NSW: Police baffled by gay death and disappearance

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2001
NSW: Police baffled by gay death and disappearance

By Sharon Labi

SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - John Russell was in a celebratory mood as he soaked up the view
of Australia's most famous beach and drank with friends following news he had a big inheritance
coming his way.

So when his body was discovered at the base of a cliff the next morning, back in November
1989, police ruled out suicide as the cause of death.

The suspected murder of Mr Russell, 31, and the mysterious disappearance four months
earlier of 25-year-old Wollongong television newsreader Ross Warren has baffled police
for the best part of 12 years.

Today, investigators reopened the case, drawing links between the two incidents, both
of which occurred near Marks Park in the Sydney seaside suburb of Tamarama.

Both men were gay and it's believed they may have been targeted in gay hate crimes.

Mr Warren's body has never been found although his car was found near Marks Park and
his keys were found on a rock shelf below the Tamarama Reserve.

With technological developments over the past decade, police are hoping to close the
chapter on their 12-year investigation with forensic tests of hair strands.

Hair found in Mr Russell's hand will now be DNA-tested.

"The hair is a crucial factor to the investigators currently and they believe it could
well identify the offender," Rose Bay Detective Inspector Terry Dalton told reporters
today.

Police did not reveal whether Mr Russell's bank accounts were accessed following his
death or the sum of inheritance.

"Earlier that night, before (his body was discovered), John Russell had been seen at
a Bondi hotel, he was in good spirits having just learnt he was the recipient of quite
a large inheritance," Det Insp Dalton said.

"So the police involved in this investigation have disregarded suicide as a motive
for his death."

A weighted dummy dressed in clothes similar to what Mr Russell was wearing the last
night he was seen alive, was today dropped from the Tamarama cliff top to simulate his
death.

Police then assessed the angle at which the dummy landed.

Police said there may have been unreported attacks against gays in the area.

"We suspect there may have been other attacks against members of the gay community
near Marks Park that weren't reported by the victims due to fears of sexual prejudice
or ostracism," NSW Police gay/lesbian consultant Sue Thompson said.

Police were "looking at a number of people" but appealed particularly to the gay community
for anyone with information to contact them.

AAP sal/cdh/pw/bwl

KEYWORD: INHERITANCE

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