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[Music] if any bastard ever thought about going to the cops about us that we killed and
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so will their [ __ ] families and if we don't get them out Natesville would be a
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shame if anything happened to your sweet little Pru wouldn't it those words were
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allegedly said by one of the men convicted for the Russell Street bombing the person he said those words to Paul
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Edsel petja was the main arrested turned Crown witness and whose evidence was instrumental in the conviction of the
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Russell Street Bombers [Music] true Birds case is related to the Russell Street case so if you haven't
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yet listened to those two episodes I suggest you do so before listening to this one although it's a totally
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separate investigation it's kind of a Russell Street part three crew bird was 13 years old and the oldest of three
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children she lived with a mother Jenny Bird on Justin Avenue in Glenroy Victoria Glenroy is just outside of the
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Melbourne City area about 13 kilometers eight miles Kruse father died when she was only 1
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and her mother Jenny remarried and had two other children too her new husband Benny bird
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Benny adopted Prue and became a father figure to her Jenny eventually separated from Benny and she was now in a
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relationship with a woman Isabelle Prue hated the fact that Jenny and Benny had split up and Isabelle had moved in
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it was causing friction in the household Prue resented Isabelle in the summer of
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1992 Prue and her friend Sarah which isn't her real name we're at Cruz house a man knocked on the door who proved
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didn't recognize the man said is that Daniels car prove had no idea who Daniel was or what this man was talking about
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she replied no the man said are you sure Prue didn't know what was going on she said yes and then slam the door in his
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face Sara didn't go to the door so she didn't see the man but Prue was really shaken up and had turned pale because
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she said the man was really weird Sara left Cruz house a few hours later as she was walking down proof street a man
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drove past her in a blue car and waved Sara didn't recognize him or the car so she kept walking the man turned the car
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around and started driving slowly at walking pace next to Sarah he was smiling and waving and didn't take his
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eyes off her Sara was freaked out and started running she ran to a nearby friend's house the man in the blue car
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took off Sara called Prue and asked her to describe the men who had earlier knocked on her door asking about
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Daniel's car between them they worked out that the man who knocked on the door and the man who stalks Sara in the car
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were the same person not long after that incident on the 2nd of February 1992 Jenny Byrd Cruz mum
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left the house early in the morning Prue was still asleep and what she didn't know was that Jenny had arranged for
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Isabelle to move out that day not to end their relationship but just to make things less intrusive for Prue
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Jenny returned home about 1:00 p.m. Prue was actually still in bed asleep Isabelle was waiting for friends to turn
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up to help her move in the meantime Jenny asked if she could drive her down to the local pool so she could go for a
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swim on what was a very hot summer's day Isabelle agreed and she was gone for only about 20 minutes when she arrived
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home her two friends had arrived to help remove a while they were having a cup of
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coffee before they got to work Prue woke up and walked out of her room she said hello to Isabelle and her
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friends emptied a tin of creamed corn onto a plate put it in the microwave and then walked back to her room about 1:45
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p.m. the phone rang Isabelle answered there was a teenage boy he asking for Prue Prue did take the call but Isabelle
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didn't hear the conversation because she walked out and started loading up the trailer for her move 30 minutes later
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the phone rang again Isabelle was still busy out in the garage she assumes Prue answered the call although she isn't
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sure about 2:30 p.m. 15 minutes after that second phone call Isabelle had finished packing the trailer and her
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friends left the house driving off with the stuff Isabelle had a few things to finish up inside as she made her way
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inside she noticed the front door was wide open the television was on the plate of creamed corn was sitting on the
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coffee table in the lounge room untouched and prove was gone Jenny Byrd arrived home sometime after 6:00 p.m. that night
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she saw the creamed corn on the coffee table that was still untouched there was no sign of Prue at all if Prue was going
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somewhere she would always leave a note but there wasn't one still Jenny assumed
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Prue would be at a friend's house or with a relative and she started calling her out but no one had seen or heard
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from her by 9:30 p.m. Jenny was in a panic and she called the police the first time she called she was told
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teenagers go missing all the time and usually turn up soon after that was all the help she got the only thing missing
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was preschool bark and a pair of pants preschool books had been emptied out of a bag and was still at home the rest of
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Pru's clothes and belongings were left untouched no money had been taken and the creamed corn was the most alarming
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thing crew never went anywhere before she ate Jenny didn't believe for a second that Prue had run away she called
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the police again after the second call police turned up and took a report Jenny Byrd was the eldest of four children and
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grew up in a flat in West Brunswick Victoria a suburb just outside of the Melbourne City area
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her mother Julie had a very bad temper and was capable of extreme violence there were a lot of flights between
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Julie and Jenny's father Jim and that in turn would be taken out on the kids the
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household generally wasn't a very pleasant place to live Jenny planned to move out as soon as she
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could she was gone when she was 17 she moved in with her boyfriend Terry Crews father
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but Terry was tragically killed in a car accident later Jenny met and married Benny Bird whom she had two other
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children with and Benny also adopted Prue it was around this time that Julie split up with the Jenny's father Jim
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Julie hooked up with another man who was soon sent to jail for shooting Julie was
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a track that the violent men and she didn't let the prison sentence stop her from seeing her new boyfriend but it was
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while visiting him in jail that Julie met and fell in love with another inmate Paul Edsel Julie became infatuated with
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Paul who was serving a 22-year jail sentence for armed robbery and the attempted murder of a police officer
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you'll recall from the Russell Street episodes that it was while serving his jail term that Paul also became best
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friends with Stan Taylor one of the men convicted of the Russell Street bombing Paul Hetzel was released from jail in
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1981 and Julie was waiting for him the two were madly in love and got married soon after Paul into Julie Hetzel Jenny
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Byrd was now Paul's stepdaughter her daughter Prue Byrd was now Paul's step granddaughter Julie wasn't the only
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person waiting for Paul Hetzel when he was released from jail his good mate Stan Taylor who got released before Paul
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was also waiting and it wasn't long before Paul was a part of Stan's crew committing a string of violent armed
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robberies starting with smaller country hotels before progressing up the banks around Melbourne the robberies were
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vicious a number of people were badly beaten smashed over the head with guns and keep Twila on the floor their aim
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was to instill as much fear into people as possible so they would do whatever they wanted the other people in Stan's
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crew you will remember but Craig Minogue his brother Rodney Minogue and Peter Reed the other men arrested for the
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Russell Street bombing Jenny Byrd obviously knew her stepfather Paul Hetzel had a criminal past
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her mother had met him in jail and she never really liked him she says she was actually scared of him
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Prue on the other hand absolutely loved the Julianne Paul Grandma and Grandpa she always wanted to visit and would
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spend weeks at a time with them Jenny was comfortable with this she felt it was important that Prue had a healthy
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relationship with their grandparents and thought she would be safe with them of course that meant Prue was in regular
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contact with Paul's classmates Stan Taylor Craig and ruddy Minogue and Peter 8 they met proved countless times
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she was always visiting Paul never saw a problem with this he believed in the criminal code no matter what you never
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hurt women or children this code is what Paul believed would keep crews safe Paul says Stan Taylor had been talking
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about blowing up Russell Street since he was in jail Paul believed it was just Stan talking [ __ ]
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jailhouse tough talk a criminal who hates cops nothing shocking about that Paul said he was always of the belief
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that Stan would never go through with it on Thursday the 27th of March 1986 when
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the bomb went off in Russell Street Paul and Julie heard the news over the radio
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they looked at each other and knew straightaway who was involved the day after the bombing Stan Taylor bragged
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the pall telling him all about it fully implicating himself at least that's Paul
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Hetzel story Paul was a violent career criminal who was described as a very cunning he knew the system knew exactly
00:11:46
how to play it and was only ever interested in looking out for himself there are those that believe Paul had a
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far greater role in the bombing than what he makes out to the point where some police who were guarding him while
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he was under witness protection had a tough time as they felt he was just as responsible as the men who were charged
00:12:06
with the bombing remember too he had already served a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and for the attempted
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murder of a police officer and after the bombing Paul and Julie Hetzel were actually living with Stan Taylor at
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Burchett that's the small country town outside of Melbourne where Craig and Rodney Minogue were also living the
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night before Stan and the minogue brothers were arrested the 29th of May 1986 is the night that Paul and Julie
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Hetzel say Craig Minogue made that chilling threat about their granddaughter Prue if any bastard ever
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thought about going to the cops about us they'll be killed and so will their [ __ ] families
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and if we don't get them our mates will it would be a shame if anything happened
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to your sweet little prude wouldn't it [Music] Prue was asleep in the next room when
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this threat was made now Craig Minogue strongly denies ever making this threat and claims the Hetzel has made it up the
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next day Stan Taylor and the minogue brothers were arrested for the Russell Street bombing Paul and Julie Hetzel
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were also arrested although Julie was released soon after without charge the police had enough
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evidence on Paul hassel to implicate him in the string of armed robberies the group had committed and they also
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suspected he may have had some involvement in Russell Street as well for Paul it was very simple shut up and
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say nothing and get charged with the bombing and the murder of Constable Angela Taylor
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or tell the police what he knew Paul was well aware he would never see the light
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of day again if he was convicted for Russell Street so Paul decided to talk he told the police everything his
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evidence was described as the jewel in the prosecution's case he denied any direct involvement in the
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bombing himself and the police say they couldn't prove otherwise if they could actually put him at the scene or prove
00:14:13
you was directly involved he would have been charged as well but they couldn't prove it
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needless to say Paul's cooperation made Stan Taylor and Craig Minogue very very angry they were convicted in 1988 and
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both received life sentences Rodney Minogue was acquitted for being an accessory but still served some time
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for the armed robberies Peter egg was found not guilty of Russell Street but served nine years for the armed
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robberies and he shootout with police when he was arrested Paul and Julie were put into witness protection they had to
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change their names and cut themselves off from everybody unable to let anyone know where they were Jennie Bert was
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also told to change her name and move to a safe house Jenny lived under a clay out fearful for her and her children
00:15:06
safety and it was four years after the conviction of the Russell Street Bombers on the 2nd of February 1992 when those
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fears became a reality Prue was missing Jenny Bird was frustrated with police efforts to investigate Prue's
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disappearance or they lack of effort Jenny knew Prue hadn't run away her family knew that she hadn't run away but
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the police initially insisted that was most likely their case it wasn't until many weeks later they started to take a
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bit more interest when they realized the significance of who proved was or who her grandparents were at the time of
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Pru's disappearance Paul and Julie Hetzel were living on the other side of the country in Western Australia when
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Jenny rang nom de till the news she says Paul Hetzel was strangely aggressive rather than sympathetic his words were
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what the hell do you expect us to do all the way over here given how much they said they loved than
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a dog crew Jenny assumed they both would have been on a plane that night to get to Melbourne but they weren't it took
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them a week to make that trip and when they did arrive there were no tears no sympathy Jenny says Paul was acting
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extremely odd his first words to her when he arrived were what the [ __ ] are you crying for another pretty disturbing
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comment he made to the panic-stricken Jenny who's 13 year old daughter had been missing for over a week was she's
00:16:45
probably out getting the ass-fucked offer of course that's what Jenny alleges Paul said and Paul denies it so
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make of it what you will Paul and Julie insisted that Prue had just run away Jenny was taken aback by
00:17:01
their behavior and a lack of concern when the runaway theory didn't quite add up Paul and Julie started to try and
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shift the blame onto Isabelle Jenny's partner insisting she must be somehow involved the police did thoroughly
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investigate Isabelle out of necessity she was the last person to see Prue but she was cleared there's no way she
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had anything to do with it years later Jenny and Paul said that they insisted on these alternate theories because it
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was easier to believe than the revenge theory if it was revenge for Paul giving evidence then that would mean they were
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responsible and if they didn't want that on their conscience after seven weeks the case made its way onto the desk of
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officer Chris Jones from the missing persons unit the giant elephant in the room could no longer be ignored the
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Hetzel were crowned witnesses under witness protection the people Paul Hetzel testified against had allegedly
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made a threat the proof would be harmed if they ever spoke to the police six years after that threat was made in four
00:18:12
years after their conviction prove is now missing Chris Jones tried to get the homicide squad to take over the
00:18:20
investigation stating that the missing persons unit simply didn't have the resources required to thoroughly
00:18:26
investigate that request was denied the head of the homicide squad telling Chris
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to keep looking at it and to let him know if he found anything Chris never did find anything weeks turned into
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months which turned into years the case went totally cold despite what seemed to
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be an obvious connection to Russell Street crews case remained with the missing persons unit just another name
00:18:55
amongst thousands of other missing people Jenny tried to do her own investigating
00:19:01
she put up posters talked to people in the street tried to get media coverage of the case
00:19:06
but little was achieved until 2008 16 years after Cruz disappearance Jenny Byrd managed to convince the
00:19:18
government to offer a $500,000 reward for any information that could help solve Cruz case it was after this reward
00:19:26
was offered that the name Leslie Cammalleri popped up Camilleri was in jail serving a life sentence without the
00:19:34
possibility for parole he had been convicted for committing the murders of fourteen-year-old Lauren berry and 16
00:19:42
year-old Nicole Collins another well-known Australian case otherwise known as the Vegas schoolgirl murders
00:19:49
which happened in 1997 five years after Peru's disappearance when Prue's case and the new reward
00:19:58
started making headlines again in 2008 Camilleri confessed to the murder freely admitting to police that he was the one
00:20:06
who killed Prue Byrd his version was that he approached Crewe in the street because he believed Cruz father had
00:20:14
sexually abused him when he was younger pre refused to tell him anything about her father so he placed his hands around
00:20:22
her neck until she was unconscious he then hold tight her and put her in his car planning to ask her further
00:20:29
questions about her father but it was sometime after that Camilleri realized prove is that Colonel area was already
00:20:40
never getting out of prison and he wouldn't be the first person to admit to a murder he didn't commit
00:20:46
so police needed more than just his word for it his story really wasn't adding up
00:20:52
either proof school bag had been emptied and was missing from the house along with a pair of pants and she left a
00:21:00
plate of creamed corn untouched on the table something she would never do she always ate before she left the house why
00:21:10
would she empty her school bag take a pair of pants to just walk along the street where she just so happened to
00:21:17
cross paths with Camilleri who started asking her questions about her father who allegedly abused him when he was
00:21:23
younger no one believed camellias version this didn't make sense but that didn't mean he wasn't responsible he was
00:21:33
in jail for the violent murder of two girls around Cruz age he was certainly capable but his versions seem to be very
00:21:41
self-serving taking the blame but trying to minimize it by saying it was just an
00:21:46
accident and he didn't mean to kill her he just wanted to ask her further questions and she died on him after a
00:21:53
thorough investigation police believed he was actually involved but he was coming up with a [ __ ] story to take
00:22:00
the full rap so nobody else would be implicated the police strongly believed Camilleri didn't act alone proves
00:22:09
friends Sara became a crucial witness she says Camilleri was the men who followed her in the car that day she
00:22:16
left Cruz house the same man who knocked on Peru's door asking about Daniels car
00:22:22
although it was many years later that she made this identification by seeing Emily's picture in the paper
00:22:29
another witness came forward which confirmed the belief that Camilleri was enacting alone one of Cruz neighbors
00:22:36
seemed not her real name she came forward saying the day Prue disappeared she saw two cars parked near Cruz house
00:22:47
one of the cars was blue and similar in description to the car that followed Serra during the incident before Peru's
00:22:54
disappearance two men were standing outside the blue car smoking and a third man was sitting in the second car
00:23:01
watching later that day Sam says she saw proof in the backseat of the blue car crew was banging on the
00:23:10
back window Sam thought she was waving at first but clearly she wasn't Sam kept that information to herself for 16 years
00:23:21
the reason she says she never came forward was because she had no self-confidence and she did eventually
00:23:28
decide to come forward because she says she felt pries presence and to prove was
00:23:32
telling her to do something Camilleri wasn't from Victoria he was from yes a country town in New South Wales but he
00:23:42
had a very close friend who he regularly visited in Victoria mark McConville a well-connected violent drug dealer who
00:23:51
just so happened to have links to the Russell Street bombing crew as well he also owned a small blue car at the time
00:23:58
of Pru's disappearance so this is how it all ties together it is alleged that Prue was abducted in a planned
00:24:07
kidnapping as payback against Paul and Julie Hetzel for testifying in the Russell Street case the bomb is making
00:24:14
good on their threat to heart proof mark McConville the violin associate of the Bombers and his good friend child
00:24:21
murderer Lesley Cammalleri were used to carry out the kidnapping and murder of Prue in another twist
00:24:28
Jenny Byrd claims she saw Rodney Minogue in her street only a week before crew disappeared not only that she says some
00:24:36
family members have perused boyfriend at the time were later discovered to be close friends with Craig and
00:24:42
minogue again that's all alleged it is denied by the minogue brothers there was a witness laura not her real name who
00:24:53
says she was actually with McConville and Camilleri on one occasion when they drove to Glenroy looking for Prue
00:25:00
during the drive Camilleri and McConville mentioned they were looking for a girl that had to be bumped and if
00:25:06
they didn't get rid of her they were [ __ ] Laura also says that she saw Pruitt McConville's house tied up and
00:25:14
asking for her mum the day she disappeared now all of that is alleged that can't be proven and for that reason
00:25:25
it was never pressed by the prosecution in court there is a difference between knowing something or believing something
00:25:32
happened and being able to prove it to the required standard in a courtroom there are a lot of probables and
00:25:40
Possible's and maybes surrounding Prue's case unfortunately the full truth will most likely never be known mark
00:25:49
McConville died in jail in 2003 he was there for an unrelated charge so he was dead before his name was ever linked to
00:25:57
Peru's case Stan Taylor and Craig Minogue both strongly denied ever making a threat against Cru and obviously deny
00:26:05
having anything to do with her death Connolly RIA is sticking to his story insisting he acted alone an accident he
00:26:13
just wanted to question prove about her father's whereabouts the judge said he didn't believe his story and instructed
00:26:21
cammalleri that him what he taught to exercise his conscience but he never did so this day cammalleri has never even
00:26:29
said where he left bruised body he's given a couple of different stories one that he placed her inside a fridge at
00:26:37
Frankston tip and another that he buried her in bushland searches of those areas
00:26:43
revealed no trace of proof Jenny Byrd read a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing
00:26:49
pleading with Camilleri to tell her where Cruz body was so she could be given a proper burial but he refused
00:26:57
cammalleri was sentenced to 28 years in jail for Prue Byrd's murder which of course is totally irrelevant because he
00:27:04
was already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole during sentencing the judge conceded many of
00:27:13
the facts of the case were unclear as Connolly Rees version was unreliable however the judge was satisfied
00:27:20
Camilleri abducted and murdered proof with the help of two other men Kim O'Leary is unreliable Steen Taylor
00:27:29
has a terminal illness and a severe hatred of authority mark McConville is dead Craig Minogue is due for parole in
00:27:37
a couple of months and strongly denies any involvement in prove Byrd's case Rodney Minogue was questioned but there
00:27:44
was no evidence on him and he also strongly denies any involvement but Paul Hetzel has no doubt his cooperation with
00:27:52
police was the cause of Cruz death although there is not enough evidence to prove it in court to this day the case
00:28:01
remains open and efforts are ongoing to try and locate crews body [Music] you [Music]