Media Releases

The year ended as busy as it started for Crime Stoppers SA – with nearly 2000 hotline and online reports received during December.

About 160 contacts were from people who wanted to share information about the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs in their community. The information they provided led to the seizure of 1.2kg of methamphetamine as well as helping police to locate 100 cannabis plants and about 2kg of dried cannabis ready for sale.

We also received 71 calls about illegal firearms, with 3 taken out of the hands of criminals thanks to your information.

A total of 20 men and 1 woman were charged with an array of serious offences – including possessing prescribed drugs without a prescription, cultivate commercial quantities of cannabis, and firearms offences.

During December, our calls for information saw people make contact about an array of unsolved crimes, including an aggravated assault at West Lakes, a number of stolen vehicles recovered in an Unley backstreet, an aggravated robbery at O’Halloran Hill and theft of a distinctive lion costume from Woodville South.

Our unsolved weekly crime segments for the month asked for your help to solve the cold case suspected murder of Peter Timmermanis in 1991, a violent assault of a fisherman caught on camera at the Brighton Jetty, and the identity of a man armed with a knife who remains on the run after robbing The Port Club at Alberton.

Watch these and other weekly crime segments at https://www.youtube.com/user/SIBSACrimeStoppers

Other December 2019 results included:

• 990 intelligence reports raised and 884 actions issued to police for investigation;
• A total of 29 apprehensions were made during the month;
• In additional to seizure of 3 firearms, ammunition and other illegal weapons were also confiscated;
• 9,170 people visited the Crime Stoppers SA website, resulting in 25,537 page views;

If you have any information about criminal activity or an unsolved crime, then call our free hotline on 1800 333 000 or go to www.crimestopperssa.com.au

Rewards are available and you don’t have to provide your details.

It’s what you know, not who you are, that counts.

Craig Leonard lived at Douglas Road, Salisbury East with his wife and daughter.

The 41-year old was last seen at this address at about 10am on Monday 11 January 2010.

He was in the process of finding alternative accommodation because of strains on his family relationships.

He was last seen by his wife and daughter before they went out.

When they returned later, they thought he may be asleep in a bedroom but later discovered he had left.

He was not fit enough to walk long distances and left with only some clothing and some food items – including cold sausages and some junk food.

In the days after his disappearance, a family member used his credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM.

He was reported missing by his wife and has not been seen since that time.

Mr Leonard suffered from a number of medical conditions, was on medication and was unable to walk any substantial distance.

Police suspect he has been murdered.

Searches for Mr Leonard have proved fruitless. The first involved excavating sections of the backyard of the family home and the second by police divers in the River Murray at Walker’s Flat, where the family used to holiday.

A reward of up to $200,000 is on offer to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction for the suspected murder or the recovery of his remains.

At about 8am on Friday 10 January 1997, the body of Susana (Suzie) Bobridge was found on a walking trail in the sand hills at Tennyson.

Her cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head.

The 30-year old was killed at the place where her body was found.

She was last seen alive at about 9.30pm on 9 January 1997, getting into a white car on Port Road at West Hindmarsh.

It is believed the only occupant of the white vehicle was the male driver.

It is believed that Ms Bobridge was shot at about 10.10pm the same night.

Ms Bobridge was drug dependent, using heroin and was a known prostitute.

She did not work as a prostitute in any of Adelaide’s brothels or advertise in the local paper. She solicited mainly on Port Road and generally only worked as a prostitute when she needed money for heroin.

Amongst her property were numerous letters from criminals serving time in various prisons in this state.

She was known to smuggle drugs into prison for inmates. Prisoners being released on Home Detention often used her address as the premises they would be living in on release.

A reward of up to $200,000 is on offer to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction in this case.

Juan Morgan was 15 years old when he went missing in 1992.

Police identified him as missing in 1999 when investigating the disappearances of David McWilliams, Leo Daly and Robert Pendergast.

After Juan was identified as missing, enquiries were made with relatives – who confirmed he had not been seen since 1992.

It is believed that sometime soon after 25 February 1992 Juan was taken to a location – possibly in the eastern region of country South Australia – where he was shot, killed and his body buried.

His suspected murder is thought to have been in retaliation to him stealing a car from a criminal associate and damaging property.

There are at least two suspects for Juan’s murder that are known to police.

At least one of the suspects is also believed to be involved in the disappearances and suspected murders of Leo Daly, David McWilliams and Robert Pendergast.

The suspected murders of Juan Morgan, David McWilliams, Leo Daly and Robert Pendergast are all being investigated by Major Crime Investigation Branch under the title of Operation Jarrah.

The key suspect in the suspected murders was the ringleader of a group of men involved in a variety of crimes, including car theft and re-birthing, drug-dealing and importation, stolen goods property-related offences and standover tactics throughout the 1990s.

As part of the long-running investigation, several stolen cars, firearms, drugs and other stolen items have been seized.

There is insufficient information at this stage to charge any person with Juan’s murder or those of the other three victims.

A reward of up to $1,000,000 is on offer for information that leads to a successful conviction or recovery of the victim’s remains.

At about 8am on Sunday 29 December 1991, the body of Peter Fazzari was found in the Cadell Training Centre with fatal stab wounds.

The 56-year old was serving a life sentence for murdering his brother with a shotgun in 1979 but had served his non-parole period and was due for release the very next day.

A Coronial Inquest finding from 5 February 2002, handed down by the then State Coroner Wayne Chivell, found that Mr Fazzari was attacked in his cell while he was asleep.

During the attack he received a number of stab wounds to the head.

A search of the cell block failed to recover a weapon.

In 2005 further lines of inquiry were provided to Major Crime Detectives that resulted in a further search being conducted at the Cadell Training Centre in relation to the weapon used.

The search failed to recover the weapon.

A reward of up to $200,000 is on offer to anyone who provides information leading to a conviction in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

While detectives are certain Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Camplin has been murdered, mystery surrounds almost every aspect of the case – including why he was killed, where he was killed and the whereabouts of his body.

Kenny was reported missing by his brother on 30 December 2013 his movements in the days leading up to his suspected murder had provided no clues in the baffling case.

His last known contact occurred at 1.26am on December 27 in 2013 when the Paralowie man sent an SMS to a friend. Then 42 minutes later his mobile telephone was disconnected from its network.

It has never come back on and also remains missing.

On Christmas Day, Kenny travelled to the Barossa Valley to visit a friend at Lyndoch. He returned to his Elder Ct home the next morning and made several calls to friends.

At 12.25am on 27 December, CCTV captured him going through a nearby McDonald’s drive-through. It is believed he went home from there because the receipt from his purchase was found at his home.

After several days of trying to contact him, his brother and a close friend attended his home. They found the back door of the home unlocked of the normally security-conscious 44-year old and his dog in the back yard near death due to dehydration and starvation.

His bank account has not been accessed and there have been no sightings, leading police to be suspect that something has happened to him in the 42-minute window between that last text message at 1.26am about collecting a car part and the 2.18am disconnection.

While no firm motive has been found, investigations have discovered that he was caught up in a number of disputes, some of which were over girlfriends, as well as a Workcover dispute. It is unclear as to whether these had any bearing on his disappearance.

Further complicating the investigation is the fact that Kenny was a known low-level drug dealer and user. At least two of his associates have lied and obstructed the investigation, creating suspicion as to their motives for doing so.

A reward of up to $200,000 is on offer to anyone who either provides information leading to the recovery of his remains or information leading to a conviction in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

Crime Stoppers warns people to be careful when donating cash to one of the many support options now in place wanting to raise funds in behalf of local community members impacted by bushfire.

Bushfire disasters bring out the best in people, but they can also bring out the worst. There are plenty of scammers who are quick to capitalise on this type of tragic event as soon as it happens. We have previously seen scams that not only cost people their hard-earned money, but also divert much-needed donations away from legitimate causes.

This could be done through a dodgy online fundraising site, cold calling, or people knocking on doors claiming to be raising funds when they are just trying to cash in on well-intention, generous people wanting to do their bit by making a donation.

A number of people have also reported receiving calls from someone claiming to be from the bank. They were told the bank would like to provide them with some disaster relief funds and wanted their bank details to deposit money into their accounts.

Calls have also been received from people not in bushfire affected regions.

DO NOT disclose your bank details to anyone over the phone.
Anyone who receives a call of this type should contact police on 131 444 or report to scam watch on https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/