Father, Teacher, Child Killer

Summary

Australian True Crime – “Father, Teacher, Child Killer”

Podcast: Australian True Crime
Date: February 8, 2026
Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: Michael Madigan (journalist and author of Father, Teacher, Child Killer)

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Episode Overview

This episode examines the chilling true story of Dieter Fenwick, a South Australian schoolteacher and father turned convicted child murderer. Host Meshel Laurie interviews journalist Michael Madigan, whose book Father, Teacher, Child Killer delves into Fenwick's crimes, their investigation, and the broader context of unsolved child abductions and murders in Australia. The conversation covers not just Fenwick’s crimes, but also a pattern of disappearances involving children in the 1970s–1980s, institutional failure, and the toll on victims’ families.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

South Australia’s Dark True Crime Legacy

• Under-recognized cases:
  • “Sometimes South Australian stories are a little bit forgotten, but look, there’s a whole heap of stories that if you, if you really look into it, they are almost... you can almost say that Dieter might have been involved with every one of them. I mean, how many serial killers of children are there in South Australia?” – Michael Madigan [01:23]
• Clustering of unsolved child abductions and murders around Adelaide over several decades

The Difficulty of Investigating Child Disappearances

• Lack of technology in the pre-digital era made child abductions incredibly hard to solve
• “If I went missing, police can contact my friends, family, workmates, but a child hasn’t got that history. So it is very, very difficult.” – Michael Madigan [04:52]

The Case of Eloise Worledge (Melbourne, 1976)

• 8-year-old Eloise disappeared from her bedroom; torn flyscreen suggested abduction
• Parents initially suspected but exonerated
• Later investigations revealed presence of multiple paedophile schoolteachers in her school at the time – exposure of a broader systemic issue in education about moving alleged offenders rather than reporting them
• “I was actually quite shocked myself that the government schools in Victoria were doing the same thing.” – Michael Madigan [10:01]

The Disappearance of Louise Bell (Adelaide, 1983)

• 10-year-old Louise vanished from her bedroom under remarkably similar circumstances to Eloise
• Connection sought between cases due to method (torn window screen, similar victim age)
• Notable developments:
  • A neighbor, Mrs. S, received disturbing calls from a man with a German accent, providing details only the perpetrator would know (including where to find Louise’s earrings) [15:19]
  • Perpetrator left Louise’s pajama top folded on the neighbor’s lawn [18:12], crucial forensic evidence later
  • Forensics linked the pajamas’ unique soil and algae to a local river, searching for a dump site but nothing was found

Miscarriage of Justice: Raymond Giesing

• Known sex offender living near Louise Bell; evidence circumstantial (debris comparison, hearsay)
• Convicted largely on the testimony of prison inmates, who later admitted to fabricating their stories [24:32]
• Conviction overturned, devastating the Bell family and police, returning the investigation to square one

The Michael Black Case (Murray Bridge, 1989)

• 10-year-old Michael Black failed to return from fishing alone; belongings found neatly stacked (out of character) on opposite riverbank
• Suspicions initially leaned toward accidental drowning, but sightings and “timeline” built by local police revealed the presence of a suspicious man in a van
• Similar M.O. to other unsolved abduction cases; deliberate, risky behavior
• “Michael would never disobey his instructions. And Michael’s a notorious untidy young boy like every 10 year old boys are and he would never leave his stuff neatly in a, in a little neatly pile.” – Michael Madigan [27:12]

The Surviving Victim – “Robert”

• In 1989, a 13-year-old boy (“Robert”) lured by a man (Fenwick) in a van under the pretense of needing help, abducted, tied up, sexually assaulted
• Remarkable survival: Robert observed house address, managed to escape while Fenwick was out buying cigarettes [38:49]
• “This little boy had courage and had a will to live. He knew that Fennec is not going to back off. And so he started to wriggle his little fingers in and out of the knots...” – Michael Madigan [39:34]

The Undoing of Fenwick

• Arrested after Robert’s escape, linked to Michael Black by similar methods and witness statements
• Forensics: Pajama top from the Louise Bell case preserved DNA that, decades later, implicated Fenwick
• “The prosecutor came out on day one, said it was a billion to one chance that it wasn’t Dieter Fennick. That’s how strong they believe the case was.” – Michael Madigan [51:55]
• Fenwick denied guilt, yet confided to inmates about his murders
• Despite conviction, he never revealed the locations of victims’ remains

The Perpetrator’s Double Life

• Fenwick portrayed as charming, intelligent, loved by colleagues and family for years
• “I’ve spoken to people who found him charming, good looking, got on well with women at school, he was a reasonable teacher. I spoke to his daughter Petra and she said he was a good dad. So they can disguise their hidden ugliness, evilness. They have two different lives.” – Michael Madigan [47:29]
• His daughter Petra testified against him, demonstrating courage and complexity in reconciling his parental kindness and monstrous crimes

Broader Implications & Speculation

• Madigan suggests possible involvement of Fenwick in other notorious cases:
  • Eloise Worledge (“When Fennec was talking to the neighbor, he mispronounced Louise. He said, eloise is in trouble. Whether that again is another decoy, we will never know.” [54:32])
  • Connection to the Adelaide Oval abductions: Fenwick taught at Kirsty Gordon’s school; lived near victims
  • No wild accusations, but a pattern of proximity, opportunity, and method

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On child homicide investigations:

  • “There’s so many conspirators out there. And some of the stories are just ridiculous. And I felt like the Bell family and the Black family deserved to get a factual account of what actually did happen.” – Michael Madigan [02:23]

• On Fenwick's manipulation:

  • “He was a master manipulator... He also said that Louise was happy with them, as in plural. He also said that Louise needed medical help... but I really believe it was all about publicity and Louise had already departed, had passed away.” – Michael Madigan [17:09]

• On systematic failures in institutions:

  • “I was actually quite shocked myself that the government schools in Victoria were doing the same thing [as churches],” – Michael Madigan [10:01]

• On the nature of such offenders:

  • “To take a step of killing is another beast in itself.” – Michael Madigan [46:43]
  • “He knew how to be a teacher, he knew how to be a father, but really what they want is they want to be evil.” – Michael Madigan [57:37]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:07] – Introduction to Fenwick case and Michael Madigan’s book
• [01:23] – Discussion of South Australia’s “forgotten” cases and potential serial offender
• [05:24] – Eloise Worledge’s disappearance, family background, and school context
• [11:58] – Louise Bell’s abduction, police comparisons to Eloise’s case
• [15:19] – The mysterious phone calls to the Bell’s neighbor
• [18:12] – The pajama top left on the neighbor’s lawn – key forensic evidence
• [22:32] – Raymond Giesing’s arrest, wrongful conviction, and exoneration
• [27:12] – Michael Black’s last day; evidence and initial theories
• [34:48] – “Robert” (1989 survivor) abduction; the ordeal and escape
• [39:34] – Details of Robert’s escape and its impact
• [43:13] – Fenwick places himself at the crimes through own statements
• [46:28] – Fenwick’s conviction for Michael Black’s murder
• [47:29] – Fenwick’s double life and family testimony
• [51:55] – Role of DNA evidence in Fenwick’s eventual Louise Bell conviction
• [54:32] – Speculation on links to Eloise Worledge and Adelaide Oval cases
• [57:37] – Final reflections on evil and compartmentalization
• [60:16] – Rationale for writing on such dark cases

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Tone and Language

• Conversational, somber, and empathetic; sharply factual without sensationalism
• Deep respect shown for victims, families, and survivors
• Occasional attempts to make sense of the scale and horror without resorting to conspiracy or hyperbole

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Conclusion

This episode weaves together a complex, devastating tapestry of Australian child murder cases, highlighting the difficulties in investigating such crimes, the trauma for families, and the chilling duality of perpetrators like Dieter Fenwick. The conversation is detailed, sensitive, and grounded, providing listeners with insight beyond headlines—into the failures, breakthroughs, and people at the heart of these tragic stories.

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Further Reading:
Father, Teacher, Child Killer by Michael Madigan

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Support for Listeners:
If you need support after listening, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), 1800 Respect (1800 737 732), or 13 YARN (13 92 76 for Indigenous Australians)

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

[Michael Madigan]

I'm doing time for something I haven't done because as you were probably aware, I was convicted of the murder, kidnap and murder of Michael Black. And I still don't know how I got convicted for something I haven't done. I don't even understand what happened there.

[Podcast Host]

At the time of that police interview, former South Australian teacher Dieter Fenwick was serving time for the abduction and murder of one child, 10 year old Michael Black, and for the abduction and rape of another. Police interviewing him suspected he was responsible for the disappearance and murder of a third child, 10 year old Louise Bell. He was eventually convicted of that crime too, but not before an innocent man was accused and and convicted. Michael Madigan has written an excellent book about the case called Father Teacher Child Killer, which takes us into the crimes and the investigations. It also asks if there are links to other notorious and unsolved crimes against children. This is Australian true crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation.

[Michael Madigan]

Sometimes South Australian stories are a little bit forgotten, but look, there's a whole heap of stories that if you, if you really look into it, they are almost. Well, I put at the end of the book that you can almost say that Dieter might have been involved with every one of them. I mean, how many serial killers of children are there in South Australia?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, and you make a compelling argument and we'll get to each one of the arguments. But I think sometimes, you know, every sort of unsolved murder was attributed to Ivan Milat for a long time. And so I think sometimes there's a sense of the conspiracy theory around trying to link crimes. But you do make some very compelling points on it. But you don't go overboard ever. You don't ever say, I think he was, you know, connected with the Beaumont children or anything like that. But you are making that point that how many child murderers do we expect to be in one place at one time?

[Michael Madigan]

Exactly. That's why I mainly wrote the book, is that because of social media these days. There's so many conspirators out there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Michael Madigan]

And some of the stories are just ridiculous. And I felt like the Bell family and the Black family deserved to get a factual account of what actually did happen.

[Podcast Host]

And the Geesing family, may I say, and we will get to that because this is a story of a conviction, an earlier conviction that was overturned, an innocent man going to jail I mean, it's got it all, this story, but also it is the. You talk very soberly, I will say, about the idea that Adelaide is a weird town with weird murders. You don't use those words, but you say that Adelaide had a reputation for bizarre crimes. You talk about when these children went missing. Adelaide was just getting over the horrible Truro murders, where five young women were abducted from the city streets and murdered. And then the family murders, the macabre murders of five young men. There's obviously the Beaumont children's disappearance, the Adelaide Oval girls. Joanne Ratliff and Kirsty Gordon are the two little girls who went missing from Adelaide Oval. We've discussed them before. Two little girls who went to the bathroom during a football game and were never seen again. You also make the point that when someone's child goes missing, it's very hard for them to accept that the rest of the world keeps moving. That, you know, people can show concern and show distress and all those kinds of things, but it feels like the entire world should stop and look for my child. And unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. And we are talking about a sort of cluster of missing and murdered children in Australia over the summer months, over the period of a couple of decades. I mean, it's striking that a number of these children we're talking about were abducted in January over the course of various years. And we have to look at the sociology behind that, I guess. Is it because people left their windows open? Did that make an offender or offenders more active? Was it that their family was out of town on holidays in those summer months and that gave them opportunity? We have to look at all those factors, don't we?

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. And solving a child murder or abduction is very, very difficult for the police. If I went missing, police can contact my friends, family, workmates, but a child hasn't got that history. So it is very, very difficult. And back in the early days, there was no cctv, no mobile phones, there was nothing. So people ask why these haven't been solved. But it's a very difficult crime to solve.

[Podcast Host]

Let's talk about Eloise Worledge. Initially, this is a crime that took place in Melbourne, so the other crimes we'll be talking about took place in Adelaide. You include Eloise. It's 50 years since her disappearance. What can you tell us about that?

[Michael Madigan]

Well, Eloise was a young girl in a Melbourne suburb. Her parents were having a rocky time in their marriage and school holidays. The father was a lecturer at a university and the mother was A very artistic type of person. They were good parents but their relationship was coming to an end and there was even the day before little girl went missing, there was quite a violent verbal fight between them and in the morning they were both very, very upset with themselves and they were very cordial. But it was that day that they decided that, you know, the husband had to move out. And so anyway, that night Eloise's mother was out for a while doing various things with making dresses and showing them to the neighbors. And the father was home and the boy and Eloise were asleep. But Eloise woke up and about 9 o' clock and her father, she went into her father who was watching television and they had a little discussion on where the marriage was going. But she went back to bed and eventually both parents went to bed. And in the morning Mrs. Willich woke up and did the usual things and put the kettle on and checked on the girls and. And she was shocked that her little girl was missing from her bedroom. But what she did notice was there was a massive tear in the window lining as if someone had come in and pulled her out. The little boy actually was in a bed next to her and he didn't hear anything. And so Louise was missing and so they called the police and they had a massive search. Nothing was found, no evidence, there was no fingerprints. So it eventually came to fruition that the door had inadvertently been left open. Unlocked.

[Podcast Host]

That's right. Her mum had left the door unlocked. Right. I think her mum was at a neighbourhood party and walked back in at some stage and, you know, we've all done it, we can all do it. Especially if you live in a neighbourhood where you feel very safe and secure and you know everybody and.

[Michael Madigan]

Exactly. So there's. There was a massive search, probably the biggest search in Victoria's history, but nothing was ever, ever found of Louise. But the police, as, as was normal, the police had to investigate the parents and unfortunately both parents were targeted as the perpetrators. But in the end they were both found to be not guilty of any crime at all. And till this day, Eloise is still missing. Look, in the book I do discuss what was happening around that time. There was an inquiry by the State Government of Victoria only quite recently about the amount of pedophile activity from teachers right across Victoria schools. Why I did that was to just put into the reader's mind that these perpetrators are not one offs. There are a large number of people willing to hurt our children. A lot of the teachers that were perpetrators were not actually given a over to police but they would just change schools.

[Podcast Host]

We're all aware now, unfortunately, of the Catholic Church's policies around that, around moving troubled priests and brothers and things like that. But I wasn't aware that the education departments around the country and probably around the world, I suppose, had similar reactions to complaints.

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. Well, the Catholic Church, the Salvation army, they've all been put under the hammer by the governments and rightfully so. But I was actually quite shocked myself that the government schools in Victoria were doing the same thing.

[Podcast Host]

And certainly Eloise's school ended up being investigated, didn't it?

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah, I think there was three perpetrators during the 1970s that taught at that school, which is incredible when you think about it.

[Podcast Host]

And none of that was known at the time. So none of that was included in the investigation also. I mean, this happened in 1976. The Beaumont children went missing in 1966.

[Michael Madigan]

The Adlai Oval was 73.

[Podcast Host]

Was 73.

[Michael Madigan]

So, look, if you want to be a little bit conspiratory, you know, you can say that every so often, his children went missing. 66. 73. 76. 83, 89. And the other thing is that their bodies were never recovered, which, again, is an unusual thing for murders.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, it's tempting to say there are signatures to these cases, children of similar ages, the age of 10 years old factors frequently in all of these cases.

[Michael Madigan]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

We'll leave Eloise to the side just momentarily because that's a Melbourne crime. But I'll come back to why you think that's important. Cause all the other crimes are happening around Adelaide, in and around Adelaide. We all know the story of the Beaumont children, But Louise Bell, January 1983. Again. January again. She's 10 years old. And the case bears a lot of similarities to that of Eloise Wallis, doesn't it? Certainly in the initial crime scene.

[Michael Madigan]

Exactly. So the South Australian police actually asked for the file on Eloise's case because it was so similar. Little louise. Back in January 1983, the night before, the two little girls, Rachel and Louise, were dancing in their room with a new cassette player. The neighbors over the road could see how happy they were. They just had Christmas and they were looking forward to going to watch the movie E.T. the next day. So it was. It was a. A wholesome household. And. But that night, when the parents went to bed in the morning, Mrs. Bell woke up and checked the girls and found that Louise was missing. And again, there was a piece of torn screen missing from the window. And she ran up the street looking for her, but she eventually got back to her husband and they both looked and they like, yeah, you can imagine the fear involved with finding your child missing from your home. So, yes, the police did a massive search and nothing was found of Louise that day. The crime really rocked the neighborhood. It was a family friendly neighborhood. It was only a recently developed neighborhood full of families and children. And I've got reports of children not being able to sleep ever again with the window open. Children sleeping with their parents for months afterwards. There was real fear in the community.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. If you can't feel like your children are safe in their own bedroom, then you just want them next to you at all times. Intriguingly, the hole that was in the fly screen didn't seem, you know, after thorough forensic investigation, police believed, oh, we don't think a person climbed through there and carried her out. We think she seems to have climbed out to a person. Right.

[Michael Madigan]

Yes. This is, this is something I think is a debatable issue, how Louise got out of her bedroom. Initially, of course, it looked like someone had gone into, put their arms into the screen and actually physically pulled her out. The police actually did some testing on what? On different police officers were at different heights and different weights and they worked out that it had to be a guy or a man of about 5 foot 9, 5 foot 10 and very strong to be able to pick up a 10 year old through the window.

[Podcast Host]

Tell us about the neighbour who received the phone calls. This is an extraordinary development in the investigation, isn't it? The a neighbour of the Bell family, Louise Bell's family, becomes enmeshed in this story and this crime.

[Michael Madigan]

Well, that's right. We'll call this neighbour, Ms. S, Mrs. S. She was just watching television one night and the phone rang and on the phone this person with a slight German accent started to tell her that he wanted medical information to help Louise Bell. Louise Bell was injured and he was the abductor, which was an incredible thing for her to take in all at once. But then she said, well, how do I know that you did it? And he explained what happened as in the screen. And he also said that if you tell the police to look under a rock on the corner of South Roads and Doctor's Road, you'll find Louise's earrings. And she couldn't believe it. And he explained to her the extent of Louise injuries and she was shot. And so she rang the police and the police went over to the location and they found these earrings and they took it over to Mr. Bill to identify and he looked at them and saw a Little scratch where he had repaired them. So it proved that this abductor on the phone was in fact the murderer of Louise.

[Podcast Host]

What Was he calling Mrs. S for? Was he calling for advice? I mean, it seemed as though when I was reading it that he wasn't just calling to brag or to leave a clue for police, whatever. He seemed like he was genuinely calling for help.

[Michael Madigan]

Look, he was. This person was a master manipulator. He asked the neighbor to contact the media. So he was looking for publicity. He also said that Louise was happy with them, as in plural. He also said that Louise needed medical help and explained to the woman that it was serious. But I really believe it was all about publicity and Louise had already departed, had passed away.

[Podcast Host]

We should remember as well. In those days, everyone was in the phone book. So. Because initially I was thinking, oh, God, he must have known this neighbour and all that. And then I realised, oh, no, everyone's in the phone book. It wasn't hard to get people's phone numbers in those days.

[Michael Madigan]

He said it was a random, but knowing the perpetrator, I think he knew who was calling and.

[Podcast Host]

And she was a close neighbor of the family and all of that.

[Michael Madigan]

And that wasn't the end of the bizarre nature of the perpetrator. Probably four, five weeks later, Mrs. S, the neighbor, was walking her son to school and she noticed a bit of clothing on her lawn, neatly folded, and she didn't think anything of it. And when she got back, she thought, oh, I better put this in the bin. So she picked up the piece of clothing and she thought, gee, this is a nice looking pajama top. So she took it inside and then she remembered a bit of the publicity of what Louise was wearing. So she rang up the detectives of the case and she said, you wouldn't believe what I've just found on my front lawn. And they raced to her and the first detective smelting and it smelled fishy and sort of moldy and marshy and yes, it was Louise's. Louise Bell's top. So this guy was playing all sorts of mind games with police and getting satisfaction out of the hurt that he was putting on the family.

[Podcast Host]

So the pyjama top then gave police, they believed, some physical evidence of either the crime scene or a dump site.

[Michael Madigan]

Yes. So the forensics went through it thoroughly, did a fantastic job, mind you, and they tracked down that this could only have happened, this could only have been in waters off of Onkha Paringa water, which is not far away from the Bell household. So they had something to look for, so they sent divers into the river. It was a part of the river that this special algae and sand was around. So they spent a few weeks diving and searching, but nothing was found.

[Podcast Host]

If you'd like to talk to someone about abuse that's taken place in your life, no matter how long ago it happened, your GP is always a good place to start. If that's not going to work for you, you can contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or via their website, 1-800-Respect or you can call Lifeline's 24 hour phone counselling service on 1311 14. New to TikTok, you might be surprised. TikTok Shop is packed with a wide variety of products and unexpected discounts. Easy to browse, easy to find, good value. Download TikTok now in the book, you take us through the investigation. A lot of excellent police work. And again, as you've mentioned, you know, we're talking about a time where there were very few, very much fewer facilities at police's disposal. There weren't cameras, there weren't mobile phone ping towers and all that kind of stuff. So it's real boots on the ground work. They've ended up coming across a man called Raymond Giesing and looking very closely at him for the, the abduction of Louise Bell. Why is that? Who is this guy?

[Michael Madigan]

Geesing was a known offender of children. He lived very close to the Bell family up until a few months before the abduction. And a Christie's beach police officer notified the detectives that Geising got away with the crime on a technical matter. So they were trying to contact all known pedophiles and Geesing came across as very, very nervous, very anxious and so they, they put a bit of pressure on him.

[Podcast Host]

What was the crime, by the way? Was it a child sex attack or something? The other.

[Michael Madigan]

Yes, it was.

[Podcast Host]

Right, okay.

[Michael Madigan]

I won't go into details but he, he, he had history. So he, he was interviewed and his house was searched. Nothing was found in his home. But I talked to a police officer who actually did the search on his car and he found Geesing's Sanshu's sneakers hidden in a part of the car that you wouldn't normally know about. And they took those sneakers into forensics and they matched up the forensics of Louise's pajama top. The area is also a very popular fishing area and so Geesing said, no, that's where I fish all the time. That's the only reason why there's a similar debris on my shoes to the top. But the added evidence was mainly from prison fellow prisoners who, who said that Giesing had told them that he actually did it and that he got away with it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, Geesing got a, got a sort of a going over. I'm gonna say when he got in he was arrested, he's in remand, I guess on remand and he was severely bashed by other prisoners and all sorts of things.

[Michael Madigan]

He look, the bashing was just horrific and these days child sex offenders are separated but in those days, especially in the Adelaide Jail which was an antiquated jail and he was severely injured and obviously frightened and the prisoners ganged up on him not only physically but they wanted him to be guilty so they basically made up evidence.

[Podcast Host]

Well it was a real conspiracy, wasn't it? They actually created a real conspiracy.

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah, it was disgraceful that they could get away and it's one of the few cases that a murderer has got off on appeal and but it was a clear cut case and because he.

[Podcast Host]

Was essentially convicted on their evidence, wasn't he?

[Michael Madigan]

He was convicted on their evidence. When I looked at the evidence I thought gee, this is very light. You know relying on prisoner evidence has always been very, you know, you're taking a chance because they are in there because they tell lies and they don't observe the law. But yes, the jury found him guilty. And after the proceedings one of the prisoners phoned up a detective who I talked to and they met at the Adelaide Market syndrome. The detective saw him and knew there was something wrong and the prisoner confessed that he had lied in court. So during the appeal process Giesing was found not to be guilty of that murder.

[Podcast Host]

What a terrible, terrible time. I mean, you know, even though it was not true, it was not right, it was not appropriate. The family, the community thought they had their resolution. We don't say closure but they thought okay, we can get on with it. And then to find out, oh my God, all of that was for nothing, it wasn't true.

[Michael Madigan]

The police were devastated and when I was talking to the police officer only last year he was still shaking his head thinking about it. But then you have to remember what the Bill family had to go through. Having one month found some, some sort of closure and then the next month found that it was back square one. It was devastating for then.

[Podcast Host]

So after all of this, obviously that entire process takes a couple of years. By the time the suspect is identified and the court process, he's convicted, one of the witnesses comes forward and says I Lied, we all did and he is then his conviction's overturned some years after that, a couple of years after that. So Louise bell disappears in 1983, in January. We go forward then to January 1989, another 10 year old Michael Black. What can you tell us about the Michael Black story?

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah, well Michael Black grew up in Murray Bridge which is about 75 kilometres from Adelaide. It's sits on the Murray river and Michael and his dad normally go fishing together. But it was his dad's first day back at work and his mother was working as well. They were separated at the time. And so this is a big day for Michael. This is the first day that he was to go on his push bike down to the river to do some fishing. He always had his pet dog Bessie by him. And before he went down Mr. Black told Michael that, you know, you must be stay where we always fish, which is on the side, the Murray Bridge side of the bridge. Do not go over the bridge because it's very dangerous with all the trucks and the cars crossing. And David Black waved Michael goodbye on his push bike and he was quite proud looking at Michael down the road. You know he was only 10 years old but he was a very competent young boy. He was a little bit of a loner. He loved bushwalking with his dad, he loved bird watching, fishing, camping and he was quite okay with his own self. He left about 1:30 on that day and there was people there that saw him fishing. He went to the shops twice and bought some ice cream and some chips and so at 4:30 Mr. Black thought oh, Michael should be home by now. So went looking for him in his car and when he got there he, he looked at the, the normal place that they fished and he wasn't there. And it was quite strange that there's hardly anyone there. So but he, he ran along and saw a few people and described, you know, Michael and then he started to panic. This is not like Michael. So he thought oh perhaps I've missed him on the way here. So he drove around the town becoming more and more anxious. Obviously Michael was a very obedient boy. After searching for an hour or so he contacted, rang the police. He said look this is not like Michael. I want you to go and send a unit out there to help for search along the river. So the police did that and we, while he was waiting home for any news, he had so much pent up energy he ran to the police station just to emphasize the urgency of it all and they told him to go back home. And more units were coming to help with the search. And so about 7 o' clock he received a phone call from the police saying that they found Michael's belongings, his bite, fishing gear, T shirt over the other side of the bridge and they were in a neat pile. And David knew exactly then that something more sinister was happening. Michael would never disobey his instructions. And, and Michael's a notorious untidy young boy like every 10 year old boys are and he would never leave his stuff neatly in a, in a little neatly pile. So police immediately thought well he's drowned because his, his shirt was hanging from a branch that extended over the water. So they, they thought that he might have tried to grab his shirt and he fell in. Police divers were brought in that night. They had an incredible record of finding bodies in drowning victims but they searched for four days and they never found anything.

[Podcast Host]

But they did a, you know, massive door knock of course again, lots of boots on the ground work. And they started to hear some disturbing reports, didn't they from people who'd been hanging out around that area.

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. Two weeks later another boy drowned not far from where Michael was. And so the theory was that Michael did drown but the local police officer was put in charge of gathering more information. And so with his hard work he started to put together a timeline of Michael. He was seen at the shop at 2:30. He was seen with a person next to a combi van at 2:45. And then they had other reports the day before of a person in a combi van asking strange questions. He asked a local where there was a beach that you could swim nude in and that was a bit disturbing. And then talk, two children, two lucky children told the police that they were. There was a person that they played together in the water and this person, this man invited them over to his combi van that they declined. So there's a sort of a picture building up and then there was a lady who didn't see anything but heard something. She was on the other side of the bridge, she had a two story house and she heard a commotion where Michael's things were found. She heard a barking of a dog and a van like vehicle drive away at a rapid pace. Anyway, later in 1989, 30 December 1989, a young boy from Port Malunga, not far from Hackam west, he had borrowed his friend's bike and was taking it for a ride. It's a little bit hilly so he's coming down this road at a Rapid pace, and almost hit this person, this man standing next to a combi van. He put his bike up against the deli. And the man across the road said, hey, can you help me, please? I've dropped my keys down this slot, I can't. He held up his hands. My hands are too big. Could you come and help me? And the boy looked a little bit. He remembered his mum telling him, you know, beware of strangers. And he was about to go into the deli, and this person, man said with a very loud voice, please come over here now. Come and help me. And he opened up the side door of a van for the boy to help. And within a second, this man had grabbed him, gagged him, tied his arms, went and got his bite and put that into the back of the van and drove off.

[Podcast Host]

In the book, by the way, you describe this attack not gratuitously, but terrifyingly. I mean, you really are good at taking us into the place of this child, how frightening this is. And also making the point that in those days, the stranger danger kind of rhetoric was, on one hand, we kids were told, never go with a stranger, but on the other hand, we're being told constantly to respect your elders, do what you're told, be, you know, be well behaved. And so those. Those things all come into play. And you can imagine a child really tossing up in the doorway of the deli. Do I ignore this guy? He's a stranger. But at the same time, I don't want to be naughty. I don't. I do like to do what I'm told.

[Michael Madigan]

And this person was a schoolteacher. He knew how to handle children.

[Podcast Host]

And the attack is. So it happens immediately. It begins immediately in the car. Oh, it's just awful. The sexual assault begins immediately in that car in daylight. And it's. It's extreme enough to really shock a child.

[Michael Madigan]

I would say, yes, the little boy was in shock. He was crying out for his mum and dad. This. Well, we'll call him who he is. He's Dieter Fenwick. Took the boy on a ride along the coast. They went up to a cliff where he took. Took the boy's bike out and placed it next to some bushes. He wiped down the bike as if he was, you know, meticulous in trying to wipe out any sort of fingerprints or whatever. And then he started to go around the different neighborhoods and he was waiting for darkness to take him home. Fennec had broken up with his wife and children, so he had a place.

[Podcast Host]

To himself by that stage.

[Michael Madigan]

He had the place to himself. And while he was waiting, he was trying to find out about the boy's sexuality. And we're talking about a young 13 year old boy. And he then started talking about a ransom. He, you know, he asked what his father does and the boy started crying and he said, oh look, I've got a accomplice and we're going to get $40,000 from your dad. This is all in Fennec's mind. He was living out a sort of a dream. Yeah, A scheme that he had in, in his mind. And so nighttime eventually came and he shoved this little boy into a sleeping bag, carried him inside, stripped him naked, tied him up to a chair and fed him boiled carrots, you know. So this little boy, this brave little boy, I don't know how he would have felt but he would have been absolutely beside himself. Then Fennec takes him into the bathroom and bathes him like a little baby, like some sort of ritual. And then he gives the boy an option of being tied up all night or taking four sleeping tablets. The boy thought about the tablets but he might not wake up. So he said, I'll be tied up. But the Fennec shoved down the tablets down his throat and in the morning again he tied him up on to a chair in the room. And because Fennec was a nicotine addict, he smoked profusely. So he went to get some cigarettes.

[Podcast Host]

Ran out of smokes, basically.

[Michael Madigan]

He ran out of smokes, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

But also, I mean by this stage, this 13 year old boy that we're talking about, who we have, we know is in shock, extreme shock and fear. It's interesting to me how his wits are still about him. You know, where he says, I decide I wanted the pills. But then I thought, no, I don't want the pills cause I might not wake up. Like that's a pretty sophisticated thought to have. The other thing is he noticed the address of the house written somewhere he could see somewhere when he was tied up. That's right, the address of the house that he was in. So then, not surprising, but also incredibly brave that when Fennec leaves him alone to go to the shop and get some smokes, he has a crack at escaping.

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah. So look, Fenwick, as you'll see in a photograph in the book, was pretty good with his hands and he knew how to do knots and he would have tied it as tight as he could. But this little boy had courage and had a will to live. He knew that Fennec is not going to back off. And so he Started to wriggle his little fingers in and out of the knots and getting nowhere, crying. But something moved in the knot which gave him hope. And he kept on digging his little fingers in and out and all of a sudden it came free. And so he undid his ankles, which were tied up and he went to the front door, but that was locked. Back door was locked. He saw the kitchen window and he climbed up on the sink, pulled aside the glass part of it and kicked in the screen, jumped out. There's a very high tin fence. He managed to get over. He's naked, mind you. And so when he's going over the fence, he cuts his body on the fence and his hands and goes to the neighbor. He knocks on the door, there's no answer. And the little boy is absolutely frightened that Fennec would come home and see him. But the door eventually opens and the neighbour wraps him in a rug and calls police. Fenwick eventually comes home. Police surround him. Fenwick decides just to light up a cigarette. And the police ask him, you know, we found this little boy in your home. What's your story? And he said, oh, it was just that I need someone to hug. And then the officer asked him, you know, what's your name? And Fennec said, mud. And that was probably the truest thing he's ever said.

[Podcast Host]

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[Michael Madigan]

So they took him into the Christie beach police station and this is all over the news. Not his name, but a schoolteacher had been found kidnapping a boy, which started up the next section of the unraveling of his ways.

[Podcast Host]

They were able to ascertain that he had had accusations levelled against him before about sexual assault of children. Right. No convictions, but some accusations.

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. And then one of his friends rang up and said that he'd told everyone that he was at. He saw Michael at Murray Bridge and had contact with Michael, talking with Michael. He actually lent Michael a fish Knife.

[Podcast Host]

Well, he placed himself at that scene with a number of people, didn't he? I think he told his wife when he saw it on the news, he said, oh, I saw that kid.

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. One Sunday morning, the Sunday after the abduction. He was having a smoke inside and he said to his wife, I saw this kid, you know, you think I should go to the police. But then he says, I don't want to be an ambulance chaser. So he didn't. But he went back to the place where Michael disappeared a number of times with his family. He camped there. He had an obsession for that area.

[Podcast Host]

He went canoeing past there with other friends. He took a number of people back to that site, didn't he?

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah. So you could see how he was enjoying. Who knows what a psychopath enjoys, but that's what they usually do. Either keep a memento or keep going back to where the crime was committed.

[Podcast Host]

What was the chain of events after that? We've got the young boy you call Robert, who has survived and been able to give police information leading to his arrest. So do they prosecute for that first? When do they make the connection?

[Michael Madigan]

Fenwick actually pleaded guilty, so there was no court case. So he pleaded guilty. And then the detectives said, there's a reasonable case of similar facts. Now, similar facts in court is very rare. Normally in a court case, your past history is never brought to the surface. It's only after you're convicted that the jurors know about your past. But the judge agreed with the prosecution that the case with young Robert, his abduction and sexual assault, could be brought up on the case of Michael Black. So they charged Fenwick with the murder of Michael Black, which was only about 12 months, well, not 11 months difference. And so they had a court case and FedEx actually took to the witness stand and tried to explain his actions. And yeah, look, I find his words gives you a great insight into what he was about. These people, they can mimic a normal person. They know all the things to say and how to say them. And he tried to come up with excuses why he wasn't the murderer, but in the end there was too much evidence. You know, the judge said, what are the chances that two child abductors was at Murray Bridge at the same time talking to Michael Blight? So he was found guilty and sentenced to 25 year prison sentence.

[Podcast Host]

Judge reflected the same thoughts that you and I have expressed a couple of times in the last hour that how many. Yeah, as the judge said, how many child abusers, child abductors, sex Offenders. Do you expect to be in one campsite on one day when a boy goes missing?

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah, and I always try to differentiate between pedophiles and people like Finnick. There are a lot of pedophiles that will abuse, but the amount of people that will go that next step is very, very rare. To take a step of killing is another beast in itself.

[Podcast Host]

Well, similarly, they say that most psychopaths aren't violent. So Fennig really is the perfect storm in the revolting way, isn't he? He really is a one off offender. There's not many offenders like that.

[Michael Madigan]

He's a sadist. Yeah. And they, they get great pleasure out of hurting people.

[Podcast Host]

And yet here he is posing as for so many years successfully, a schoolteacher, a husband, a father, a neighbour. That's what's chilling to me.

[Michael Madigan]

I've spoken to people who found him charming, good looking, got on well with women at school, he was a reasonable teacher. I spoke to his daughter Petra and she said he was a good dad. So they can disguise their hidden ugliness, evilness. They have two different lives.

[Podcast Host]

Petra is interesting too, because she is an incredible voice of. What's the word I'm looking for? Truth. Because on the one hand she is able to say, he was a good dad, we did all these nice things together. But on the other hand, she's not discounting any his guilt when she sees the evidence. She contributes to the evidence in some sense, doesn't she? She talks about things that made her think, wow, I think this did happen.

[Michael Madigan]

Oh, look, Petra is a wonderful woman, you know, to overcome. She had demons herself, but to overcome having a father like Dieter and to go to the court and give evidence against her father, incredible courage. Such a wonderful woman.

[Podcast Host]

The other people who gave evidence against her father at court included prisoners. So the detectives must have been absolutely chewing their nails about the idea that they'd already wrongly convicted one man of these. Well, of Louise Bell's murder, of the testimony of prisoners and now they're going again.

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah. So what happens next was after they got conviction for Fennec of Michael Black, they didn't have to be brain surgeons to connect it to Louise Bell because he lived 10 minutes away from Louise Bell. So they started to dig up his home backyard in 1992 or three found nothing. So the case went dormant until 2013. I remember the day because I had just been given permission to look into the Michael Black trial notes at the Supreme Court. And as I was walking into the Supreme Court, a news agency flyer said Fennec charged with murder off Louise Bell. This is back in 2013. And so it took another, what's another 20 years of looking at evidence, taking more statements. But what really undid Fenwick was the pajama top that he planted on the neighbors. So when he planted that top in 1983, DNA was never heard of. And, and he was a very smart man. He was proficient in chemistry and all sorts of sciences. So he, he knew about fingerprinting and everything. But yeah, DNA was just. Wasn't even known at the time. So in 2013 they charged him, they got a group of witnesses together. In 2016, the court case started, but the court case was dominated by the DNA. And I'll tell you what, I was at the court and it is so confusing hearing about DNA. But the prosecutor came out on day one, said it was a billion to one chance that it wasn't Dieter Fennick. That's how strong they believe the case was. The defense put up their case and it came down to a tiny piece of fluff. Fennec had obviously soaked it in the river and then came home and soaked it in normal tap water. But there was still a minute piece of DNA of his. And of course there was arguments about how that DNA got there. And because Petra, his daughter and Louise were friendly.

[Podcast Host]

This is where I go back to Louise leaving her bedroom of her own accord because she knew this family, right, not well, but she played basketball with Petra Fenig people. Petra's dad, Dieter Fenig, sometimes walked them home from school or something. Is that correct?

[Michael Madigan]

Exactly. Yes. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So again, if we go back to the obeying adults rhetoric that we grew up on, I can imagine, as weird as it is, waking up to a man, a dad, a teacher, a neighbour that you know out your window saying, come here, that you might as well. A 10 year old good girl.

[Michael Madigan]

Yes, I know, but it's a huge risk on his part.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Madigan]

It's so bizarre that it could happen. But he, look, he hasn't got powers, but he must have something that children obeyed.

[Podcast Host]

I think you're right. I think as a teacher he has, there's some kind of gravitas that teachers have that makes kids obey them and, and all of his crimes were risky or all that we know of. When you think about, you know, abducting a 13 year old boy, that's not a little kid, that's just in daylight. Yeah, in daylight, out the front of the local shop, abducting a boy at the fishing spot, school holidays, there's people potentially everywhere. Even if it seems quiet for a minute. Anyone could roll up at any time. So there's a massive element of risk to his crimes in general, isn't there?

[Michael Madigan]

That's right. When he went to get his cigarettes, he went back to the same deli.

[Podcast Host]

That he'd abducted the boy from.

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah. So he's. He. He loved playing games. So, yeah, he took risks and. And he got away with it. And. Until he didn't get away with it. And Lucky, you know, thankfully. Oh.

[Podcast Host]

Because he would have kept defending, I'm sure of that.

[Michael Madigan]

Ah, he was. Between Michael Black and the Nolunga boy, It was only 11 months. So if you think about it, he was getting more and more brazen.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, they were more frequent. Now, the question I have for you is, why do you include Eloise Worledge? This is a crime that happened in Melbourne. It happened six years before Louise Bell's abduction. There were those similarities of the crime scene. But do you really think. I mean, was he in Melbourne at that time?

[Michael Madigan]

What do you.

[Podcast Host]

What do you think? What are you getting at here?

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah, look, I have talked to Mrs. Well, Sandra Fenwick. She's not known as Fenwick anymore.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, his wife.

[Michael Madigan]

His wife.

[Podcast Host]

Ex wife.

[Michael Madigan]

And he traveled a lot, even without the family, and he had been to Melbourne. The tear in the screen was, you know, it was almost exact. Whether he was. Whether Fenwick actually copied the Melbourne abduction, I don't know. I just think that all these children went missing. None were ever discovered. I've always thought that he was somehow was involved with. With Eloise. And of course, I didn't mention. When Fennec was talking to the neighbor, he mispronounced Louise. He said, eloise is in trouble. Whether that again is another decoy, we will never know. But to me, that's. That's enough to at least put it in there. And of course, I don't think there's ever been a book about little Eloise.

[Podcast Host]

No, no, I don't think so.

[Michael Madigan]

And I thought, well, look, I write books for historical value. You know, 20 years time, someone might take up the. What I've written and extend it a little bit more or 10 years time. So once it's in print, it's, you know, it's forever.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, absolutely. It's a document, and it's an excellent document. So he never, ever assisted in finding the remains of these children, did he?

[Michael Madigan]

No. I talked to one of the leading detectives in the Louise Bell and the Michael Black case, and he used to visit Fenwick quite often just to ask one question. Can you tell us where the bodies are? The remains are. But Fennec denies that he's even guilty. So until he admits the guilt, although he has in jail admitted to other prisoners that he responsible. But I don't think he will ever give up where the bodies are. Petra was so nice and I was just in awe of her character. And I was just shocked how a monster could have such a wonderful child. I mean, I shouldn't be, but.

[Podcast Host]

Well, it's also shocking if we backtrack and take her word for it and that a monstrous child killer could also be a good father. Is that possible?

[Michael Madigan]

They can separate their evil and their daily routines, which. They know how to be a teacher, they know how to be a father, but really what they want is they want to be evil.

[Podcast Host]

Well, he reminded me through your book, you made me think about other famous cases from Rex Heuermann, who is currently stands accused of the Long island murders, similarly described by his children, by his wife as a great husband, a great father. Also, it reminded me of the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, whose daughter has spoken and written books about this incredible duality of living with a father who is a great father, a loving father, and then discovering he's a serial killer.

[Michael Madigan]

Exactly one thing I didn't mention, and I don't. Well, I don't think it's ever been reported. I put in the book that Dieter Fennec in 1973 was a schoolteacher, Adelaide High. And Kirsty Gordon, who went missing in 1973, one of the little girls who.

[Podcast Host]

Went missing from Adelaide Oval, her father.

[Michael Madigan]

Taught with Dieter Finnick.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Michael Madigan]

In the same sort of science area. And Dieter, I rang out Hadley High School, this is going back over a decade ago, and I asked them, any history on. But he actually was. He left on in 1973. And they didn't know whether he left by his own accord or whether he was sacked.

[Podcast Host]

So Fenig left that school in 73, the same year that Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirsty Gordon went missing.

[Michael Madigan]

He left before that. Yeah. And Fennec lived on Henley Beach Road, very close to the grandparents of Kirsty, who took her to the football. So I know it's a lot of.

[Podcast Host]

Supposition, perhaps, but again, as I say, I don't think there's no hysterical conspiracies in this book. You're just laying out the facts and saying, well, I mean, to me, I'm reading it thinking, that is incredible. That is incredible that this man had this proximity.

[Michael Madigan]

Yeah. Look, every time I talk about it. I sort of relive it as well. You know, it's because it's so sad. I lost my grandchild two years ago, and I know the sadness that I feel now. But, you know, you can imagine the sadness and destruction that these families have lived.

[Podcast Host]

It doesn't go away.

[Michael Madigan]

It doesn't go away. No. So, you know, people ask me, why do you write so depressing? But I still believe that there's a reason to at least acknowledge there's evil out there. And we have to be very protective of our children. Even in situations where we take children to different classes and dancing and whatever it is drama, we still have to be aware of who the people are who's dealing with my child.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you to our guest Michael Madigan. His book Father, Teacher, Child Killer is available now and we have a link in the show Notes to help you get your copy. If you need support after listening to this podcast, you can call Lifeline on 131114 or contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or 1-800-Respect.org au indigenous Australians can contact 13 YARN on 139276 or 13 yarn.org au.

[Michael Madigan]

The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present, and those emerging.