Bronwyn podcast: ‘Very strong’ case husband did it, inquest told
A detective in charge of investigating Bronwyn Winfield’s disappearance told an inquest there was powerful circumstantial evidence a ‘known person’, her husband Jon Winfield, was responsible for her death.
A detective in charge of investigating Bronwyn Winfield’s disappearance told an inquest there was powerful circumstantial evidence a “known person”, her husband Jon, was responsible for her death.
NSW Police detective sergeant Glenn Taylor was the first witness at the 2002 inquest and his evidence is detailed in a new episode of The Australian’s investigative podcast, Bronwyn.
Mr Taylor was the first detective to thoroughly investigate Bronwyn’s disappearance, discovering earlier police mistakes that had thrown previous inquiries seriously off course.
“If the coroner comes to the conclusion that Bronwyn Winfield is deceased, I would submit that there is very strong circumstantial evidence that a known person, namely Jonathon Winfield, is responsible for her death,” Mr Taylor told the inquest.
“I would urge that consideration be given that the coronial brief be referred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider if criminal charges should be laid against Jonathon Winfield in connection with the suspected death of Bronwyn Winfield.”
Mr Winfield’s then lawyer, Craig Leggat, sought to stop Mr Taylor giving the opinion at the inquest, but coroner Carl Milovanovich allowed it. “It’s the view of the investigator, it’s an opinion that he’s entitled to express,” Mr Milovanovich said.
Bronwyn has not been seen or heard from since vanishing from her home at Lennox Head on the NSW north coast on the night of Sunday, May 16, 1993.
One of the biggest blunders of early police investigations was a belief that Bronwyn must have returned to her home and made a phone call at 2.13am on Monday, May 17, to check a lotto result. Her husband Jon would have been driving south on the Pacific Highway to Sydney at that time.
Five years later, after Mr Taylor took over the investigation, it dawned that the phone call was actually made at 2.13pm on Sunday, May 16, hours before Bronwyn went missing. The error could only have led the initial investigators to believe Bronwyn was alive and well and that Mr Winfield could not have harmed her before travelling to Sydney.
Mr Winfield, now 70, has always denied any involvement.
Over coming weeks, the Bronwyn podcast will delve into the evidence at the inquest that explored in detail her suspected murder.
Voice actors, and in some cases the witnesses themselves, will re-create their crucial evidence and exchanges.
Bronwyn’s family and friends gathered at Lismore courthouse for the inquest that began on Monday May 27, 2002, and went for five days. Bronwyn’s brother Andy Read told the Northern Star newspaper at the time that it had been a long road for the family.
“But hopefully now we’ll get to the bottom of the whole thing. We no longer believe that Bronwyn is with us but we do need some answers. This has taken a toll on everyone but we just hope that the system works to resolve the matter in one way or another,” Mr Read said at the time. Decades later, he is still waiting for a resolution.
Mr Taylor’s appearance at the inquest was his last official duty as a police officer. Two decades attending crime scenes had taken a toll on his health.
“While I was on sick leave it was announced that they set a date for the coroner’s inquest,” he told the podcast.
“There’s absolutely no way I would ever let the Read family down. I went to see my doctor. I brought myself off sick leave, especially so I could attend the inquest for that week.”
Mr Taylor read to the court his summary of the evidence of witnesses, including the insistence of more than a dozen people who knew Bronwyn and who said the devoted mother would never have left her children.
Do you know more about this case? Contact Hedley Thomas on bronwyn@theaustralian.com.au
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