Dear Rachelle investigation: Prime suspect in Rachelle case gets cosy with other women

Singles-parties regular Kevin Correll was said to be very popular with women, but few would have a clue he was weeks away from testifying as a suspect at a murdered colleague’s inquest. Listen to podcast.

Exclusive: He was the big smiling, smooth talking, dance floor demon, who the ladies “liked” and often squabbled over.

But as Kevin Steven Correll posed for pictures with women at singles events in late 2006, few had a clue he was weeks away from testifying as a suspect at a murdered colleague’s inquest.

In one video, he can be seen impersonating Elvis Presley in a white sailor’s outfit on a stage on a harbour cruise boat.

And at a Christmas Party at the Canterbury Leagues Club on December 8, 2006, he cosied up to Santa for the cameras.

The singles-parties regular – and sometime organiser – was said to be very popular with women, to the point where some held grudges because he rejected their advances.

Person of interest in the murder of Rachelle Childs, Kevin Steven Correll, during Mingles Singles events in Sydney.

Rachelle Childs, whose burning body was found at Gerroa in June 2001.

It’s unclear whether many guests at the time knew Mr Correll was the prime suspect in the 2001 death of Rachelle Childs – or that he was charged and acquitted of sexually assaulting four women in the 1980s under his birth name, Kevin Steven Cornwall.

Some found out ahead of the inquest, which ran for two years, but others recently approached by this masthead were shocked.

LISTEN TO EPISODES 1-8 OF THE PODCAST BELOW:

One man, named Clive for the purpose of this report, used to meet up with Mr Correll at the singles events every Friday night.

“Kevin was a good dancer. He said to me, ‘do you dance?’, and I said I didn’t dance, and he said ‘well, you won’t meet any women then’. And yeah, I didn’t meet any women,” he said.

Clive had no idea about the murder investigation or the historic sexual assault charges before police turned up at his door before the inquest.

“He would dance and the ladies liked him so it was easy for him to meet them, and he was very generous to me, so it really surprised me when the police came to my house and they brought the sheet that [Rachelle] was supposedly wrapped up in,” he recalled.

Kevin Correll posed with women at singles events in late 2006.

“They asked if I had seen the sheet before, and I said I hadn’t, it looked like a painter’s drop sheet but it was actually a thick hospital sheet.”

Rachelle had the sheet in the boot of her car to stop the spare tyre from banging around.

Police believe the sheet could’ve been used to move/transport her body before she was set on fire. Detectives later found the sheet in a roadside paddock a few kilometres away from where her burned body was discovered in Gerroa – about 100km south of where she was last seen in Camden on June 7, 2001.

Clive said police then informed him that Mr Correll was the prime suspect in Rachelle’s death.

Kevin Correll with Santa at a Mingles Singles Christmas Party in 2006.

Kevin Correll told Clive “you won’t meet any women” if he didn’t dance.

Another singles club regular described Mr Correll as a nice and friendly person who often helped set up events.

He was blindsided when told about the murder investigation and the former rape and attempted assault charges.

“Sends shivers down my spine,” he said.

Mr Correll was Rachelle’s boss at the used car department of Camden Holden when she was killed.

A number of potential suspects were questioned by police at the time, but no one has ever been charged over her death. Mr Correll’s alibi was the only one that couldn’t be corroborated. He denied any involvement in her death.

The inquest delivered an open finding.

LISTEN TO PODCAST BONUS INVESTIGATION UPDATE 2 BELOW:

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].

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Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: Prime suspect in Rachelle case gets cosy with other women