‘Absolute bull’: Bronwyn Winfield’s cousin denies disparaging her

The cousin of Bronwyn Winfield says she was horrified to discover disparaging statements about Bronwyn had been attributed to her in a police report | LISTEN

‘My reasoning … was that you keep your enemies closer than your friends,’ says Bronwyn Winfield’s cousin Megan Read. Picture: John Feder

The cousin of missing NSW mother Bronwyn Winfield has denied making damning comments about her to police, saying someone must have imperson­ated her.

Megan Read has told the Bronwyn podcast that she was horrified to discover disparaging statements about Bronwyn had been attributed to her in an internal police report.

A two-page document was prepared by Detective Sergeant Graeme Diskin on September 2, 1993, three months after Bronwyn vanished from the state’s far north coast.

Ms Read was said to have told the policeman she believed Bronwyn was living in a commune and had been looking for a rich man to care for her. She flatly denies ever making the comments.

“Absolute bullshit. I never, ever would say that,” she said.

The police document was based on a telephone conversation between Sergeant Diskin and a woman who must have used Ms Read’s identity.

“This date spoke to the cousin of the missing person, Megan Read,” the policeman reported.

“Megan stated that she had twice spoken to the MP (missing person), I believe, only days before her disappearance and only that she was able to recognise her voice, she would not have believed that in fact it was Bronwyn.

“Megan stated that the MP was talking a lot of rubbish, but did not seem to be affected by drugs or alcohol.

“Statements were made like ‘You will all pay, none of you will know what is happening’.”

The policeman also wrote that Ms Read was supportive of Bronwyn’s estranged husband, bricklayer Jon Winfield, who has always denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and has never been charged with an ­offence connected to it.

“Megan stated that she has no fears about Jon Winfield being involved in anything untoward so far as his wife’s disappearance is concerned,” he wrote.

Bronwyn Winfield was last seen in Lennox Head in 1993. Supplied

“In the past, she has questioned Bronwyn over her attitude and lies about Jon, and Bronwyn admitted that she was seeking attention. She believes that Jon is a great father and carer of the two children involved in the marriage and would do nothing to upset the children. Megan also believes that in the past Bronwyn was a user of cannabis and described her as a flower child, believing that she may well be living on a commune somewhere.”

Bronwyn “also had a passion for money and was on the lookout for a rich male to care for her if the opportunity arose”, the policeman added.

“Megan stated that Bronwyn has always been upset over the death of her father some years ago and by the fact that she was luckless in his estate because he was a bankrupt at the time of his death and all monies went to paying outstanding debts.

“Bronwyn, until just prior to her disappearance, has been supported for money from Megan’s father, Bronwyn’s uncle. However, he has declined to continue in that vein and Bronwyn was somewhat upset about that.

“Megan also reiterated the fact that (Bronwyn’s) mother did exactly the same thing some years ago and believes that one day she will walk back into the family home as if nothing happened due to her state of mind at the time of the disappearance.”

Jon Winfield surfing at Sharpes Beach, Skennars Head, recently. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

Ms Read has insisted on the podcast that it wasn’t her on the telephone to the police officer in Ballina. “My father never gave her a cent, for starters.

“Jon … told me that she was at the Age of Aquarius commune. This is Jon’s words.”

Another unknown woman must have called Sergeant Diskin “and said that she’s me”, she said.

Ms Read’s correct phone number was listed in the report.

“I don’t understand this at all. I didn’t even know it existed until recently.

“And I’m very upset about it because I didn’t do it.”

She added: “Bronwyn was a very glamorous woman. She would never go to a commune.

“That’s just ridiculous. As if I’d say that.

“I would have to have completely gone stark raving mad. If you spoke to any single person that I know, they would be gobsmacked. It’s the opposite to what I’ve always maintained.”

Bronwyn’s brother, Andy Read, told the podcast he instructed the police not to talk to Megan anymore after receiving feedback from Sergeant Diskin in 1993.

“He said to me: ‘Andy, every time I ask this fella a question, he has an answer.

“It’s as if he’s prepared.’

“We thought: ‘There’s got to be a way. How does he know? How is he so prepared to answer things all the time?’ Which led to me to make some phone calls and start chasing up what was going on.

“That’s when I found out that Jon had been in constant contact with Megan. So I put two and two together and thought, ‘Well this guy’s clever enough to be picking her brain for whatever the family’s thinking’.

“Which Megan sort of now to this day describes as ‘Oh, yes, but you’ve got to, you know, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer’.”

Megan said she was the only one that remained in contact with Mr Winfield after Bronwyn’s disappearance.

“My reasoning being was that you keep your enemies closer than your friends. I could find out what was going on. And I continued to be in contact with him virtually daily up until October 1994,” she said.

The true origin of the information noted in the internal police document is unknown, and the situation is complicated because some members of Bronwyn’s family have fallen out with each other, the podcast reveals.

Do you know something about this case? Email Hedley Thomas at [e-mail].

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