GUILTY Australia - Michelle Buckingham, 16, murdered, Shepparton, Vic, 21 Oct 1983

Ausgirl

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Victoria, Australia:

Shepparton schoolgirl Michelle Elvira Buckingham was murdered in November 1983. Her body was found on 7th November beside the Violet Town Road in Kialla East, not far from Shepparton where she lived and went to school. She was just 16 at the time.

Rumour says she was shot in the head and had been hanging out with some really unsavoury people at the time. How much of this is true, I don't know.

Not a lot of information is available. I found one old report from 1985 stating that the case was still unsolved. A phone call to the Shepparton police and also to the relatively new Melbourne cold case squad has confirmed that her case was a homicide, and that it remains unsolved and active to this day.

Michelle doesn't seem to appear anywhere else in the media - not in newspaper archives on the net, not in obituaries, not in the several sites devoted to Australian cold case murders. Not anywhere.

I find this terribly sad. Not as sad as her untimely death or knowing that her killer was never brought to justice, but still it's a terrible thing for this girl to die like that, and nobody's made any kind of major issue of it.

It's not like crimes like these against children are all that common here as to not make the news... or spark discussion.
 
Hi Ausgirl....thanks for posting the above. I see there was even a $50,000 reward posted at some stage...the info is a bit further down on this link...

http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1986/V/general/2.pdf

A recent report in which the journo speaks to the mother of Michelle...(it also shows some newspaper clippings from back in 1983)

AUGUST 23, 2012

On November 11, 1983, News journalist Bernadine Phelan spoke to Elvira Buckingham, the mother of murdered Shepparton teenager Michelle Buckingham. Michelle's body was found on November 7, 1983, with at least 19 stab wounds

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/sh...-i-just-knew-in-my-heart-she-was-dead-1.27423
 
marlywings -- thank you so, so much for posting those links. I'd about given up trying to find reports regarding Michelle's death and I have no idea how I missed finding those ones, I did check local paper archives, but they somehow simply eluded me.

I cried, reading the inquest report and the details of her death. I don't understand how the case can still be 'unsolved' when a witness testified to having SEEN her being stabbed..

And what's with Peter Nash and his girlfriend's testimony? Are they saying the girl they saw on the 23rd October was Michelle? Was that to refute Gregory Gleadhill's statement that she died on the night of the 21st?

Her poor family. I hope they one day get to see justice done.

Rest in peace, Michelle.
 
Ausgirl..you're welcome. I found quite a few further reports including an interview of the Detective who was involved with the case at the time.

AUGUST 25, 2012
We thought we had him, says detective
Former police detective senior sergeant Jim Fry was the head of the Homicide Squad that investigated the murder of Shepparton teenager Michelle Buckingham in 1983. Despite the best efforts of the police, there has not been enough evidence to charge anyone

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/we-thought-we-had-him-says-detective-1.27829
 
This report sounds very positive in that Vic Police now have the case on top priority

AUGUST 24, 2012

Buckingham investigation reopened

The 1983 murder of Shepparton teenager Michelle Buckingham has never been solved despite the hard work by dedicated police. Almost 30 years later, Michelle's case is now the top priority of a new Victoria Police cold case unit.

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/buckingham-investigation-reopened-1.27824
 
AUGUST 23, 2012

February 18, 1985:

Fatal stabbing inquest opens
On February 18, 1985, The News reported the opening of an inquest into the 1983 murder of Shepparton 16-year-old Michelle Buckingham. More than 40 people crowded into the Tatura Courthouse for the inquest.

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/february-18-1985-fatal-stabbing-inquest-opens-1.27720

AUGUST 28, 2012 2:57pm

Talk takes courage
Bernadine Phelan was a young journalist when Michelle Buckingham went missing in 1983. Over the subsequent months, she reported on the search for the teenager and the discovery of her battered body in Kialla East.

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/talk-takes-courage-1.27946
 
AUGUST 30, 2012 3:28pm

Sweet 16, but their innocence was gone
The 1983 murder of Shepparton teenager Michelle Buckingham shattered the lives of her friends and family and changed the regional town forever.

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/sweet-16-but-their-innocence-was-gone-1.27842

AUGUST 23, 2012 7:00am

February 21, 1985:

Murder was at site girl found - Coroner
On February 21, 1985, The News reported no blood was found in the car or the house where a witness alleged Shepparton teenager Michelle Buckingham was fatally stabbed in 1983. A coroner ruled her death was "tragic and violent".

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/sh...murder-was-at-site-girl-found-coroner-1.27755
 
This is absolutely AWESOME news, thank you again, marlywings!

When I called the cold case unit earlier this year, the Detective I spoke to assured me that as soon as they were properly organised (being a brand new unit, they were struggling with a backlog I think) they would prioritise cases, and that Michelle was very definitely NOT on the backburners there.

I felt like I could trust him on his word, and I am very glad that feeling was right.

I'm glad to get hold of all these old reports - were they all posted in August this year? I'm a bit stumped as to why I had such a hard time locating them prior to that... Anyway, it's great to have them now!

Interesting to find that Gleadhill was both a suspect and sort of.. dismissed as a crackpot (is the feeling I got). What a strange and highly elaborate sort of story to tell, if he wasn't there or involved.. I have to wonder if he's the guy who was so assiduously questioned at the police station, or whether that was somebody he named. I also eyeballed the bit of his story about the butterknife. Butterknife? Really? How do you stab someone in the back, in a crowded rear car seat, with a butterknife? And -- why, if the guy had a sharper knife at hand, would he have used a butterknife at all..?

Kind of defies the imagination, really.

I recall the fear inspired by 'that crowd' who were dealing large amounts of speed and other hard drugs in the area. It's just a fact that not all drug dealers are psychotic creeps, but these weren't good types of people at all (and some of them were more than capable of this crime, I have no doubt there) - and the local scum of the earth gravitated toward them, like crap attracts flies.

Which why I find it hard to see a vivacious and big-hearted girl like Michelle having anything to do with people of that type. She was out of their league, that way, is one way to put it.

Let's hope Det. Sen. Sgt. Iddles and his team can put Michelle's killer/s behind bars at long last. I have every confidence that they will do as they say, and never give up on her.
 
You're welcome Ausgirl. As all the reports are from the Shepparton News, it seems the original journalist assigned to the case back in 1983 decided to repost the old reports...perhaps she knew the cold case was being given top priority.

As is so often the case & as Detective Jim Fry mentioned, they didn't have enough evidence to convict anyone at the time. These days, with the incredible advance in technology, perhaps they will find that one piece of evidence which will lead police to a conviction.

I'll keep this case in mind & if I find anything further I'll post it for you.
 
http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/november-21-1983-murder-lead-discounted-1.27517

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/february-20-1985-death-link-rubbish-man-claims-1.27752

So, the thing with Nash was not that -he- had sighted Michelle, but that a woman said -she- had sighted Michelle in the front seat of Nash's car on the 23rd. The person in the car, however, was apparently Veronica Campbell.

I think it's probable that Michelle died on the 21st - her body still had on the clothes she'd worn that night on the way home (and didn't want to be seen in, according to her friend).

Gleadhill's statement was debunked, it seems. Interesting that the house in question was being painted, though.
 
Radio interview with reporter Tammy Mills (who did most of the articles Marlywings linked above), about Michelle and her murder, and the case being re-opened:

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/who-killed-michelle

Lots to be hopeful about!

Somebody called Ron Iddles about the crime, expressing fears for his safety. I do hope he called back.

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/man-urged-to-call-back-in-buckingham-case-1.27543

Also, video interview with Jim Fry:
[video=youtube;qTxV88WVd-k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTxV88WVd-k[/video]
 
OMG YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank YOU SO MUCH for this link!!!!!! I am in tears here, thinking maybe Michelle's family will finally see justice done after all these long years.. :please:

I wonder why they were arrested, then released?
 
"he believes Michelle was picked up in a green early 1970s Holden sedan the night she went missing."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/19981415/police-close-in-on-teen-murder-cold-case/

^ Someone did come forward, by the look of it, maybe the car being ID'd tipped them off, or sparked some guilt... or somebody simply recognised it..

Now, let's hope for a conviction!

KUDOS to Detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles and his cold case team. :loveyou:

eta: and not to forget Ms. Mills, Ms. Phelan, and the other members of the press who have kept up with this case over the years. :heart:
 
The car:

763534-ae4dbc0a-53dc-11e3-9770-07dcc52d4773.jpg


http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/la...am-in-shepparton/story-fni0fee2-1226766763585
 
Arrested and then released on a charge of murder? Weird!!!
 
Very weird!!!

'pending further inquiries..' - I wonder if that means they know the men were involved, but haven't got enough to hold them on yet??

Any legal eagles know what that might be about? TIA
 
Very weird!!!

'pending further inquiries..' - I wonder if that means they know the men were involved, but haven't got enough to hold them on yet??

Any legal eagles know what that might be about? TIA

In Victoria, to question a suspect or anyone for that matter, the police first have to arrest the person. Remember the Adrian Bayley case, whereby a couple of others were arrested before AB and then released?

Arrest is a pre condition to questioning. In this case, no charges have yet been laid and release has occurred, 'pending further enquiries'. This is all preliminary procedure when the evidence is insufficent to sustain charges, at this time. There will be a lot more to come here as there are 2 extraditions underway from Queensland. I think the person arrested would be the Kyabram man.
 

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