouts.
The court was on Thursday played a video of the woman’s evidence before the NSW Crime Commission when she was confronted with the serious allegations.
In the video, the woman agreed she took a drive in her mother’s car the day William vanished, but strenuously denied allegations that she used the time to dump his body in undergrowth at the corner of Cobb and Co Rd and Batar Creek Rd.
Instead, she said she was looking for him in a frantic state.
The inquest will return to court in December, with the court hearing on Thursday that the police would make an application for the foster mother to be recalled as a witness.
“GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE SAYING THAT”
During a grilling from Sophie Callan, counsel assisting the Crime Commission, the woman was asked if she knew where William was buried.
At the time, police were preparing to launch a fresh forensic search in the bushland around the intersection of Cobb and Co Rd and Batar Creek Rd and to search around her mother’s home with ground penetrating radar.
“I didn’t take William, I haven’t dumped his body … I’ve not touched him,” the woman said.
“I don’t know where he is … If you want to dig up that entire house of mum’s, dig it up. I didn’t touch him. God I can’t believe you guys are saying I did that.”
“NO ... NO”
During an at times fiery confrontation at the Crime Commission, the foster mother repeatedly said “no” as she was asked if she was involved in covering up William’s accidental death.
The woman, who cannot be named, at times became tearful.
Ms Callan: “Did you take his body down to the riding school?”
The foster mother: “No.”
Ms Callan: “Did you find his body in the ferns and foliage under the verandah that day.”
The foster mother: “No.”
Ms Callan: “Did you find his body and realise he had died.”
The foster mother: “No… no.”
Ms Callan: “Did you find his body and realised he died and that there was no point in calling emergency services.”
The foster mother: “No.”
Ms Callan: “Did you decide to take charge of a situation that was beyond remedy and hide his body rather than risk (another child in her care) being taken away.”
The foster mother: “No.”
Ms Callan: “I want to suggest to you William went around on that veranda and he toppled over and it was nobody’s fault.”
The foster mother: “No, I would have found him… And I didn’t find him.”
THE CAR RIDE
The woman has denied that she dumped William’s body in bushland. However the court has heard that she did take a drive in her mother’s Mazda 3 on the day William disappeared.
However, she said she went down Batar Creek Rd attempting to look for William.
“I drove down and I stopped. I don’t know if it’s a clearing, it’s a slightly wider part of the road… So I stopped and I’m looking out the window and I’m thinking he’s not here,” the woman told the Crime Commission.
“I’m thinking he’s not here. This is ridiculous.”
“Then what happened,” Ms Callan asked.
“Then I went back,” she said.
“YOU THOUGHT WILLIAM HAD BEEN TAKEN?”
The inquest has been told that the foster mother, who cannot be identified, told the Crime Commission that she was having tea with her mother when she realised William was missing.
“I started saying, ‘William, where are you? I need you to talk to me’,” she told the Crime Commission.
At the time, William’s foster father had travelled into nearby Laurieton to make a business phone call.
The court was told that she received a text message from her husband but did not reply. Neither did she call him to tell him William was missing.
She was also asked by counsel assisting Sophie Callan why she had not called triple-0 when she realised William was missing and formed a belief he may have been taken.
“You thought William had been taken?” she was asked.
“Yes,” the foster mother replied.
Ms Callan: “Why didn’t you call triple-0 at that point in time.
The foster mother: “I thought William had walked off. I thought that (the foster father) may have seen him on the road and may have picked him up.”
Central to the fifth block of the inquest is a fresh police theory that William died in an accidental fall and the foster mother disposed of his body.
The court has been told that police believe she used her mother’s Mazda 3 to dump the body on the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd – about a minute’s drive from her mother’s house on Benaroon Drive.
It’s an allegation that has been consistently denied by the foster mother.
The court was told on Thursday that the woman told the Crime Commission that she got into her mother’s car at some point but was unsure of the timing.
“You may have gotten into your car and driven down to Benaroon Drive and turned onto Batar Creek Rd before (the foster father) got home,” Ms Callan asked.
“I don’t know,” the foster mother replied.
‘THIS IS YOUR CHANCE’
When serving the summons on the foster mother, the inquest was told on Thursday, Detective Sergeant Scott Jamieson said: “We’re saying we know how it happened, we know why it happened and we know where he is.”
The court was told she appeared at the Crime Commission hearing on November 10 and 11, 2021.
Before the hearing began she was told: “We all accept that you loved William and would not have done him harm. We know accidents can happen … If that’s what occurred on the day William went missing, this is your chance to safely and privately explain that.”
It was then explained to her that since mid-2020, police had carried out a comprehensive, wholesale review of the case.
She was told that police went “back to the very beginning” and were “working methodically through every person and every possibility”.
It was added that there was a “focus on (the foster mother) as part of the investigations”.
She was asked about her recollections of September 12, 2014 and the circumstances of how she realised William was missing.
She said she was drinking tea with her mother while William was playing in the yard and then realised that she could no longer hear him.
“He goes up towards that section of the grass,” the woman told the Crime Commission.
“Then he goes around. And I’m talking to mum, I hear ‘roar’. And I’m talking to mum and then I don’t hear a sound and I say to mum ‘that’s too quiet’. Then I get up, walk over and I can’t see him.”
She was asked by Ms Callan: “Is it your evidence that within minutes of realising he was missing, you formed the view that he had been taken.”
The woman replied: “I wouldn’t say it was minutes. When I stood up and went around the corner and just looked, I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t say for sure that it was within minutes.”
The woman said she couldn’t say with certainty how long it was between last hearing William and it registering she could no longer hear him.
She said it could have been five or 10 minutes but added: “I don’t know. Everything just rushed.”
THE CRIME COMMISSION
The NSW Crime Commission has the power to compel witnesses to appear and give evidence, with the crime-fighting body’s hearings held in secret.
The foster mother was called before the Crime Commission in November 2021 where she was grilled by Ms Callan SC about a police theory that William died in an accidental fall.
The inquest has been told police believe William died in an accidental fall off the veranda of his foster grandmother’s two-storey home.
They have further alleged his foster mother put William’s body into her mother’s grey Mazda 3 and dumped it in undergrowth on the corner of Cobb and Co Road and Batar Creek Rd, about a two minute drive away.
The foster mother has continuously denied the allegation.
And so far the inquest has heard no forensic evidence has been found pointing to William’s fate and that there were no eyewitnesses to his body being disposed of at the intersection or anywhere else.
THE TRUCK DRIVER
Meanwhile, a truck driver who was in Kendall on the day William Tyrrell vanished did not see any car matching the one which police allege was used to dispose of the boy’s body, the inquest has heard.
Truck driver Peter Bashkurt on Wednesday appeared as the final witness at the long-running inquest.
On September 12, 2014, Mr Bashkurt was driving his truck to a Cobb and Co Rd property in Kendall to pick up an excavator.
He told the court on Wednesday that he stopped in the neighbouring town of Kew in the morning and saw a black Camry.
He again saw the same car and a blonde woman in Kendall a short while later.
He said the car “caught my attention” because she didn’t know what she was doing and when he later heard about William’s disappearance, he passed on the tip to Crime Stoppers and 2GB.
He said his suspicion was sparked when the car parked too close to him.
He then met up with the woman, Michelle, whose property he was collecting the excavator from and followed her to Cobb and Co Rd.
There he loaded the yellow excavator onto his truck and snaked his way out of town at low speed.
He turned left onto Batar Creek Rd and saw two cars as he made his way out of town.
He said he was driving at a maximum of 40km/h, telling the court he was “creeping out of the place”.
Mr Bashkurt said he saw a grey ute, which looked like it belonged to a tradie, approaching him.
He told police in a statement he also saw a black ’80s BMW with a ladder on the roof.
Mr Bashkurt told the court on Wednesday that the BMW may have been dark coloured or “burgundy”.
Police have alleged the foster mother used her mother’s grey Mazda 3 to dump William’s body.
That car does not match the description of any of the vehicles seen by Mr Bashkurt.
He also said while he often used a dashcam, he didn’t have one equipped on that day.
“I wish I did, I didn’t have one on that vehicle that day,” he said.
The inquest continues.
Jury retires in trial of cop who tasered 95yo
The jury has retired to consider their verdict in the manslaughter trial of a police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home.
Read more
Beloved Aussie dead after three-word request
The young man who was stabbed to death near a popular nightspot has been remembered as a “remarkable friend”.
Read more
Mundine’s court win after Covid stoush
NRL star turned champion boxer Anthony Mundine has celebrated the end of a years-long legal battle after being found guilty of flouting Covid restrictions.
Read more