Russell St link to Melbourne teenager Prue Bird’s murder



HOMICIDE detectives are investigating whether Melbourne teenager Prue Bird was murdered in a revenge plot linked to the notorious Russell St bombing.


Police are examining whether figures involved in the 1986 bombing, which killed Constable Angela Taylor, paid to have Prue abducted and murdered.

Prue, 13, was snatched from her Glenroy home 20 years ago last week while in the care of a family friend.

Police are searching an area of bushland in the state’s east for her remains.

They yesterday continued to scour an area the size of a soccer field in rugged country 20km north of Cann River township.

The scene, near the Victoria-NSW border, was searched by crews of police using earth-moving machinery, rakes and shovels.

An archaeologist and cadaver dog also visited the site.

Les Camilleri, 41, was charged last week with Prue’s murder.

Police will allege well-connected Melbourne criminal Mark McConville, who has since died, was also involved.

Police are examining whether the girl was taken and killed in revenge for Paul Kurt Hetzel giving evidence against members of the bombing gang over the deadly car blast outside the then police complex that injured 21 others.

He was the long-time partner of Prue’s grandmother when the teenager disappeared and a star witness for the prosecution in the Russell St bombing trial.

A Coroner’s Court hearing in 1999 was told convicted Russell St bomber Craig “Fatty” Minogue had threatened to kill the girl if Mr Hetzel ever betrayed them.

“If any bastard ever thought about going to the cops about us, they’ll be killed and so will their f—ing families,” he allegedly said.

“It would be a shame if anything happened to your sweet little Prue, wouldn’t it?”

Mr Hetzel was an associate of the Russell St bombers, but escaped a lengthy jail term when he gave evidence against them.

The main initial line of inquiry in the months after Prue’s murder was whether she was taken as part of a revenge plot.

Investigations later looked into other theories, including that the girl was murdered by an armed robber linked to Prue’s family.

Finding old telephone lines in remote bush has emerged as a key element in the search for a murdered teen.

Police said yesterday they needed to talk to anyone with information about telephone lines that ran through East Gippsland’s  Flat Bed Creek area  before the 1990s.

The lines were removed about 20 years ago but their location could help investigators find the remains.
 

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