Coroner in Australia examines Joanne Butterfield’s disappearance — ABC News Australia
Coroner Stephanie Williams in Queensland, Australia, is examining the circumstances of the disappearance of Joanne Butterfield, who went missing in the town of Mossman in June 1998. The inquest is determining whether the woman died and assessing the adequacy of the police investigation into her disappearance, ABC News Australia reports.
Before her disappearance, Butterfield told friends and acquaintances that her children might be better off if she left Mossman. At the same time, she got a job at a local supermarket that month, while at the beginning of 1998 mental health services considered her condition sufficiently improved to recommend closing her case.
Testimony from taxi drivers
Taxi operator Colleen Brischetto said that during the two months before Butterfield’s disappearance, she saw Butterfield arguing several times with local resident Concetto Tati near the taxi rank. According to her, Tati once asked to be taken to Mossman Gorge because he was looking for Butterfield, and became angry when he was advised to leave the woman alone.
Driver David Arduino said he repeatedly gave Butterfield and Tati rides together from the Mossman Hotel and heard them arguing in the vehicle. He also recalled a trip when Tati was alone, carrying a sports bag, and asked to travel along a rural road near Michael O'Donoghue’s residence. Arduino could not remember whether that trip took place before or after Butterfield’s disappearance.
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Tati told the coronial inquest that he remembered only one meeting with Butterfield, knew nothing about her disappearance and was not involved in it. O'Donoghue also denied involvement or knowledge in the case. Bartender Natalie Cavanagh said that after Butterfield disappeared, both men stopped coming to the Mossman Hotel.
Personal belongings found
Butterfield’s clothing, toothbrush, toothpaste and handbag containing her passport and other documents were found near a lookout and a sugar cane railway near South Johnstone, about 160 kilometres from where she was last seen. The handbag also contained a recently updated résumé. Some of the woman’s other belongings, including her Medicare card and bank card, were mailed to her daughter at school.
Former Queensland Police search and rescue coordinator Jim Whitehead, who researched the concealment of murder victims’ bodies, said the circumstances did not match the typical pattern of suicide. In his view, if Butterfield had taken her own life, her body could have been found. Hearings in the case are due to continue next week.
