Chilling final moments of Claremont ‘murder victim’ Jane Rimmer are revealed for the first time as court hears how her mutilated body was discovered in bushland by a woman picking lilies
- Bradley Robert Edwards’ murder trial started at the WA Supreme Court Monday
- The ex-Telstra technician is accused of the 1996-1997 Claremont serial killings
- The victims were Sarah Spiers, 18, Jane Rimmer, 23, Ciara Glennon, 27
- Still-grieving relatives heard harrowing details on the first day of Edwards’ trial
Claremomt murder victim Jane Rimmer’s final moments were played to a court on Monday.
Footage shows the 23-year-old outside Club Bayview in Perth shortly after midnight on 9 June, 1996.
Her decomposed body was found naked in bushland five days later by a family picking lilies.
Footage shows the 23-year-old (behind the group of men in this image) outside Club Bayview in Perth shortly after midnight on 9 June, 1996
CCTV shows Jane Rimmer (bottom left) standing outside the hotel. There is a 32-second gap in the footage while other cameras around the hotel were recording instead
On the night she vanished, Ms Rimmer had separated from her friends who decided not to enter Club Bayview after other visiting bars because the line was too long.
CCTV shows her standing outside the hotel. There is a 32-second gap in the footage while other cameras around the hotel were recording instead.
When the footage returns to the spot where Ms Rimmer was standing, she had disappeared.
‘In that 32-second period, it’s like she just vanished,’ state prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo told the court.
Ms Rimmer is one of three women who are believed to have been killed by a serial killer in Claremont, Perth in 1996 and 1997.
Former Telstra technician and Little Athletics coach Bradley Robert Edwards, 50, finally went on trial in the Supreme Court of WA on Monday after almost three years behind bars.
Edwards wore a blank expression as prosecutor Carmel Barabagallo began outlining the abductions of 18-year-old secretary Sarah Spiers, child care worker Ms Rimmer, 23, and lawyer Ciara Glennon, 27, from the wealthy Perth suburb in 1996 and 1997.
The confessed rapist also remained impassive as the prosecutor detailed the gruesome discoveries of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon’s bodies in bushland, and how loud, high-pitched screams were heard in nearby Mosman Park on the night Ms Spiers went missing.
Sitting in the front row of the full public gallery, Ms Spiers’ parents Don and Carol heard the last recording of her voice as she called for a taxi.
She was gone by the time the vehicle arrived and was never seen again.
Grim descriptions of the other women’s injuries were endured by Ms Glennon’s father Denis, her sister Denise and Ms Rimmer’s mother Jenny.
Bradley Robert Edwards (pictured left in an undated photo and right in a court sketch) 50, is accused of committing the Claremont serial killings in 1996 and 1997
Both women had neck injuries inflicted in a cutting or ‘even a sawing action’, Ms Barbagallo said.
They were partly decomposed and largely covered by vegetation.
Ms Rimmer was face down and naked, and parts of her body that weren’t covered by branches were damaged from animal predation, Ms Barbagallo said.
Dozens of reporters are covering the trial, with those not able to secure a seat watching proceedings via video link in three other rooms, but there appeared to be just enough seats for member of the public.
A sudden hush fell over the room 10 minutes before the trial got under way as the magnitude of the long-awaited events about to unfold sunk in.
Don Spiers and Carol Spiers ,the parents of Sarah Spiers arrive at the Supreme Court of Western Australia in Perth, Monday
Ciara Glennon’s father Denis Glennon was among those in the packed public gallery
Justice Stephan Hall warned the public against any outbursts, adding Edwards was presumed innocent of the murders and it was for the prosecutors to prove his guilt