UNSOLVED: The Case of Beth Barnard

 Today's case is the sad murder of Australian woman, Beth Barnard. A tragic death that occurred on picturesque Phillip Island, just off the coast of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria. Vivienne Cameron was suspected to be responsible for the murder. However, police never had the chance to question her as she mysteriously disappeared on the same night that Beth died.

What happened? Why can't police answer the burning questions of why one woman was brutally murdered and her suspected killer vanished without a trace? Let's find out!

Beth Barnard

A HORRIFIC MURDER

On the night of 22 September 1986, the body of young farm hand, Beth Barnard, was found viciously stabbed and mutilated with the letter ''A'' carved in her abdomen. Her throat was cut, she had a broken tooth and her faced was slashed. 

When police found her, the body was covered with a quilt. This led police to suspect that the murder was committed by either a woman or someone that cared for Beth very deeply as this act was seen as an act of remorse or shame and then a bid to cover up what was done.

It was thought that the letter ''A'' carved onto her body stood for the word adulterer, a gesture that was taken out of a classic novel called The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Who could have done such a heinous murder? Lets have a look at Beth's life and list of events before this murder happened.

THE CAMERONS AND PHILLIPS ISLAND

Beth was 23-years-old and living on Phillips Island, Victoria in Australia. The island is a popular tourist destination, hosting the famous Grand Prix race track and is home to a well-established penguin colony. It is easily reachable by car from Melbourne, with a drive of about 1 hour and 53 minutes or distance of 141 km from Melbourne CBD. It has a bridge connecting it to the main side, close to a town called San Remo.

Beth lived in her parents' house. It was located at McFees Road, Rhyll on Phillips Island. In 1984, she took a job at the Penguin Parade, which is the only commercial venue in the world where you can see penguins in their natural habitat. There she met Fergus Cameron, who was also working as a ranger at the same place. They became friends, and later lovers.

Fergus Cameron belonged to the wealthy and prominent Cameron family that are seen as ''royalty'' on the island. They owned the land where the Grand Prix track was built and leased it out to the race car track. This made them a fortune! 

Fergus also ran a farm located on Watts Road, Ventnor. He lived there with his 2 siblings and their spouses. Fergus himself was also married, his wife was Vivienne Cameron and they had two boys together. It was not a happy marriage, by all accounts! It was quite forced and draining to the couple.

Fergus Cameron

Also living on the same compound where other members of the Cameron family: sister Marnie and her husband Ian Cairns, and brother Donald Cameron and his wife Pamela. They shared the land, but lived in separate houses.

In April 1985, Beth started working as a farm hand on the Camerons' farm. It took one months for the affair to start with Fergus, and in December that year, Vivienne started to suspect the affair.

Donald and Pamela Cameron became like family to Beth, she called Donald affectionately as ''Uncle Donald'' or ''Grandpa'', and their children treated her like a sister.

THE EVENTS OF THE MURDER

On 22 September 1986, a Monday, Fergus Cameron left Beth's home around 9.00pm and was reportedly the last person to see her alive.

Upon returning home, he found his wife and sister, Marnie, enjoying a glass of wine. After Marnie left, Fergus and Vivienne got in a heated argument, where he confessed to the affair. His wife was so angry that she threw her wine glass towards his head and back, causing bleeding lacerations. They went to the local Warley hospital, where Fergus received medical attention.

Camerons' home on the family farm

The medical nurse that attended to Fergus the first time was trying to find out what happened, but the couple kept silent. After further prodding, the Camerons said Fergus fell through a glass door. Vivienne was clothed in a pink mohair jumper, blue jeans and a floral scarf that were never seen after that night.

Marnie and her husband, Ian, were called to watch Fergus and Vivienne's children while the couple were at hospital. When Fergus' sister and her husband arrived at the Camerons' house, they saw signs of disturbance and there was even bloody clothing left in a laundry basket, with blood also splattered on the floor and furniture of the home. Blood that was found in the kitchen and spare room was later identified as blood type A. This was the blood type that belonged to Vivienne.

Vivienne Cameron

Vivienne thought that Fergus should spend the night at the hospital, but the doctor treating him disagreed and sent him home.

Around 12.30am, Vivienne and Fergus returned home. Marnie stayed up and watched the couples young sons, Dougal and Hugh despite her having an early morning nursing shift. Before leaving, Marnie picked up some broken glass she found on the floor and put it in the trash bin. This was not recorded by police later on.

The consensus from friends of Vivienne was that she was a devoted mother and loved her sons very much. In spite of all this, Fergus reported to the police that him and Vivienne had a discussion that night that she will move to Melbourne and he will remain on the island and have custody of the children. He even quoted her as saying, ''Don't take for granted that Beth will make a great mom.'' After that, Fergus was sent to spend the night at his sister's house. In turn, Marnie gave Vivienne some sleeping tablets in an envelope to help her sleep.

A few hours later, in the early morning, around 3am, Vivienne called her friend, Robin Dixon. She wanted to ask if Robin and her husband could come to watch the children. Robin and John went to the house to pick up the sleeping boys and noticed that Vivienne's handbag was still there. It was a black, suede ladies handbag. Also, parked outside was the Holden Kingswood car that Vivienne usually drove.

The missing Toyota Land Cruiser

The Camerons also owned a Toyota Land Cruiser, that is believed that was taken by Vivienne when she drove to Beth's home. Beth's neighbour, Margaret McFee, thinks that she heard the sounds of a Land Cruiser drive past her home at around 3.20am the same night.

THE NEXT DAY

The next morning, on 23 September, Robin Dixon tried to call Donald Cameron. She had to leave for work and the two Cameron children were still there. Neither Vivienne nor Fergus had been in touch with her, and it was 7.45am. Donald agreed to pick up the youngest and the eldest was sent to the school bus with the Dixon children.

Donald drove home and, as he was passing his brother's house on the same farm land, he saw that the Holden Kingswood was still parked in the driveway. His wife, Pamela, called to her sister-in-law's home to see if she heard something of the missing couple. It was then that Fergus, who spent the night at Marnie's home, answered the phone. He was distressed and unable to speak. He passed the phone to Marnie's husband, Ian, who explained the whole story of the previous' nights events to Pamela.

Ian called Donald to inform that the other Cameron car was missing, the Land Cruiser. A worried Fergus asked his brother and brother-in-law to go and check that Beth was ok, he was worried about her. They agreed to do so, and left to Beth's house after first checking if Vivienne came home. It was established that she wasn't at the Cameron property.

When the two men arrived at the home in McFees Road, they found a brutal scene. At first everything looked normal, Beth's two cars were parked in the same spot. As they got to the house, they realized that the door to the home was open and the porch light was on, so they stepped inside to investigate. 

Donald was the first to step in the home and find Beth lying on the floor, covered by a duvet. He called to Ian to come, and both men said that the young girl looked dead. Immediately, they left the scene and went to the Phillip Island police station to report the crime.

Bloodied towels found at the scene

Beth's murderer made it very clear that the crime was personal. The lifeless victim was clothed in a nightgown that had been lifted to her neck, exposing her left breast. The body had signs of significant stab wounds all over. The most horrific sight was the clearly carved ''A'' formed on her chest. The police described it as, ''4 slashes one way, 10 in the other, and 5 across. That not just someone gently carving an A.''

Evidence left at the crime scene

There was a knife left at the crime scene, along with a few stray cigarette butts. Beth was not a smoker, so these clearly belonged to the killer. There was blood all over the house, and some bloodied paper towels were left on the sink. It was surmised by the crime scene that the criminal was in rush to leave or cover up what they have done.

At the police station, Donald was calm but prattled on with the whole story from start to finish. When the police asked him clearly, he said that Beth ''was not well''.

At the same time, Fergus got in touch his sister Marnie, who was at work. He asked that she call Beth's home. She tried a few times, but there was no response. Marnie called back to her brother to inform that there was nothing, and then she returned home. 

She also called to Dr Flood, who had a doctor's practice in Newhaven. He knew that Beth was dead. The medic came to Marnie's home to report the sad news in person to her and Fergus.

In the early days of the investigation, police found it odd that the Camerons were so comfortable with the events. Senior Constable Alan McFayden said, ''I have never seen a bunch of people so cool, calm, and collected. You'd think these blokes discovered bodies every day of their lives.''

Donald's wife, Pamela, was informed of the death later on that day. She came back from work shortly before 4pm. While driving home, she spotted the missing Land Cruiser parked some 500 meters from the San Remo and Phillips Island connection bridge. It was parked on Forrest Avenue, Newhaven, next to a playground.

The car was left in a strange condition. The windows were open, the doors were unlocked and inside there was some belongings left on the seats: a gold purse and black handbag on the front seat, a lighter, two packets of Claridge cigarettes (the brand that Vivienne used to smoke), a knife, blood stained bathroom towel, and a second set of keys. Pamela took the keys and locked the car and left to report the strange find.

From where the knives were disappearing

John Dixon, who babysat the Cameron children that night, reported to have also seen the Land Cruiser there earlier that day, at 3.00pm.

Another witness, said that he saw the car parked at the same location, even earlier in the day, at 5.00am. He thought it was strange that it was located there, but presumed it was a passer-by looking to use the public facilities in the park. He didn't pay much attention to the make and model of the car, just noticed its presence.

WHO KILLED BETH BARNARD?

One year after the murder, the presiding Coroner on the case stated that Vivienne Cameron had ''contributed to the cause of death.''

In July 1988, at the inquest to rule on whether Vivienne was dead or not, the Coroner stated that he was satisfied that although her body was never found, she did jump from the bridge.

San Remo Bridge where Vivienne apparently committed suicide

Basically, all official bodies determined that the story went as follows:

Vivienne and Fergus returned home after the hospital visit, and retired for the night. Fergus went to his sister's home. Vivienne called the Dixons to come and pick up their children, to babysit. After the phone call, she hopped in the Land Cruiser, and drove to Beth's home. There, in a fit of rage because of the affair, there was a scuffle, and Vivienne killed Beth and carved the ''A'' in her abdomen.

Beth had defensive wounds on her shoulder and elbow, and as mentioned, her tooth was broken, and there was slashes on her face.

After realizing what she had done, Vivienne felt remorse, and covered the bloody body with a blanket, in a bid to hide the reality.

Vivienne then went to the bridge connecting San Remo and Phillips Island, and there she contemplated for a while and then jumped in the murky waters.

OTHER ARGUMENTS

There are several other factors that make this case puzzling, which throw a spanner in the above explanation:

Beth had a secret admirer that was not welcomed! This secret admirer used to buy her expensive bouquets of flowers, which she would distribute around her social circle, and also came around to mow the lawns. She did not like this attention as Beth felt like she owed something to this person. 

On several times, she expressed to her friends that she wished there was some way to get this male to leave her alone. This man went as far as getting a job at the Cameron farm, and following Beth around while they were working. This man also owned a Land Crusier, which he would drive to Beth's home and stare at her home for hours.

Beth was not happy with Fergus, and in fact she took leave from both her jobs and went on a beach getaway on vacation. Before the holiday, she broke up with Fergus. However, as friends said that they were in love, the couple got back together soon after she returned.

Semen was found internally and externally on Beth, technology at the time wasn't advanced enough to identify who it was from. Fergus said that they did not make love that night, but the previous night. Friends are sure that Beth would have taken a shower in between the time of the love making and her murder.

Vivienne was a loving mother, she would not have left her sons behind as Fergus stated, according to her friends. She was also a major stakeholder in the Placetac company that bought the land where the Grand Prix track was eventually built. In 1988, after Vivienne was ruled dead by the courts, those shares went to Fergus. In 2004, when the land was sold for a purported 20 million, Fergus became a very rich man.

An old friend of Vivienne's insists that she received a call at 10.00am on 23 September from Vivienne. Glenda Frost, who says that it was a coincidence that she was at home that day, not work, was having coffee with a friend when the phone rang and Vivienne was on the phone. Glenda's friend vouches that she heard Glenda say, ''Hello, Viv!'' in the telephone.

The evidence does not make sense with the theory. Vivienne's purse was seen in her home by Robin Dixon at 3am, at the same time she was committing the murder. So either she drove all the way back to her home to get it and then went to commit suicide, or someone planted that in the car before police came. The bloodied towel found in the Beth's bathroom was filled with Vivienne's blood, but nothing from Beth. The knife and cigarette butts found do have Vivienne's DNA; but those could have been planted to make it show that way. But, none of Vivienne's DNA was found on Beth's body or around it.

Even after extensive searching of the river bed, Vivienne's body was never found.

MY CONCLUSION

My conclusion is that we will never know for sure who killed Beth Barnard until the actual killer comes, and introduces themselves to us. This is because, while the official theory is quite elegant and it makes sense, the reality is that the evidence throws up more questions than answers.

Who do you think committed this crime and do you agree with the police?