Finally, the secret William Tyrrell tapes emerge: Major development as cops reveal what they REALLY believe about missing boy’s foster mother – and her response
Tapes detailing a secret interrogation of William Tyrrell’s foster mother over the toddler’s disappearance and her possible cover-up and dumping of his body will be played in open court for the first time.
The foster mother was asked pointed questions about “what she did with William’s body” during questioning by the NSW Crime Commission, a secretive government body, in 2021.
Although a record of some of the questions asked of her during the four-hour hearing has previously been revealed at a court hearing, video of the session will be played today at the coroner’s inquest into William’s suspected death.
The missing boy’s foster parents were both previously accused of lying to the crime commission and were both acquitted by the court.
During the foster mother’s hearing on the charges, a series of questions were read to William’s foster mother during the hearing, including: “Did you find his body that day in the ferns and foliage under the porch?”
The foster mother – who can only be identified by the initials ‘SD’ for legal reasons – was also asked: ‘Have you found his body and do you realize that he has died and there is no point in calling the emergency services?’
Another question asked of SD was, βI want you to imagine what happened that day when William was walking around on that porch and fell over and it was no one’s fault.β
Each of the questions was accompanied by the foster mother’s steadfast denial that she had any knowledge of William Tyrrell’s disappearance in September 2014, or of his injury, disappearance and death.
William Tyrrell disappeared as a three-year-old and has not been seen since September 12, 2014, making the case Australia’s most notorious missing person case.
During the Crime Commission hearing, it had been suggested to the foster mother that she ‘may have dumped William’s body near a riding school’.
Counsel assisting the Crime Commission, Sophie Callan, asked the foster mother: “Did you take his body down (to the riding school in Kendall, on the NSW Mid North Coast)?”
SD replied: ‘No’.
William Tyrrell’s foster mother was questioned at the NSW Crime Commission over whether the three-year-old fell from the verandah of his grandmother’s house and his body disposed of in bushland.
According to his foster mother, William was playing on the porch of the Kendall home (above) before he disappeared
SD was then asked, βDid you decide to resolve the situation that was beyond repair?β and ‘you decided to resolve the situation and hide his body rather than let your (SD)’s mother… take responsibility’.
SD denied both statements submitted to it. They involved William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother, who owned the house from which he disappeared and has since died.
Mrs. Callan then told the foster mother that the SD found William’s body “and you put his body in your mother’s car, and that’s why you drove the car that day (to Kendall’s nearby riding school)?” ‘
Ms Callan then said: ‘To be clear, there is no suggestion that you injured him or caused his death, only that you moved his body.’
The foster mother denied Ms. Callen’s allegations: “No, I didn’t do that.”
The Crime Commission’s questioning of the foster mother came after she was stopped at the door by two detectives three years ago with a summons to appear before her.
The questioning of both foster parents about William’s case in 2021 came just before police renewed their efforts to find the missing boy’s remains.
Tyrrell’s foster mother was found not guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission after a hearing in which police alleged she falsely stated during her testimony that she had not hit a child – who is not William – with a wooden spoon.
Both foster parents (top, left and second right) were questioned by the secretive NSW CRime Commission and accused of lying, but later acquitted
William Tyrrell was playing at his foster grandmother’s house in Kendall (above) when he went missing in 2014 and no trace of him has ever been found
When Detective Inspector Andrew Lonergan served the summons to SD at her home to appear before the Crime Commission, another Detective Inspector Scott Jamieson told her: ‘We’re not here to bluff, let me tell you.
‘We don’t guess. We don’t bluff. We know how, we know why, we know where he is.β
Detective Lonergan told SD, “I can tell you something… it’s not personal, it’s about finding out what happened to William,” to which Det. Jamieson added: βMake a decision today for William and no one else. We know you’re a good person.’
Lonergan told SD, βWe know William was loved, deeply loved,β and SD responded, βI’m trying to breathe.β So you’re basically saying that you believe I hurt William.β
The inquest is currently investigating police’s theory that William Tyrell’s foster mother buried his body in bushland after he fell from a balcony and died the morning he disappeared.
Counsel assisting the inquest, Gerard Craddock SC, told the inquest when it reopened on Monday that the police theory was that ‘William must have died [his foster grandmother’s home at] 48 Benaroon Drive [in Kendall].
“The theory…that the police assert is that they must have quickly come to the conclusion that if William’s accidental death was discovered, she could lose ‘Lindsay’.”
Lindsay β not her real name, which cannot be revealed for legal reasons β was another foster child in the care of the foster mother at the time, who also cannot be named.
‘The police claim that in that state of mind, [the foster mother] put William in her mother’s car,” Mr Craddock said.
‘After warning [a neighbour] until the disappearance of William, [she] drove her mother’s car to Batar Creek Road and placed William’s body somewhere in the brush.”
The inquest into the toddler’s disappearance is entering its final stages and will be completed before Christmas
Mr Craddock has said the area around Batar Creek Road was extensively searched by police, who did not believe any trace of William remained there.
He also said the search for William following his disappearance β involving police, fire brigades, cadaver dogs, chainsaws and hydraulic equipment β ββmeant the little boy was not simply lost in the search area.
“William could not travel outside the area of ββthe intensive search under his own power,” he said.
‘The conclusion that there must have been human intervention.
βIt is undisputed that no eyewitness can provide an account of how he left the confines of 48 Benaroon Drive.β
The inquest, which began in 2019 but has been plagued by lengthy delays, has now entered its final block of hearings and will be held this week and in the week before Christmas.
William’s disappearance has become one of Australia’s most notorious missing persons cases.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame – which investigated William’s disappearance and suspected death – was postponed last year as prosecutors weighed charges against the boy’s foster mother.
Police presented a brief to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that William’s foster mother be charged with perverting the course of justice and disturbing a corpse.
William’s foster father was also cleared of five charges of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.
The couple has denied any wrongdoing or the disposal of his corpse.