A coroner has discovered that a Tasmanian woman who disappeared more than 40 years ago was killed by her ex-partner.
Key points:
- Darlene Geertsema, a mother of six, was last seen in Devonport in October 1978
- His former partner, John Shepherd, has previously been named as a person of interest
- A Launceston forensic court has heard that there was an argument between Shepherd and Geertsema the night he disappeared.
Darlene Avis Geertsema, 30, was last seen at the Devonport family home in October 1978.
Coroners Court previously learned that his ex-partner, John Shepherd, was a person interested in his disappearance. However, no charges have been filed.
Today, coroner Simon Cooper found that Mrs. Geertsema died as a result of the injuries inflicted by Mr. Shepherd.
However, it is not known where he died or where his body is.
Tasmanian police have confirmed that they are “aware of the findings made by the coroner today” and say they will review them.
Cooper made no recommendations, but offered his condolences to all those who “met and loved Darlene Geertsema.”
“Especially to her six children who grew up without a mother and didn’t know what happened to her,” she said.
Cooper also said he was grateful that much had changed since 1978, “in terms of the treatment of violence against women in our society.”
“It has also changed a lot in relation to the way searches for missing persons are conducted in the modern era,” he said.
“In saying this, I do not want to be considered a critic of the police officers involved in the original investigation.
“The investigation carried out in 1978 after Ms Geertsema ‘s disappearance was reported by Mr Shepherd and was fully consistent with the rules, practices and procedures in force at the time.
“It’s just that these standards, practices and procedures have changed dramatically in the last 45 years or so.”
Out of court, Mrs. Geertsema’s sister-in-law, Lynne Styles, said she felt “a little emotional.”
“It’s okay that something has been done, so to speak,” he said.
“It’s been a long time”.
Ms Styles said she hoped justice would be done for Geertsema someday, “for the sake of her children.”
And while the family would like to be charged, he admitted that there was probably “not enough evidence.”
John Shepherd leaves the investigation of Darlene Avis Geertsema in northern Tasmania, October 14, 2021. (ABC News: Manika Champ)
In last year’s coronary investigation, Mr. Shepherd told Coroners Court that the last time he saw Ms. Geertsema he was going to visit a friend who had been ill and did not return home.
The court learned that Mr Shepherd spent the next day driving around searching for Mrs Geertsema’s car, reported her missing to police and was “very upset”.
“I was not involved in his death, but I knew something had happened to him because he had left the children with me,” Mr Shepherd said at the time.
“It simply came to our notice then [the children] like this.”
The lawyer who attended the coroner, Madeleine Wilson SC, told Mr. Shepherd who was “the last person to see Darlene Geertsema alive and the first person to see her dead,” which she denied.
Ms. Wilson suggested that Geertsema planned to end the relationship and leave the state with the children.
The court was told that on the night of her disappearance, Ms Geertsema told Mr Shepherd that she was pregnant.
Mrs. Wilson suggested that Mr. Shepherd was worried because he knew he was not the child’s father to be born, as he was in a relationship with another man at the time.
The forensic court then learned that the night Ms. Geertsema disappeared, one of her daughters had reported a heated argument between Shepherd and her mother.
That argument was then “followed by sudden sounds, followed by silence,” Ms. Wilson said.
Ms Wilson told the court that Geertsema was planning a life without Mr Shepherd, without “fear and violence”.
“She didn’t choose to go; her life ended for her,” Ms. Wilson told the court.
He alleged that Mr Shepherd “struck him to death” before putting his body in the trunk of a car.
Domestic violence allegations
Darlene Geertsema’s younger sister Dawn Bishop told the court via a video link that Mr Shepherd was “possessive, jealous and dominant”, and that he believed it was his attitude that Mrs Geertsema “belonged to him”.
But a lawyer for an interested person, Greg Richardson, told Ms. Bishop that her sister sometimes told the family deliberate lies.
She said Ms Geertsema told the family she had cancer in the months leading up to her disappearance.
The court learned that it was not known whether Ms. Geertsema had cancer or not.
Ms Bishop said her sister “used to tell her a lot, but especially when she was little”.
As evidence of the investigation, Mr. Shepherd’s ex-wife, Wendy Shepherd, told the court that there was “domestic violence” in their relationship and that “John would hit me.”
“He would push me, hit me, yell at me,” he said.
In his trial, Mr Shepherd said he had beaten Mrs Shepherd about three times because she was told she had sex with other men.
“I belted him … a couple of times in the face,” he said.
Coroners Court also heard evidence from Mr Shepherd’s current 39-year-old wife, Marlene Shepherd, who said her husband had pushed and pushed her in the past.
Posted 5 hours, 5 hours ago, Friday, June 10, 2022 at 4:52 AM, last updated 3 hours, 3 hours ago, Friday, June 10, 2022 at 6:43 AM