Latest news with #DearRachelle
Courier-Mail
16-05-2025
- Courier-Mail
Chief suspect in Rachelle Childs' case was once arrested allegedly mid-rape of another woman
Don't miss out on the headlines from Dear Rachelle. Followed categories will be added to My News. A police officer has revealed how he arrested the chief suspect in Rachelle Childs' murder for a separate offence – with his 'pants down', allegedly mid-rape. Wayne Neilson told the Dear Rachelle investigation he is still shocked by Kevin Steven Correll telling him the alleged victim 'deserved it', as she was a 'moll'. Mr Correll went on to beat the charge. It is one of four sexual assaults he was accused and acquitted of in the 80s – but the incident has stayed with Mr Neilson as it was rare to have 'arrested them basically in the act.' Rachelle Childs was killed in Gerroa, sotuh of Sydney and her murderer is still on the loose. The retired NSW police officer was on night shift patrol in Liverpool, south-west Sydney, in May 1983 when he heard 'very loud screaming' coming from a parked car. He and his patrol colleague jumped out of their car and were confronted by a young woman running up the road in distress, holding her dress against her body because the straps had fallen down. Retired NSW Police Officer Wayne Neilson. Picture: Sam Ruttyn When the alleged rapist exited the vehicle, his pants fell down. That same man identified himself to police as Kevin Cornwall, who later changed his name to Kevin Correll and became a suspect in the 2001 death of 23-year-old Rachelle, his former employee. He has always denied any involvement in Rachelle's case – and has never been charged with her murder. She was set on fire and left to rot in the bush more than two decades ago, but police botched the investigation so badly that no one was ever charged. Kevin Steven Correll was the chief suspect in the death of Rachelle Childs, whose body was found in bushland. When Childs' scorched, half-naked body was uncovered along a lonely stretch of highway in the early hours of June 8, 2001, it was one of the biggest crimes to rock the sleepy town of Gerroa, south of Sydney. LISTEN TO DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES AT The podcast team at News Corp are now working with Rachelle's family and ex-detectives to re-investigate the case and uncover long-forgotten evidence. So far, the podcast has had more than 1.3 million downloads and captivated international audiences, dominating the charts on Spotify and Apple. Rachelle Childs (right), with her sister Kristy. Mr Correll was Rachelle's boss selling used cars at Camden Holden when she died. He was voluntarily questioned by police over Rachelle's death on three separate occasions. His alibi was that he had driven Camden to Campbelltown on June 7, before going to his partner's house in Picton to find she wasn't home. He then drove 10 minutes to Tahmoor where he ordered a bag of chips, a piece of fish, a battered sav and a coke. No one was able to corroborate his alibi. A coronial inquest into Rachelle's death in 2006 failed to identify her killer, and delivered an open finding, but ex-detectives working with the podcast have described the case as 'solvable'. As the podcast investigation unfolds, some of Mr Correll's friends, ex-girlfriends, colleagues and family members have come forward, shedding new light on the man they knew and who is the main suspect in Rachelle's murder. For more information about our investigation, including early access to new episodes and case files, visit If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group.
Herald Sun
12-05-2025
- Herald Sun
Erin Patterson trial: Covering the trial
The Mushroom Cook team outlines the job of reporting on the trial. The Mushroom Cook team is Brooke Grebert-Craig, Laura Placella, Anthony Dowsley, Jordy Atkinson and Jonty Burton. Our intern is Jasmine Geddes. Go to for news, features, previous episodes and more. Subscribers get our bonus Sunday shows with crime reporter Anthony Dowsley. CrimeX subscribers: find this episode in your podcast feed Subscribers to the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser or News regional titles can listen through the App. You might like Dear Rachelle is hosted and investigated by journalist Ashlea Hansen, who teams up with retired detective and renowned cold case specialist Damian Loone. A podcast following the global drug business built from cocaine, murders and millions Follow the journalists and investigators piecing together the puzzle of how three people died after sitting down to share a meal in the small Australian town of Leongatha. Why do people start cults? Why do people join them? And most importantly - how do they escape? For the last few months, three journalists have been hearing the harrowing stories of cult survivors, and have uncovered a secret and controlling cult currently operating across Australia with communes in NSW and QLD.
Herald Sun
09-05-2025
- Herald Sun
Dear Rachelle podcast: Ex-wife of key suspect in Rachelle's murder breaks silence
'Elise' still feels the chill of the words delivered 30 years ago. She was driving past Warilla Beach, south of Sydney, with her husband at the time, Kevin Steven Correll. 'He threatened to, if I ever left him, he would hunt me down and find me,' she said. 'He would cut me up in little pieces, bury me on the beach in individual spots, (and) cover me in lime so nobody could smell that there were body parts …' In an emotional interview, 'Elise' talks about death threats and domestic violence. Because she is a mother and sister, Elise has agreed to break her silence to describe fears that developed over a 11-year marriage to the man who would go on to become the prime suspect in the 2001 killing of Rachelle Childs. She told the Dear Rachelle podcast she left the country to escape him, fretting for her safety. LISTEN TO EPISODES 1-9 OF THE PODCAST BELOW: In a separate exchange, also in the mid 1990s, the then couple was driving through Gerroa, south of Sydney, when Elise commented on the beauty of the beach spot. He said, 'yeah, look at that bush there',' she said. 'He said 'that would be a good place to bury somebody, just make sure you behave yourself'.' Rachelle was found, on fire, in bushland off the road's edge at Gerroa on June 8, 2001. She was Mr Correll's sales employee at Camden Holden, and he was one of the last people to see her alive. He denies any involvement in Rachelle's death. When asked four questions about whether he had been abusive towards Elise and ever threatened to kill her, he said: 'I vehemently deny these allegations and the answer is NO to all 4 questions.' Elise was married to Mr Correll until 1997. Elise was a young wife when she went on national current affairs television to defend her husband after he had been charged with – and acquitted of – four sexual assaults in Sydney in the early 1980s. She believed Mr Correll's version of events at the time, in the beginnings of a relationship marked by 'coercive control' and grandiose gestures of love. Yet her view of the attacks shifted. She came to think: 'How come you're the common denominator in all this, everybody else can't be lying, why is everyone after you, why are they trying to get you … it can't have been a case of mistaken identity for every single one.' Elise described Mr Correll as 'wonderful' when they started dating and that he 'swept her off her feet'. Even after 10 years of marriage, he wrote a card suggesting they 'drop everything and celebrate'. However, over time she realised that Mr Correll's mood could turn, she said, like 'an angel turning black'. 'It's like he's got a dark passenger or something living inside him and the switch clicks and the dark passenger takes over,' she said. 'It's scary to watch it actually, to see when that happens because … his face changes, it contorts. It's not his face.' She recalled times when he hit her. After the pair went out for dinner with her sister, she went to sleep in a child's bedroom. Mr Correll had been giving her 'filthy looks' – apparently she'd said or done something to upset him. 'And he came in and he just pushed me back on the bed and he was like punching into me while I was on the bed,' she said. 'My sister knew that something was going to happen so she came up and knocked on the front door and that's the reason he stopped.' Another time, he was driving: 'He had a ring on, and I think it was a black stone, might've been onyx or something like that. And he punched me and it left a mark behind my ear for about a week. ' After a big fight, Mr Correll wouldn't speak to Elise for weeks, not a word, until she apologised. She likened Mr Correll's behaviour to exercises in 'suffering'. Twice she visited Mr Correll at car yards where he worked, to find him eating lunch with a young female employee or job applicant. Both times, she felt like she was interrupting her husband's flirting with the women, and left 'horrified' and 'shocked'. She said Mr Correll bought her first mobile phone so that he always knew where she was. He controlled the finances, she said, and told her how to wear her hair. He was 'very, very jealous'. They first met at a club where Mr Correll was a DJ. He swept the young mother 'off my feet'. She thought he was 'absolutely wonderful', as did her young children. 'He had them totally fooled as well,' she said. 'Then he showed his true colours there as well and I will never forgive him. He put a wedge between my kids and I that took a long time to mend.' LISTEN TO PODCAST BONUS INVESTIGATION UPDATE 2 BELOW: Elise met Mr Correll's family, whom she described as 'a very strange group of people'. He was one of 13 children; his brother Raymond came to be one of Australia's most reviled rapists. Elise tried to forget Mr Correll. But she had thought often over the years about Rachelle and her family. 'That poor girl, her parents, especially her mum, her sister,' she said. 'I'm a sister, I'm a mother, and if that had happened to someone I loved, I would want someone like me to come forward.' For more information about our investigation, visit If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group. Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: Ex-wife's chilling details of key suspect in Rachelle Childs' murder
Herald Sun
05-05-2025
- Herald Sun
Erin Patterson Trial: Facebook friends take the stand
Several of Erin Patterson's online friends took to the stand and detailed her 'love' of mushrooms and her reputation as an internet sleuth. For coverage, subscriber episodes and more, go to Mushroom Cook team is Brooke Grebert-Craig, Laura Placella, Anthony Dowsley, Jordy Atkinson and Jonty Burton. Our intern is Jasmine Geddes You might like Dear Rachelle is hosted and investigated by journalist Ashlea Hansen, who teams up with retired detective and renowned cold case specialist Damian Loone. A podcast following the global drug business built from cocaine, murders and millions Follow the journalists and investigators piecing together the puzzle of how three people died after sitting down to share a meal in the small Australian town of Leongatha. Why do people start cults? Why do people join them? And most importantly - how do they escape? For the last few months, three journalists have been hearing the harrowing stories of cult survivors, and have uncovered a secret and controlling cult currently operating across Australia with communes in NSW and QLD.
Mercury
03-05-2025
- Mercury
Murder of Rachelle Childs: Kristy & Ashlea Pt.1
Rachelle Childs was brutally murdered 24 years ago. The young woman was found burning in the bush, partially undressed. Her killer is still on the loose. In a new podcast series called Dear Rachelle, her sister Kristy joins investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen to find answers to this unsolved crime. Can't get enough of I Catch Killers? Stay up to date on all the latest crime news at The Daily Telegraph. Get episodes of I Catch Killers a week early and ad-free, as well as bonus content, by subscribing to Crime X+ today. Like the show? Get more at Advertising enquiries: newspodcastssold@ Questions for Gary: icatchkillers@ Get in touch with the show by joining our Facebook group, and visiting us on Instagram or Tiktok.
