Media Releases

Julian Rapadas was last seen at 7pm on 18 November 2008 in the Hendon Hotel carpark before disappearing without a trace.

He is suspected to have been murdered.

It is believed that the 23-year old was heading to the home of a Finks Motorcycle Club member. That person later took his own life.

Mr Rapadas was known to associate with people involved in criminal activities and is believed to have been murdered by an associate of the Finks MC in retaliation for his ‘perceived’ role in the murder of Karim Morrison in 2004.

Investigations have revealed that Mr Rapadas had no involvement in the death of Mr Morrison.

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

It is now 29 years since Magill man Rino Villani was gunned down in the driveway of his home, and his killer or killlers still remain at large.

On the evening of 17 November 1990 Pellegrino “Rino” Villani had attended a wedding at the Enfield Hotel with his fiancé.

When the pair left the hotel at about 11.30pm, Mr Villani drove to Portrush Road where his fiancé caught a taxi the rest of the way home.

The 29-year old then drove to his house at Jervois Avenue, Magill, arriving home just before midnight.

When he got out of his car he was shot by an unknown person who is believed to have been waiting for him.

He collapsed on the footpath and died from his injuries.

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

It has now been 30 years since Brett Winn was murdered, and his loved ones are still waiting for justice.

The 24-year-old was last seen on the night of November 16, 1989.

His fiancé saw him get into a late-model white Ford sedan at their home on The Esplanade at Port Noarlunga about 8pm. It was being driven by an unknown male.

Brett rang her later that night to say he would be home soon but was never seen or heard from again.

Adding to the mystery, the Hallett Cove Foodland supermarket where he worked was robbed — and with a PIN code used to gain entry and keys used to open the safe there was little doubt that it was an inside job.

Almost $60,000 in cash was stolen, and with the sudden unexplained disappearance of Brett occurring at the same time a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the robbery.

With no clues as to is whereabouts and little to go on with the case, information received in 1997 thanks to a public appeal suggested that he had in fact been murdered.

The information led police to believe that Brett was part of a three-man gang suspected of several robberies on supermarkets in the southern suburbs shortly before he was murdered.

In 1999, police identified two suspects – David Christopher Cox and a second man who cannot be identified for legal reasons – and declared the case a major crime.

Both suspects were interviewed and while they conceded they knew Brett, they denied any knowledge of his murder or involvement in the Foodland robbery.

In 2002 a person contacted police and told them that Brett’s body had been initially dumped on the side of the road at Cape Jervis, but then had been taken a few days to Cox’s house at Hackham West.

When investigators excavated under the floorboards of a bedroom on 1 February 2002 they found Brett’s skeletal remains inside a surf bag.

While Cox was charged with murder, he was acquitted by a jury in the Supreme Court in 2004. Cox would commit suicide a number of years later.

While the murder of Brett Winn remains unsolved, the third member of the supermarket robbery crew remains a suspect — but more information is needed to finally resolve the case.

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

It is now 44 years since Laula York (nee Ko-Ko) seemingly disappeared without a trace.

The indigenous woman had lived at Yalata Mission (now known as the Yalata Aboriginal Community), located on the far west coast of South Australia, 200km west of Ceduna.

She was first reported missing to Ceduna Police on 21 January 1975.

At the time of her sudden disappearance, the 32-year old was in a defacto relationship with 39-year old Maxwell John White.

She is described as being 170 cm tall, medium build, with brown eyes and black hair.

Investigators believe that Laula left Port Augusta with her two young daughters, Heather and Anne, on 13 November 1974, with the intention of travelling to the tiny settlement of Ooldea on the eastern edge of the Nullarbor Plan to meet Maxwell White.

A short time after leaving Port Augusta, her daughter Anne is understood to have decided to return to Yalata by herself.

It is possible that at this time Laula and Heather then travelled to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, to visit relatives, but whether they actually did has never been confirmed.

It is believed that Heather later returned to Yalata from the remote settlement of Reid in Western Australia, by herself.

Laula was never seen or heard from again and exactly what happened to her remains one of South Australia’s oldest mysteries.

She is suspected to have been murdered.

Unfortunately, no image of Laula is available for public release.

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

If anyone has any information about what happened to Laula they can anonymously contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestoppers.com.au

Theft of a large amount of cash and gold jewellery is a likely motive for the unsolved bashing murder of Andrew (Wilbur) Williamson more than 16 years ago in the state’s far north.

The 43-year old lived alone in a dugout at Tupper Close, Coober Pedy, and sometime after 1.30am on Tuesday 11 November 2003, he was murdered inside his home.

He had only recently moved to his new dugout and his new address was not common knowledge.

He was ill at the time of his murder, which would have made him incapable of physically defending himself during the attack.

In the days leading up to his murder he was seen around the town with a large amount of money.

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

Information from the local community is needed to move this unsolved case forward, with investigators keen to hear from anyone who might have bought the very distinctive jewellery. They might have not known it was stolen, or may have known it was stolen but not taken during a violent murder.

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

It has now been 37 years since the unsolved murder of Whyalla local, Lancelot (Buddy) Newchurch.

At about 11.20pm on Tuesday 9 November 1982, he was seen outside the Westlands Hotel on McDouall Stuart Avenue in Whyalla being bashed by two males.

The two males, armed with what looked like sticks or bars, were hitting the 27-year old to his head and body and kicking him.

A broken bottle was also located at the scene.

Bleeding significantly from head injuries, Mr Newchurch was rushed to the Whyalla Hospital but died prior to arrival.

Two suspects were charged with his murder but the matter did not proceed to trial.

One of the suspects later committed suicide.

A reward of up to $200,000 remains 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

It is now 15 years ago since David Fletcher told his parents he was going for a ride on his new motorcycle and seemingly disappeared into thin air.

At about 6pm on Saturday 6 November 2004, the 39-year old left his home at Warburton Street Magill for an unknown destination.

At the time, he was riding his black Kawasaki GPZ1000 motorbike (SA registration TGU795).

He had only recently purchased the motorcycle along with riding equipment including a full-face helmet and a pair of Drimesh gloves.

On 20 December 2004 – about six weeks after his disappearance – David was reported as a missing person by his brother.

For more than four years his whereabouts remained a mystery, until on 12 April 2009, his remains were discovered by a walker at the disused Poona Copper Mine near Moonta in regional South Australia.

He had been murdered, most likely on the day he vanished, then wrapped in a distinctive red-patterned rug.

He was then thrown from the edge of the mine, landing in water where it remained concealed until water levels receded due to drought conditions.

In addition to David’s remains being wrapped in a rug, he was also in a “Northridge Rovers’’ jacket that came from a defunct scout group that was based at Para Vista between 1994 and 2000.

Police believe that the motive to murder the recovering methamphetamine addict most likely comes from his involvement with those involved in low-level drug manufacturing.

Detectives have previously revealed that they have a suspect in the case and are continuing to gather evidence.

The male suspect was well known to Mr Fletcher and has a strong link to Yorke Peninsula. He has been interviewed by police and his home searched in a bid to find evidence in the case – particularly Mr Fletcher’s missing Kawasaki motorcycle, which has never been found.

Crucially, detectives now believe there may have been more than one person involved in his murder.

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

Whyalla resident Harry Houston has been missing since 30 October 2009 and is presumed to have been murdered.

Mr Houston regularly wore a Geelong Football Club baseball cap and would attend the Monarch Pharmacy in the Westlands Shopping Centre each morning.

Mr Houston collected his methadone at 9am on October 30, 2009, and then two hours later at 11am saw his son.

At midday he visited a female friend at Whyalla and was in good spirits, having won $800 on the pokies the previous day.

He left her house about 12.30pm and simply vanished without a trace.

At 1pm, his distinctive red Toyota 4Runner was seen sitting in the driveway of the home occupied by the man suspected of murdering him – who told police that Mr Houston sold him the vehicle.

The vehicle remained there until it was seized by police on Sunday 1 November 2009.

Mr Houston had been planning a road trip with his son to Darwin to celebrate a relative’s birthday before he disappeared.

Investigators believe that it is most likely that Mr Houston’s body has been dumped in scrub within a short distance of Whyalla based on the fact that there was only a 30-minute window between the last sighting of him and the sighting of his car at the suspect’s home.

Police believe the prime suspect in this case also holds the key to solving the cold case disappearance and suspect murder of Pennington woman Karen Morton in 2002.

Neither missing person knew the other, but both were closely associated with the suspect.

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 crimestopperssa.com.au