Killer says recurring dream could reveal body location
Laine Clark |
More than 30 years after killing a toddler, John William Bennett claimed he was having recurring dreams about where he might have dumped the body.
The convicted murderer initially told authorities he disposed of three-year-old Kelly Anne Jones in a bag at a rubbish dump west of Brisbane in 1989.
The toddler had been visiting her aunt in Toowoomba for the Carnival of Flowers when Bennett took her.
The child’s body was never found despite extensive searches involving hundreds of volunteers.
Serving a life sentence, Bennett, 71, is a “No Body, No Parole” prisoner.
In 1989 Bennett claimed he could not give an exact location for the body because his memory was poor and he was heavily intoxicated when he killed the child.
But in 2020, Bennett revealed he was having dreams that could be improving his memory, a Brisbane parole hearing was told on Friday.
Detective Inspector Chris Knight said he had no idea what to expect after receiving a “fairly bland” Corrective Services email three years ago advising him Bennett wanted to talk.
When he arrived at the prison, Bennett told him he kept having dreams about the body being at Ma Ma Creek and he would “like to get it cleared up”.
Ma Ma Creek is about 100km from the areas north of Toowoomba that were searched in 1989.
“He certainly said from the outset that he had …these dreams … and led to him reaching out,” Det Insp Knight told the hearing.
Bennett did his best to describe where the body might be located in the Ma Ma Creek area, Det Insp Knight said.
The convicted murderer also provided new details including the toddler was left in a container and wrapped in a blanket before cutting off the interview after 16 minutes, the hearing was told.
Months later Bennett was shown a 1988 satellite image of the Ma Ma Creek area but couldn’t identify any features, effectively ending the fresh investigation.
Det Insp Knight said he was confident Bennett was familiar with the Ma Ma Creek region.
But he concluded the description Bennett gave was vague and not supported by the satellite image.
“I wasn’t satisfied that the version given about what happened at Ma Ma Creek by his claim could be advanced,” said Det Insp Knight, who prepared a report to the parole board.
In the end, he did not consider the information Bennett had provided in 1989 or the “dream version” significant or useful.
Kelly Anne Jones’ mother Caroline Jones urged authorities not to give up.
“There has to be more,” she said outside court on Friday.
“They can’t stop and have to keep going until we find her body and answers.”
Det Insp Knight said Bennett told him he was not interested in parole and was surprised when he did apply in August last year.
Wheelchair-bound Bennett’s health is declining after 34 years in jail.
He is asking the parole board to consider his exceptional circumstances application on medical grounds.
The board must be satisfied Bennett has sufficiently co-operated to identify the body’s location before it can consider his application.
It will assess the application after Bennett reviews counsel assisting Sally Robb’s written submissions in the next six weeks.
“I might need a hand. I can’t read and write,” Bennett told the board via video link.
Told legal services would assist, Bennett said “thank you – have a good day”.
Hundreds have signed a change.org petition protesting the parole application.
“I don’t want him released until we get our answers and we find her body,” Caroline Jones said.
“It’s the not knowing that’s hard to go through.”
AAP
