How police investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell targeted the wrong man | Four Corners

[Music] please explain your high like funny thing it's three and a half on September 12 2014 a little boy vanished without a trace [Music] how long has he been missing I well I think well we've been looking for him now about 15 or 20 minutes that night I thought it could be father could be longer because he's playing around here he heard we heard nothing the disappearance of William Terrell has become one of Australia's biggest mysteries this is still being treated as a search-and-rescue operation however they have not been able to rule out the possibility that William Terrell was abducted did you take away in - no do you know who told you no police publicly focused on one man we believe that I may read William from that front address from the front yard of that address may have left the area [Music] the man accused of abducting William Terrell is speaking out for the first time to tell his side of the story when he turned around and said we know you did it we're gonna get you I'm gonna come and arrest you and I said I haven't done anything what are you talking about I would like to hear the police apologized to him what they put him through because they just said told him that they're going to ruin him and they did they never considered for one moment is the possibility of his innocence and that demonstrated that they didn't bring a fair objective mind and open mind necessary for good investigations to this investigation five years after the disappearance of William Terrell the man who became the chief suspect has had his life ruined and police are no closer to solving the case tonight on four corners how the wrong man became the investigations key person of interest [Music] in the New South Wales coastal town of Laura t'en September 12 2014 began like any other day white Goods repairmen bill Spedding had just arrived at work I was in the office for a fair while and office now doing computer work and orders and processing paperwork in generally the office type functions and then at about twenty five to ten or something like that I started walking up the street to meet Margaret of their coffee shop [Music] we ordered some eats and a coffee had to set their tour about 20 past 10:00 something like that we walked across to the school the school was Loret in public whether Spelling's grandson was getting an award so we walked across the school down the steps ran to the school assembly hall and was selected a seat and sat and waited for the children to walk in and the assembly to begin we left straight after because bill had a service call to that he put off a little bit too so he could be at the Assembly so you had to go after that and then I went home don't be shopping with home a doting grandfather bill Spedding was well known in the local area Bill's a very genuine loyal honest gentleman and he's always been like that or ever since I've known him for 28 years bill you couldn't pick a better bloke like he's down to earth and he'd give the shirt off your back corner thing because he's that's the way the bill is he's just a genuine person after the school assembly bill Spedding headed off to his first job of the day I walked back to the office and I did a little bit of work there and then went out to a place called Don Bowman which was the opposite direction to Kendall from Florida and attended a service call up there fifteen minutes drive away in the township of Kendall a drama was beginning to unfold a little boy in a spider-man suit called William had disappeared you know where he might have gone well-known properties near State Forest okay and they're on huge blocks we walked up and down Ben Arun Drive and we can't find him police arrived shortly after and word spread quickly among the locals that a little boy was lost so there was a lot of police a lot of police cars a lot of activity going in and out of the house I felt optimistic that we would find something or some indication and I feel like the people that were with me did feel the same way [Music] by day's end there was still no sign of William Terrell 20 kilometers away at Bonnie Hills bill and Margaret's bedding were at home with their grandchildren preparing to head out to dinner just as the we were packing up and sort of getting ourselves together ready to go the news flash came on the TV a search is underway for a three-year-old boy missing on the Mid North Coast and there's a missing child a Kendall and then oh that's that's close oh that's and we noticed because it was so close had been Timbuktu or Sydney we wouldn't have really paid that much attention to it I said to our little boy Kendall's gone missing and I said to Bill I said it's a little bit close to home because I went to school here Kendall and yeah so there was nothing until the next day it was sort of Elton on the TV anymore and and everywhere radio and everything the next day at this stage we're looking at a search to locate a missing child we're obviously open to any possibility but at this stage we're looking at a search to locate the missing child this picture of three year old William Terrell was taken just an hour before he disappeared dressed for adventure he was playing with his sister in the yard of his grandmother's home in Kendall on Friday morning when she lost sight of him I think it was the Saturday night news that I said to migrant I said that looks like the street I might have been in the other day three days before William Terrell vanished bill spitting had been called to the house to fix a washing machine he was waiting for parts to be delivered before finishing the job and that was it that was the only connection that I made over the weekend Friends of William turell's distraught family called on the public for help the family themselves couldn't go public because William was a foster child and legally they couldn't be identified [Music] the search continued into the next week when bill Spedding received a call from police might learn the police were going to speak to anybody that been at the house then the that we could that he disappeared and so it wasn't a surprise simulator a phone call to drop by the Port Macquarie police station and have a chat at Port Macquarie police station he was questioned by detectives he didn't take a lawyer they did a download permission for the unload often smartphone which I consented to they look they got the diary photocopied my diary and photocopied a notebook and which I was using in conjunction with business functions and they asked questions of where I've been on Friday and obviously I told them about the school to assembly and how are you feeling about that at this point I was quite relaxed about it I was kind of surprised it took so long with no trace of William Terrell after more than a week police scaled back the search when I heard that the search was being scaled down and then called off it just made me really sad but I was just putting myself in that parent role of that's my child and no one's looking for him and it just it was incredibly sad it was sad for the whole community the investigation seemed to have stalled four months later in January 2015 it took a dramatic turn so we were casually out the pic of her into having a coffee and feeding the Magpies and the cool Cabarrus and whatnot and the young fella come driveways full of police cars is police everywhere okay so we get up and go to the front and we just got up and opened the door and they said but they're here for to search for some items of little William and I just said go ahead come in and yeah and then it was just chaos from then on police had obtained warrants to search the property where bill and Margaret Spedding lived with their grandchildren those just offices every way of doing things and getting sort of although no one this time that James in the bedroom said dang sure the drawers and and they're your personal papers and personal drawers and know all this sort of thing what the Spelling's weren't told was that someone they knew had contacted the police in the days after William Terrell went missing bill Spedding believes the tip-off related to allegations made against him 30 years earlier that he had abused two children the allegations had been investigated and dismissed at the time it was going back to when a couple of days of Williams disappearance - they received a false report regarding me and that point of time that was when the entire vestigation was derailed do you accept that police had a pretty good reason to regard you as a person of interest in this case well there's a big difference when a person of interest in a prime suspect and after that phone call I was a prime suspect the Spelling's property was declared a crime scene police raked through sections of the yard and the septic tank was drained they also search beneath the house [Music] I had things packed up on milk cartons to pack it off the ground so they wouldn't get wet and what they done is they picked up all these milk cartons and shoved it all aside and dug up underneath where the milk cartons were possibly thinking that had something hidden underneath it and so there's little holes and things dug everywhere and I learned later they had a good diver doggone ternoon so what they were looking for a body well obviously yes hmm during the search police found a Spider Man toy in bill Spelling's van he told police the toy belonged to his grandson and had been there for years my van is not particularly tidy and we've had kids and we got children's paraphernalia in the van and of course there's bits of business of toys and Batman and and all this something but there was also a Spider Man in the in the van it's a pretty extraordinary and unfortunate coincidence though isn't it we're so how can they can someone predict something like that happening from what the police then did as they talk to the young fellow who pretty much confirmed what I said and I talked to other people that had you've been in the van and confirmed it had been there the whole the whole time as the search continued police took Bill Spedding to Port Macquarie Police Station to publicly take him from the plane premises in a police car and conduct that search over those period that period of time had the obvious effect of notifying the public at large that this man was a suspect not only a person of interest but a suspect and from that point forward Bill's beddings life became devastated homicide detective Justin Moynihan led an aggressive interrogation that lasted six hours I believe you went to that address at 48 veteran drive Kendall on the 12th of September 2014 no I never went near there you were there to fix that washing machine no perhaps you didn't make it to the house because as we know William Terrell was wandering around the front yard of his grandmother's house of 48 bender and drive Kendall on his own he had no supervision grandparent at that time for a few minutes we know that mm-hmm okay I won't believe that lead you were there I wasn't there we believe that perhaps you may have seen with William no further sag never met him further to that we believe that you may have grabbed William from that front address from the front yard of that address may have left the area daddy no one knowing well obviously leaving for the search of the house and I'm we of course we we very much believe it hmm I'm sorry I wasn't there police had learned that just before he disappeared William Charles Foster mother had called bill spitting and left a voicemail message about the faulty washing machine police accused him of deleting a record of that call why is that phone call no not in your incoming calls on the 12th of September 2014 at 9:03 a.m. I don't know did you delete that phone call no you can't delete that phone call the police that that phone call did not occur know what ever reason I don't know or didn't do anything so we naturally enough sent the material to an expert who confirmed that because he was on a telephone call at the time the message was received on the handset it would not have been recorded on the handset so there was an innocent explanation as to the message not being there rather than at having been deleted then that was something that was erroneously put to him it was based on a falsehood and it ought to have been checked thoroughly know that what does it tell you about the way police were operating it demonstrates a a preconceived notion that he was responsible for the disappearance of the child it demonstrates that they had no other thought of open objectivity to the investigation that they were conducting in relation to him oh it was tough it was if a father was guilty I could we'll just see why someone would break it was it was intense and it just got really really intense from that point onwards did you take away into no do you know who took Queen - no Johnny you get that William - nothing at all other than what I've read in the paper and heard on the media and then seen you say it on Facebook do you know where William - Earl is right now know after six hours bill Spedding was released without charge he was driven to a relative's house by police including detective Moynihan when I dropped me outside the house one of the Deacons said we gotta let him out mr. Dale spies we have to and then he turned around and said we know you did it we're gonna get you I'm gonna come and arrest you I know I said I haven't done anything what are you talking about and that's when I realized that I never really thought that I was involved in some way I opened the door for him he came in and he looked terribly and wasn't he was just sort of wasn't all with it very upset he said you should have heard just what they said to me and I said well what did they say they said well you're it we're going to get you he was shaken and I supposed billion in police station for so long being interviewed and then to belittle that time of the night and and to be told that as he got out of the car I think ed him a Bedard because there was a lot of things he forgot didn't remember ball Steel's being interviewed bill Spedding was convinced he had a rock-solid alibi he told Colin youngberry he was having coffee with Margaret at the time William Terrell disappeared or must have said I had you pay for it and he said I don't know I forget and then all of a sudden I'll click oh he said I hang on I think I paid paid for that with me MasterCard and I said he is sure he said yeah he said oh if that's the case it should be on me statement when I use computer and downloaded the banking statements now to look at them and found the transaction on the bank statement and printed it out so even we had that record [Music] the bank records showed bill Spelling's card was used to pay at the coffee shop at 9:44 a.m. about 45 minutes before William Terrell disappeared and before he and Margaret went to the school assembly they know or rang up detective Moynihan the next day and I did Maura Colin's fine and I tried to explain to detective Moynihan what had happened and his reply was that on tired of your [ __ ] and lies don't speak to me again and that was his response how did you take that well that does it well I'm not ringing I'm not talking to you guys again now you can go fly a kite the there was no [Music] attempted obtaining my cooperation they had by that stage formed a view that bill Spedding was the person that they were most interested in investigating connected with the disappearance of William material that was very clear from the interview that they had with him and regrettably was based on a whole lot of propositions that they hadn't properly considered and hadn't properly real turned their mind to the possibility that they were wrong what do you want to say to the Terrell family in another blow child welfare authorities took the Spedding x' grandchildren away we had to say goodbye to them and that was terrible oh it's just so crappy crying and we boo crying sorry too when they heard found out that they were on accused pop for doing that they were just so angry 4:52 particularly inspected garagem New South Wales police homicide was speaking to Margaret Arthur speak in relation to what occurred on Friday almost five months into the investigation a new homicide detective took over gary deublin had a reputation for cracking tough cases so what I want you to explain to me is how you're so convinced that bill was with you on that that day well he was is not an answer that's what you what I'm saying is what's what are the trigger points what are the things that make you confident the bill was he on that duck beak because we both arranged to meet for coffee before the assembly he dropped the two boys off at school and used to meet me up there not I mean I know they got to do their job and I know that they've got to look for that little boy but you know I just just didn't understand why they focused on bills so much when I took over the investigation bill Spedding was the public focus was on on bill speedy and he was linked to the William Turrell investigation it might sound somewhat ironic and I don't expect bill to under understand this or mr. Spedding I should say to understand this but the best thing that I could do for mr. speeding is to ensure that the thorough investigation was done Bill's betting had told police about his alibi at the Assembly just after William disappeared but it took them months to follow up so there was months that went by before the broader other parents other teachers children was spoken to about the attendance of people at the at the school assembly and by that stage they'd been you know countless number of assemblies or they're doing at least dozens and people couldn't remember one assembly from another do you agree that it would have been far more beneficial for all concerned for police to act on that far earlier yes I I can say that it would have been I want to preface that with the fact I'm not sure what information the police that were running the investigation at the time had available to them or what the circumstances were so I'm not not passing judgment and I want to be very clear I'm not being critical I'm talking in a general sense that it would be beneficial to clarify the alibi evidence as soon as possible [Music] in early March 2015 police launched a major search of bushland not far from Bill's beddings home the search was as a result of information that we received of recent times and from inquiries that we've made on the strike force police had received a tip-off from a neighbor Dean Pollard who'd said he'd seen Spelling's white van on a bush track the day after William Terrell disappeared it led place to do a very extensive search involving dozens and dozens of police officers and specialists police officers including Godiva two cadaver dogs and divers and and it's expert searchers - in an area of bushland with no result bill Spedding had an alibi for the day his van was supposedly spotted he'd been at a football function at a local club where he was filmed but police failed to check it was left to his lawyers to track down the evidence police had his diary police had his diary from September of 2014 within days of William tills disappearance they had his diary in it said in that diary 2 p.m. he was at an AFL presentation they never sought to explore that why didn't police check that out because if we made any inquiries they would have to be over in nature and those inquiries potentially could get back to mr. speeding we're searching than error and that I made no bones about the area we're searching we were looking for Williams remains if again hypothetically if mr. Spedding had become aware that we were looking for his movements on that day or making inquiries around that particular piece of bushland there's a possibility that he could have attended that location and removed evidence we may have been looking for while police were focused on Bill Spedding a possible sighting of William Terrell was reported Ron Chapman lived around the corner from where William Terrell was staying in March 2015 he told police that on the morning William went missing he'd seen a car speed past his house and in the back was a small boy wearing a spider-man costume and that's when I saw William in the back seat of a four-wheel drive with his two hands up on the window in his spider-man suit unrestrained he also said he saw the driver she was in her late 20s - probably late 30s of very fair appearance she had blonde hair it was all combed up in a bun on the top of her head incredibly it took police two years after they first spoke to Ron Chapman to take a formal witness statement and conduct this walkthrough the detective who interviewed Ron Chapman said she believed him the current driver have never been identified do at least acknowledge that it is extraordinary the police didn't take him more seriously no and why not as I said I don't think it's appropriate for me to discuss it in April 2015 bill Spedding was blindsided there was a an indication for something was up there there was media a lot of media vehicles and a lot of media activity outside the house and I said to tomorrow and I said there's something going on these guys have been here since daylight and they caught the cameras pointing at us then we open the blinds and it was just cars media all up and down the road everywhere two police cars arrived in the driveway and he detectives got out and they came up to the front door and formally of informed me that I was under arrest for the historical allegations police arrested Spedding over the alleged sexual abuse of two young girls dating back to 1987 the allegations had been investigated at the time and dismissed by authorities well that was a knockout blow that was terrible that because I knew that to defend such a allegation was difficult and very difficult to defend so they took him away and deublin said you want me to take you into seam and I said no I'll go myself and then the media was just getting closer and closer and I just told them to get off my lawn and I talked to you about to go with them I was taken to Port Macquarie police station formally charged fingerprinted photographed and stripped and searched and all unpleasant things they do and they wanted to have a recorded interview regarding the allegations so they set up all the camera and I said I'm not doing an interview the interview is finished now so they shot down the Machine bill Spedding says the conversation continued once the camera was off Darren drew was said to me that mr. nice washing machine man we're going to ruin you and another point of time and and he did there handers and whenever they talked about William Terrell your name's going to come up as well and when they're talking about you William to was going through the name was going to come up what did you think about that how did you take those statements you are sold that's the first time I've heard those claims I don't recall the exact conversation obviously I did speak to him at the time of his arrest that was the arrest for that we're talking the arrest for the historical sexual assaults do you deny saying that to him I deny saying those words to him I don't deny speaking to him it was an opportunity for police to extract a maximum amount of pressure upon him a maximum amount extra pressure upon his family and of course it was a signal to the public at large that they had someone they had focused on someone who was good for something that they might not be able to get him for William Terrell but they would get him for something else it was appropriate that he was charged and it wasn't used as a strategy I think I could sit here in the same position and be strongly criticized why I didn't take action against someone that I've been told there's sufficient evidence to have charged or put before the court for historical sexual assault of children bill spitting was denied bail and taken to Cessnock jail he says he was met by guards in body armor was stripped naked then the guy behind me put his nightstick up umm neck like this and he it was here in my ears don't you turn round don't you eyeball me you listen to what I've got to say said we want you they talk you know what we want to say we want you to talk and I'd shove this up your except that I'd have to clean it afterwards you just remember we want you to talk after eight weeks in prison bill spitting was released on bail the media will waiting now is jail bill they come around into the back yard and they basically told him they're on private property they're not welcome get off you're on private property now the media got some nasty things did you know that he was innocent made out he was in the wrong and that was hard that was a lot very hard to go through you could see it was wearing him down because he wasn't the happy-go-lucky bill that I first met Padme you starting to get bit withdrawn on himself and ma he was doing the same like she's getting flustered and few times she's let's pack up just go just go come on out there was no let-up for the spellings when we moved into this other place that the landlord give us we had an in altercation with the policeman's wife who lived in that street come down and told us we shouldn't be there and I went round she said I went round all the knobs and told tell them that Bill's beddings moving in here you will not do it if you see children I just would like to know that you would never have a mobile and you're in case you're dreaming like children if you my children friends she really felt like you were being hounded oh yes oh yes oh yes it was terrible when the historical child abuse charges came to court the prosecution case collapsed and the judge threw the whole thing out [Music] ultimately the judge was completely unsatisfied with the reliability of the evidence that have been presented by the crown case found that she the judge could not be satisfied even that there was a case to answer by mr. Spelling and rejected the prosecution case acquitting him and ordered costs of a paid in his favor by the prosecutors it was you're free to go mr. speeding and I was free to go remember the oppression the apparent oppression being out in public did not evaporate we're very mindful that say for three and a half years since William disappeared and we haven't solved this matter we're going to continue on until we do so solve this matter almost four years after William Terrell disappeared police was still no closer to solving the case [Music] beside him in us now I know last time that we spoke to the media and I think it was on the three year anniversary that it was flagged that there was hundreds of persons of interest and I also clarified that the bar is set very low to be on that persons of interest earlier this year Gary du Berlin was sensationally removed from the case accused of secretly recording another person of interest without a warrant jubilant has now quit the police his due to stand trial on criminal charges next year I've pleaded not guilty to all four charges those charges relates specifically to me carrying out my duties investigating the disappearance of William Terrell I had a lawful right and an operational need to report those conversations I have made no attempt whatsoever to conceal the fact that I recorded those conversations and police were aware of that look with the greatest respect I can't discuss those issues or eye to eye brush and say can't I just choose not to discuss those issues at this particular point in time and why is that I just don't think it's the appropriate for in regards to all that's happened to me this year I've made my comments on the steps of the court and I think that some that's where I should leave it I always was delighted yeah I was delighted in in the fact that something had happened to him and that was probably a thought of revenge on my behalf New South Wales police told four corners detective Moynihan has also been moved from the Homicide Squad and he's on extended leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into unrelated matters the William Terrell case is now being examined by the coroner I expected the evidence in the brief together with for further evidence to be elicited this week may show that William didn't fall down a drain or get lost chasing a wallaby order in the bush I expect the evidence may show it is likely that he was taken that is that Williams disappearance was the direct result of human intervention if it is the case that William was abducted if the evidence does establish that that's a chilling conclusion for Bill Spedding evidence at the inquest finally delivered his vindication his key alibi for the morning William Turell disappeared attending the school assembly was corroborated by a parent Gordon Y gold [Music] do you remember being at an assembly where one of the boys let's call him Ben got an award yes I remember that clearly seeing him get the award yes I saw him get the award do you have a specific recollection of seeing bill spitting at the assembly where Ben got the award most certainly then the statement by Bill Spelling's former neighbor Dean Pollard about seeing his work van on a Bush track the day after William Terrell vanished was discredited I didn't say it was Bill's van I said it was the same color as Bill's van and right now as you sit here now you can't say that was Bill's van no and so within two consecutive sitting days the case against the William turtle investigations highest profile person of interest has imploded them the pressure on the Spelling's has been immense I know that I've been through is nothing compared to what Williams families are going through now I wish the Karan of all wisdom and getting to the bottom of this mystery how big a relief was that for you it was a big relief and it was again a peculiar sensation because we're Margaret and I got back home I said to Margaret we should be jumping for joy skipping down the street but we just totally flat there was nothing there was no emotion there was just complete flatness and we're starting to get over it a bit now but there was just nil what knowing that was well I think it's the the adrenaline for the five years of adrenaline after that did the adrenaline stops and you just totally deflated did police target the wrong man in any investigation I think it's fair to say and this might be over dramatizing to a degree that we target everyone you look at everyone until till they're eliminated but in this case did police target the wrong man I not gonna comment on that in that there was lines of inquiry that required to be followed up and what we needed to do was fill out those inquiries and then refer the matter to the to the coroner we might just have a fee we'll assume that's the finished time since all that kerfuffle finish now bill Spedding is now suing the New South Wales Police over how he was investigated and his alleging malicious prosecution of the historical child abuse charges I would like to hear the police apologize to him what they put him through but I don't know where they all get that because they just said told him that they're going to ruin him and they did what is this all done to your life and your business bill well it's all shattered basically the business no longer exists we we have now up until this point we've had no life at all and we've basically got a restart over again but the thing is that the publicity was worldwide it wasn't just New South Wales it was a strategy and worldwide and that is damage that can never be repaid and how does that affect you well it just so actually describing the feeling is very difficult they've been shattered you know we just don't know when someone's gonna pop out of the woodwork and grab me around the throat again and so your bills bedding what did you do it William the inquest into William terral's disappearance resumes next March the coroner has said while the police investigation continues she will not examine how it has been conducted the way in which they investigated bill spelling was fraught it was fraught and it was problematic and we need to know and the public is entitled to know and those who love William Till are entitled to know what went wrong with this investigation why haven't they found what happened to willing to you you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 601,034

Keywords: news, abc, abc news, australia, four corners, 4 corners, sean nicholls, william tyrrell, bill spedding, william spedding, gary jubelin, kendall, child abduction, child abuse, child sexual assualt, missing boy, disappearence

Id: YDAciTvnPmw

Length: 48min 30sec (2910 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 04 2019