Louise BELL
Louise BELL
Age - 10 years
Last seen - January 3rd, 1983, Hackham West, SA
May 11, 2008 12:30am
Queensland police believe the critically ill murderer and her estranged husband could hold the key to the disappearance of Henley Beach woman Stella Farrugia and Hackham West schoolgirl Louise Bell.
Beck, who was jailed for life in 1988 over the rape, torture and murder of a schoolgirl, is on life-support in a Townsville hospital following heart surgery on Monday.
Townsville's Regional Crime Co-ordinator, Detective Inspector Warren Webber, has said Beck and Watts may be linked to the disappearances of a number of young women in the 1980s.
"There is a great deal of interest in Beck because she may hold the key to solving a number of unsolved crimes," he said.
"We can only hope she has an epiphany on her deathbed and comes clean."
Police had put the morbidly obese Beck on suicide watch after interrogating her about possible links into the disappearance of Ms Farrugia and Ms Bell.
Ms Farrugia's sister, Christine Lilkendey, 47, pleaded with Beck, 64, to tell police anything she knew about the fate of her "gorgeous" sister.
"She must tell us if she knows anything, I want to know if Stella is alive," she said from her Melbourne home.
"At least if there was a body, a cemetery to go to, we can mourn. But there is no closure, no end, if the body is not there."
Ms Farrugia was 18 when she was reported missing from her Seaview Rd apartment on October 18, 1984, leaving behind her belongings, bank notes and her beloved dog. Louise Bell was 10 when she was reported missing from her Hackham West home on January 5, 1983.
Police believe the girls fit the description of the "pretty little virgins" Beck and husband Barrie Watts stalked during the 1980s. The pair were jailed in 1988 for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Noosa schoolgirl Sian Kingi.
A week after 10-year-old Louise Bell was snatched from her Hackham West home
on January 3, 1983, by an intruder who is believed to have cut through a window
flyscreen, $5000 was put up for information.
A week later, the state government increased that by $10,000. About the same
time, a group of Adelaide business leaders put forward up to $15,000 of their
own money as added incentive.
More than 21 years later, the case remains open.
"After the disappearance of 10-year-old South Australian schoolgirl, Louise Bell, from her parents' home in the Adelaide suburb of Hackham West in January 1983, concerned parents demanded immediate action from the South Australian police.
A South Australian prisoner, Raymond John Geesing, was serving time in Adelaide Jail for an unrelated crime when he was charged with the abduction and murder of Louise Bell. The Crown case rested largely on evidence from four prisoner informants who had been in prison with Geesing and alleged he had confessed to them. Based on their evidence, Geesing was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
On April 12, 1985, the South Australian Court of Criminal Appeal unanimously upheld an appeal by Geesing. South Australian Chief Justice, Mr Len King, ruled that Geesing's 1983 trial had miscarried and the guilty verdict for the murder and abduction of Louise Bell was set aside. Chief Justice King said the prisoner informants were unreliable and untrustworthy witnesses.
One prisoner retracted his original statement. The evidence of another prisoner informant was declared inadmissible. The Court of Criminal Appeal ordered there be no retrial and Geesing walked to freedom after serving 17 months for a crime he had not committed. " - Information source, Bernie Matthews, Online Opinion writer -
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3700
THE notorious child killer Valmae Faye Beck, formerly known as Fay Cramb, has died in hospital, Queensland's Acting Police Minister, Robert Schwarten, said yesterday.
Beck was admitted to a Townsville hospital earlier this month suffering difficulty in breathing and chest pains.
She was placed in a medically induced coma following complications with heart surgery.
Beck and her former husband Barrie Watts were jailed for life in 1987 for the torture and murder of a Noosa schoolgirl, Sian Kingi.
Detectives, seeking deathbed confessions, were hoping to interview the 64-year-old high-security prisoner over more unsolved crimes.
Detectives believed the notorious criminal may have known the fate of several unsolved cases involving young girls and women across Australia, including the death of Helen Mary Feeney, a 31-year-old student, between October 29 and December 1, 1987.
Beck gave evidence that Watts had dumped Ms Feeney's body and burnt it at a rubbish tip near Lowood, west of Brisbane.
Watts was acquitted of the murder, but police believe Beck knew exactly where Ms Feeney's body was buried.
Today, Mr Schwarten, who is the acting Police Minister while Judy Spence is overseas, confirmed Beck had died in Townsville General Hospital without having regained consciousness.
"She got a life sentence and it turned out to be that," Mr Schwarten said.
"Right until the end, she was of no assistance to police. Harsh as it may sound, and people may judge me on that, I don't think there will be many Queenslanders who would shed a tear in her direction and there would be some who would cheer."
Beck and Watts moved from Western Australia to Queensland when they embarked on an eight-week crime rampage that ended with the abduction, torture, rape and murder of Sian. "There are a number of other unsolved cases that involve similarities to the well-planned killing of Sian," a police source said.
Queensland's Police Commissioner, Bob Atkinson, is expected to give a statement this week on Beck's death.
AAP
May 17, 2008 11:50am
THE condition of convicted child killer Valmae Faye Beck, formerly known as Fay Cramb, has improved and it is believed she is out of a coma.
The Department of Corrective services said Beck was now in a stable condition in the Townsville General Hospital.
Beck was in a medically induced coma following complications with heart surgery.
It is believed she is out of the coma but still not speaking.
Beck and her former husband Barrie Watts were jailed for life in 1987 for the torture and murder of Noosa schoolgirl Sian Kingi.
Cold case detectives want to interview the 64-year-old high security prisoner over more unsolved crimes, hoping for confessions as she faces her own mortality.
Detectives believe the notorious criminal may know the fate of several unsolved cases involving young girls and women across Australia.
In August 1995 a Supreme Court jury in Brisbane acquitted Watts of murder and a lesser charge of manslaughter in relation to the death of a woman whose body has never been found.
Watts pleaded not guilty to murdering Helen Mary Feeney, a 31-year-old student, between October 29 and December 1, 1987.
Beck testified that Watts had dumped Ms Feeney's body and burned it at a rubbish tip near Lowood, west of Brisbane.
But detectives believe the body was actually disposed of elsewhere and Beck knows the location.
Beck has been questioned about the disappearance of 14-year-old Sophie Helen Woodman, who went missing on March 21, 1980, after leaving her Perth home with a girlfriend and travelling to the eastern states.
She and Watts have been linked to the murders of Sharron Phillips, 20, in Brisbane's outer west, Stella Mary Farrugia, 19, and Louise Bell, 10, in Adelaide.
Treatment of morbidly obese Beck sparked a public outcry with Premier Anna Bligh forced to defend her rights to taxpayer-funded health care.
"While I understand that people might have some questions about this, in this country we don't have a death penalty - we do provide medical services to people who are in our prisons,'' Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane.
Two prison officers have been posted at Beck's hospital bedside with
concern she may be a target for reprisals rather than posing any threat given
her medical condition.
Posted - January 29th 2010 - ABC
Raymond John Bolte, who spent time in jail over Louise Bell killing, is jailed for child sex crimes
A man once convicted of killing Adelaide girl Louise Bell has been sent to jail for at least five years for child sex crimes.
The District Court heard Raymond John Bolte, previously known as Raymond John Geesing, was convicted of the murder of 10-year-old Hackham West schoolgirl Louise Bell in the 1980s.
That was quashed on appeal.
Bolte, now 62, pleaded not guilty to the current sex charges against two young girls, but was convicted by a jury.
Judge Paul Rice has sentenced him to seven years' jail with a non-parole term of five years, back-dated to when he was taken into custody in September.
The judge said Bolte may do it hard in prison because other inmates may think he was involved in the unsolved murder.
The victims say they think Bolte will remain at risk of re-offending after he is released.
But Bolte's wife says he is innocent and the convictions are based on lies.
