Australian Keystone Kops give up

The prime suspect in the Claremont serial killings has reportedly been eliminated from the police probe. Channel 9 last night reported the Cottesloe public servant’s family had been informed by detectives he was no longer a person of interest. The middle-aged man had been subjected to surveillance by detectives on the case for almost seven years.

Police are still investigating the unsolved murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in 1996 and 1997 in what has become Australia’s longest-running active police investigation.

The Cottesloe man lived with his parents at the time and came to police attention after he was caught driving around Claremont late at night. He had always maintained his innocence and claimed he was driving through the area because he was concerned for the welfare of women at the time.

Covert surveillance of the suspect became public after a series of police bungles while tracking the man. At one stage, the ceiling above his desk at work caved in under the weight of surveillance equipment.

A major documentary on the murders that features much-publicised CCTV footage of Ms Rimmer outside the Claremont Hotel screens tonight. Police said they wished to distance themselves from the television report and had no further comment.

Original report here



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