Case 199
Truro
During the summer of 1976 and 1977, seven young women mysteriously disappeared from the streets of Adelaide. Veronica Knight, Sylvia Pittman, Julie Mykyta, Connie Iordanides, Vicki Howell, Tania Kenny, and Deborah Lamb were all last seen near main roads or waiting at bus stops.
Police assumed they were runaways and would reappear again soon, until a year later when two brothers were picking mushrooms in the scrubland near the town of Truro and came across human remains. When more bones were found the following year, investigators realised they weren’t dealing with runaways at all, but a serial killer. But who was responsible, and why did their crime spree stop so suddenly? A man named James Miller held all the answers.
CREDITS
EPISODE:
Research & writing – Elsha McGill
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Narration – Anonymous Host
MUSIC:
‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com
Audio production – Mike Migas
Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
OTHER:
Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska
RESOURCES
BOOKS
It’s a Long Way to Truro – Anne-Marie Mykyta
A Voice for Veronica: The story of the first victim in the Truro Murders in South Australia – Jeanette Woods
Don’t Call Me Killer – James William Miller
NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES
Pants, purse, shoe found in paddock – The Age
Father hits interference – The Age
Graveyard of missing girls – The Sydney Morning Herald
Shoe and more bones found in Truro area – The Sydney Morning Herald
Police step up hunt for bush skeletons – The Age
No more clues in the Truro murders – The Age
The Truro murders: new charges – The Sydney Morning Herald
Truro murder case: Trial set – The Age
Slain girls mother: I lived behind glass – The Sydney Morning Herald
Tension high in ‘raffle ticket’ court drama – The Sydney Morning Herald
Defendant said Truro victims ‘were rags’ – The Sydney Morning Herald
Miller: I helped dispose of bodies – The Sydney Morning Herald
Third man in Truro Murders – The Age
Jury finds man guilty of six Truro killings – The Sydney Morning Herald
Adelaide: A city of missing children and lost innocence – The Sydney Morning Herald
Deaths raise spectres from another killing field: Truro – The Age
ONLINE ARTICLES
Truro Murders: The untold story of the serial killings – The Advertiser
Truro murders: Deborah Lamb’s daughter Niki reveals how she learned of her mother’s tragic death – The Advertiser
‘My real mum fell victim to a serial killer’ – Woman’s Day
Truro killer had quick cancer death – ABC News
OTHER
Missing Persons – Australian Institute of Criminology (Canberra, 1988)
THIS EPISODE’S SPONSORS