Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe we are approaching 2016, 2015 seemed to go by so fast.

This year I published my first ever book, with some stories from this blog, but with added information, and a number of original stories written just for the book. It also contained details and behind-the-scenes looks at the Haunting: Australia investigation of Adelaide Arcade and Manhattan Drycleaners - the first paranormal investigation ever in either of those locations.

2015 also saw the start of the 2nd book "The Haunts of Kapunda" a follow-up book with original true crime, true ghosts and weird trivia about Australia's most haunted town - Kapunda. It is a long hard road when you have to research your work yourself, and not "borrow" from others, but I prefer the honest approach and a bit of hard work, it makes the end product much more personal and special.

Hopefully, 2016 will see the fruits of my labour and the book will be published - as well as some of the other projects I have been working on behind the scenes!

A big thank you to each and every one of you that has supported me and Karen over the past year (and more) by sharing, liking, and reading The Haunts of Adelaide, and all the other projects we are involved in, we truly appreciate the kindness and effort of others who have helped us on our journey this far, and into a positive 2016!!

Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you all have success in 2016!

Allen and Karen Tiller

www.AllenTiller.com.au

The Truro Murders (Part 8): How They Captured a Murderer

Christopher Robin Worrell died in a car accident near Millicent. This ended the killing spree known as the “The Truro Murders”. The murders had stopped, but the women killed were still considered missing persons, and to their families and the police, could still be very much alive.

James Miller, while at the funeral of his lover and best friend, Worrell, made a surprising remark to Worrell’s grieving girlfriend Amelia. Miller told Amelia that Worrell had a blood clot on his brain. This opened up a conversation with Amelia, where Miller confessed to his part in the murders and his suspicion that Worrell’s murderous killing spree was in part, because of the blood clot.

Two years later, the police had their first report of skeletal remains outside Truro, and it wasn’t long until more remains were found. A reward was offered to the public for information on the murders leading to an arrest, the reward totalled $40, 000 and was offered by The Advertiser newspaper and the State Government.

Amelia came forward under the name “Angela” and offered information. Her call would eventually solve the murderous spree, that otherwise may have remained unresolved.
In her official police statement, Amelia accused Miller of saying that the victims “were only rags and weren’t worth much”, which Miller, during the ensuing court case, strenuously denied.

Police began to watch Miller, even though they had no real evidence of him being involved in the murders and only the hear-say of a witness. It wasn’t long until they picked him up for questioning. Miller would make no admission to the murders and gave vague misleading answers. Eventually, he succumbed to the pressure applied when shown a photo of himself and Amelia together, a person he claimed her had never met. After six long hours of questioning and pressure from the police, Miller finally said:
“If I can clear this up will everyone else be left out of it? I suppose I’ve got nothing else to look forward to whatever way it goes. I guess I’m the one who got mixed up in all of this. Where do you want me to start?”
“I drove around with Chris and we picked up girls around the city. Chris would talk to the girls and get them into the car and we would take them for a drive and take them to Truro and Chris would rape them and kill them. But you’ve got to believe that I had nothing to do with the actual killings of those girls.”

Miller then confessed to knowing where the bodies of three more young women lay.

 

The same evening, at about 10pm, the police drove Miller from Adelaide to Truro to show them where the bodies are buried. Someone leaked the journey to the media, and two reporters were waiting in Truro for the police convoy to arrive.


Their next stop was Port Gawler, where Miller pointed out the burial place of Deborah Lamb. Police extracted her body and took it away for forensic examination.

The last body Miller took the police to was that of Tania Kenny who was buried near Gillman. It took police quite some time to find Tania’s body in the area Miller had described, but eventually, her remains were uncovered and identified.
Miller was charged with four counts of murder, and after further examination, three more counts were added to his charges.

The trial lasted 6 weeks, and on March 12th 1980, Miller was found guilty of six charges of murder, but acquitted for the murder of Veronica Knight. Despite this, Miller claimed he was innocent of murder.

“I was there at the time and for that, I am guilty of an unforgivable felony, I fully deserve the life sentences I am currently serving. I am serving out a life sentence for Chris. But I never killed any of those girls. That’s the truth.”

“They can give me life for knowing about the murders and not reporting them. But they charged me with murder as a payback for not informing on Worrell. It’s a load of bullshit. At least one of the jurists at my trials knows the truth. In 1987 he paid a couple of hundred dollars out of his own pocket to help hire a lawyer to petition the Attorney-General for a retrial. If a jurist does this, he must have a fair idea of what really happened.”


“Nobody turns into a cold-blooded murderer overnight or helps commit murder. I’m just an ordinary thief, no killer. I have never been a violent man.”


Miller eventually died in custody.

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The Truro Murders (Part 7): James Miller

The Truro Murders (Part 7): James Miller

 James William Miller was born in 1940 into a family of 6 children. He was known as a friendless loner and ran away from home at a very early age, only to end up in the Magill Reform School at age 11.
With no education, Miller learnt to survive as best he could, and turned to petty crime when he couldn’t find work as an itinerant labourer.

Over the years Miller was convicted of car theft, larceny, and breaking and entering. He had over 30 convictions to his name. In his lengthy career as a criminal, he was never once charged with for violence or sex crime.

Miller found himself inside Adelaide Gaol for a three-month custodial sentence after he had broken into a gun shop. It was here in the Adelaide Gaol he met Christopher Worrell, who was awaiting trial on a rape charge, Worrell was also on a suspended sentence for armed robbery

Miller, a homosexual, fell in love with Worrell and became totally infatuated with the young good looking man. The two men shared a cell at Adelaide Gaol, but that was soon to change.
Worrell was found guilty and sentenced to a 4-year term at Yatala Labour Prison. Miller was also sentenced to serve time at Yatala, where he served three months.
Within months, the two friends would see each other again in Yatala, with Miller getting arrested for trying to sell stolen sunglasses in hotels around Adelaide. He had stolen 400 pairs and was caught. Miller was sentenced to 18 months in Yatala.


Miller was released, and then nine months later Worrell was granted early parole. The two men met on the outside, rekindled their friendship and planned to get a unit together in the city.
What was a friendship quickly began to be a sexual relationship, with Miller performing oral sex on Worrell, whilst Worrell read bondage magazines. Over time the sexual relationship dwindled, due to Worrell’s preference for young women, and the two men became like brothers.
Worrell and Miller became inseparable, even working together with the Unley Council as labourers.

Miller was submissive, but he had a calming effect on Worrell. The pair often cruised the city in Miller's blue and white Valiant, looking for girls. Worrell would tie them up and have sex with them in the back of the car, while Miller would go for a walk. This kink for violent bondage sex of Worrell’s would soon turn to raping and killing the young women.
At the time of the first murder, Miller was 38 years old.

Between the time of Worrell’s death, and the exposing of the crimes, Miller had become very depressed over the loss of his best friend. He found himself living as a vagrant on the streets, sometimes sleeping in abandoned cars, and every so often sleeping at the Central Mission Day Centre, St Vincent De Paul, or helping out at the Salvation Army.


Miller would be apprehended due to a tip-off from Worrell’s former girlfriend Angela. All through his trial he claimed he didn’t murder anyone, all he did was drive the car and was just the “chauffeur and mug”, therefore, he should not be charged with the act of murder.
The Judge of the case didn’t see things the same way as Miller and told the jury it must find him guilty.
Miller was interred for life in 1980 for the murders of six of the seven women, he was acquitted of the murder of Veronica Knight.
Not long after the trial, one of the jurors hired a lawyer to petition the Attorney-General for a retrial of Miller’s case, due to the instruction of Judge Matheson for the jury to find Miller guilty. The Attorney-General, Chris Sumner flatly refused to grant Miller a retrial.
In 1999, Miller applied to the law courts to have a non-parole period set. In 2000, Chief Justice John Doyle granted Miller’s request, and his non-parole period was backdated for a period of 35 years – meaning Miller could apply for parole in 2014.


James Miller spent 28 years in prison. His body succumb to the ravages of cancer, and on October 22, 2008, at the age of 68, he died.

Next Week: The Truro Murders (Part 8): How they captured a murderer

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2015

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The Truro Murders (Part 6): Christopher Worell

The Truro Murders (Part 6):

 Christopher Worell

Christopher Robin Worrell was born in Adelaide on January 17th, 1954. He never knew his father, and by the time he was six years old, his mother had remarried.

Not much is publicly available about Worrell’s early life, what is known is that as a teenager, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force and spent time at Sale in Victoria, and in Western Australia.
  Worrell reportedly admitted to killing two girls while travelling through the outback from Western Australia to South Australia. These murders went unreported, and as of yet, there is no evidence they ever actually happened.
Worrell, after serving in the RAAF, came back to Adelaide and lived with family. He spent time at his brother Danny’s house, before beginning his life of crime. He would be put on a suspended sentence for rape charges, which he eventually broke when found guilty of raping girl. The Judge called him “A depraved and disgusting human being” during sentencing, which would see Worrell serve three years in Yatala Prison.
It was during his remand period, awaiting a trial, that he first met James Miller, who was a petty criminal. The two men became friends in Yatala, and allegedly, lovers after they were released.


Upon release from Yatala, Worrell lived with his sisters and her two young daughters.
He was a good looking, charismatic young man, bi-sexual and with a kink for tying girls up when having sex with them. He also enjoyed bondage magazines, sometimes allowing James Miller to apply oral sex to him while browsing them.

 From December 1976 to February 1977 he murdered 7 young girls that he picked up on the streets of Adelaide; from places such as the Adelaide Railway Station, the Buckingham Arms Hotel, Rundle Mall, The Ambassadors Hotel, West Terrace and other iconic locations in Adelaide, South Australia.
Christopher Worrell was killed in a car accident right as his killing spree was beginning to consume him. Many people have speculated as to the reasons behind the murders, with some people pointing to the fact that it was discovered that Worrell had bleeding on his brain, found during his autopsy. This is of course speculation, and without much being written about his upbringing or youth, it is hard to know exactly what led to him becoming a serial killer.
Christopher Robin Worrell was buried in Centennial Park (Grave 1364). His headstone, which was laid a year before his murders were discovered, somewhat mocks his victims – the inscription reads, “Untold love and joy he brought to all”.


Next Week: The Truro Murders (Part 7): James Miller

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