The Lost Ones: Woman claims Tasmanian attacker made kill threat, may be linked to murders

A woman has claimed a man who abused her as a child shoved her into a car and drove her into bushland before he did the unthinkable. Warning: Graphic. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST.

Exclusive: A woman has come forward claiming a man who abused her as a child and “held a gun to her head” could be responsible for as many as 25 Australian cold cases.

Amanda*, who has kept quiet for 40 years fearing “repercussions”, broke her silence to News Corp’s The Lost Ones podcast.

Speaking from overseas, where she moved to start a new life, she said she had a theory that her Tasmanian abuser ran rampant for decades in that state and elsewhere on the mainland.

“Five (killings) minimum … and upwards to 20, 25,” she said in a bombshell episode six.

The Lost Ones podcast features an anonymous woman who says a serial killer was active in Tasmania in the 1990's. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Amanda cited four specific cases which the man, who is currently in jail for a separate homicide, could have been involved in:

* the murder of 20-year-old Italian backpacker Victoria Cafasso in 1995 on Tasmania’s east coast;

* the disappearance of 26-year-old German backpacker Nancy Grunwaldt in 1993, also on Tasmania’s east coast;

* the disappearance of 14-year-old Eve Askew, who had run away from her family in Tasmania in 1991, after being grounded for smoking; and

* the disappearance of nine-year-old Craig Ewen Taylor from his family’s beach shack in 1993.

Listen to the latest Lost Ones podcast episode here:

Amanda said her sole motivation for going public was to bring closure to grieving families.

“I don’t like raising conjecture. I’m very aware that the families of these people are still alive and it’s really upsetting to consider what may have happened to them,” Amanda said.

Craig Ewen Taylor.

Victoria Cafasso.

“But I just feel that there needs to be a proper look at any child or vulnerable adult that’s disappeared and look at them with a fresh set of eyes in a cohesive way to see whether there could be links between any of these people.

“The only reason I’m coming forward now, and the absolutely only reason – and I want to make so clear – is the chance to give the other families some form of closure. That’s my only motivation.”

Nancy Grunwaldt.

Eve Askew.

Amanda said her abuse started at age five and the abuse moved quickly from kissing and touching to “more intimate stuff”.

One day her attacker shoved her in a car, drove her to scrubby bushland and “threatened to kill” her as he held a gun to her head.

“He said he’d go on to kill people and make them disappear and that they would kill people who wouldn’t be missed in a hurry, like backpackers and other children, and that it would all be my fault and it would be on my conscience.”

That day, her life was spared, but not the dog that he had brought with them. He shot it in front of her.

Amanda said there were similarities between her and the appearance of other “potential victims”.

“I just felt very frightened. I was worried about the repercussions so I stayed silent,” she said.

Her attacker also travelled interstate, so she fears his evil streak was not confined to Tasmania.

The mayor of Break O’Day, in Tasmania’s north east, Mick Tucker previously told News Corp that speculations of a serial killer in Tasmania during the 1990s were unhelpful.

He also dismissed suggestions the two east coast cases could be linked.

“When we had such a horrendous attack as we had, unfortunately it’s human nature to put two and two things together, come up with five, but all that did was drive more fear into our community,” he said.

Tasmania Police said it was not able to comment whether someone was “on the radar” or subject to an investigation.

“All information provided to police is followed up and fully investigated. Police investigations are never closed until those responsible are brought to justice,” a Tasmania Police spokesperson said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppertas.com.au

* Name changed.

If you or someone you know needs assistance:

Lifeline on 13 11 14 or online

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 or online

To listen to episode six of The Lost Ones podcast, go to lostonespodcast.com.au