Networked Knowledge - Book Reports

[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

Debi Marshall homepage

See also
Bob Moles: A state of Injustice - book now online
Bob Moles: Losing Their Grip - The Case of Henry Keogh - book now online

On 23 May 2007 Luke Eliot of the West Australian reported “Police reject book’s claims they bungled Claremont killings probe”.

He said WA Police have again been forced to defend their investigation into the Claremont serial killings ahead of the release of a new book which claims the detective who led the inquiry in its crucial stages botched the probe. In The Devil’s Garden, author Debi Marshall says Assistant Commissioner David Caporn had “tunnel vision” by making a Cottesloe public servant the key focus of the inquiry. Last night, Deputy Commissioner Murray Lampard claimed the book was “riddled with factual errors” and was extremely insensitive to the families of the victims, Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

Tasmanian Marshall describes in gruesome detail the state in which the bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon were found. Police never confirmed how they died and refuse to confirm the speculation in the book. “This book really is a crass attempt to cash in on one of WA’s biggest tragedies,” Mr Lampard said. “Debi Marshall wanted WA Police to let her ‘inside’ the Macro investigation and we refused. “So she has relied on the speculation and assumptions of a couple of disgruntled and disgraced former police officers and other people with vested interests in undermining the WA Police.”

Ms Spiers was the first woman to be abducted from Claremont on January 27, 1996. Ms Rimmer was abducted on June 9, 1996, and Ms Glennon was taken on March 14, 1997. The serial killer investigation, dubbed Operation Macro, is widely regarded as Australia’s most expensive criminal inquiry and one of the longest unsolved murder mysteries. Mr Lampard said Macro was the most reviewed investigation in WA Police history and was subjected to 11 internal and external reviews. He said none identified any oversights.

Marshall quotes an anonymous Macro insider who claims Mr Caporn had “tunnel vision geared to getting a result”. A WA Police spokesman questioned the anonymous officer’s credibility, saying it was believed the source was a disgruntled former detective sacked for breaching the inquiry’s confidentiality code. WA Police Union president Mike Dean said last night that although he had not read the book, he was concerned by feedback he was hearing.

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