Relatives of two girls murdered on Wanda Beach in Sydney recall the unsolved case after 60 years

For Hans Schmidt, the sandy hills along Wanda Beach bring back painful memories.

For the past 60 years, he has visited this place only on rare occasions. It felt amazing every time.

“(Recently) we were two dunes from the beach and there was absolute silence. There was no sound of water. Nothing could be seen or heard,” Schmidt said.

It was January 11, 1965, when the lives of two West Ryde families were marked by unimaginable loss.

Although Mr. Schmidt and his siblings have lived since the murder of his sister, the presence of Marianne Schmidt is always missing.

“It would be nice if she was still around… She would be 75 now,” he thought.

An elderly man in a checkered shirt looks at the camera. In the background, a photographer showing him and Marianne. — Hans Schmidt was still a little boy when he lost his sister Marianne. (ABC News: Lucy Loram)

Marianne and Christine’s last day

Both neighbors and the same age, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock became fast friends.

Described as kind by her family, Marianne helped her mother care for her younger siblings after their father’s death.

Robyn Lewis, Christine’s cousin, described her as shy but sweet.

Having lost her father at the age of four, she lived with her grandmother and aunts.

“The last time I saw her… she just sat there silently all night, just sitting in a chair. She’s just a really nice, calm person,” Ms. Lewis said.

A photo of two young girls, both with dark hair, wearing white blouses and skirts, posing for a photo in front of a brick house. — Christine Sharrock and Marianne Schmidt were best friends. (Delivered by: Hans Schmidt)

On January 10, Marianne’s then-ill mother said that the girls could visit Wanda Beach, but their plans were thwarted by rainy weather.

At about 8 a.m. the next morning, Mr. Schmidt was cleaning the house with his older brother Helmut when his older sister Marianne and four younger siblings, Peter, Norbert, Trixie and Wolfgang, went with Christine to the beach.

When his siblings returned that evening without their older sister and her best friend, Mr. Schmidt felt that something was very wrong.

Two families in despair

The next day, the bodies of 15-year-old girls were discovered, partially buried in sand. The girls were brutally attacked.

Schmidt recalled the terrible injuries his sister suffered.

“To put it bluntly, he almost cut her head off. The photos showed the trachea,” he said.

The police called Mrs. Lewis’s uncle to identify Christine’s body.

“My uncle had to go to the mortuary and identify the body, and he said the only thing he recognized was her hair… It was very painful,” she said.

A month after Christine’s funeral, Mrs. Lewis’s father died of a heart attack.

He believes that the stress of losing his niece contributed to his death.

Middle-aged woman with short brown hair, wearing a read shirt, staring at the camera while sitting on a blue chair. — Robyn Lewis misses her cousin Christine. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)

A long investigation

Initially, Schmidt thought the investigation was promising.

“I think they did a damn good job,” he said.

Over 7,000 people were interviewed during the investigation.

In 2007, then Detective Inspector Ian Waterson was asked to review the Wanda Beach murders as part of the Cold Case Justice Project.

A glimmer of hope for the families came when the team began searching for DNA samples held by NSW Health.

They recovered multiple samples, including a bloodstain on Christine’s shorts, but ultimately determined that the samples were too damaged to test.

Photo of a vast beach with lots of dunes. — The dunes of Wanda Beach carry painful memories for Marianne and Christine’s loved ones. (Delivered by: Hans Schmidt)

The file also included a semen sample from Marianne’s swimsuit. However, after an extensive search, police confirmed that the sample was missing.

“We have been carefully reviewing the (DNA) slides over the years in the hope that we will be able to recover them. But unfortunately that didn’t happen,” said the now retired Mr. Waterson.

Pathetic bounty payout

At the time, people with information about the murders were offered a sum of £10,000 (about $20,000).

Adjusted for inflation, the prize would be valued at more than $320,000 today.

Even though the murder remains unsolved six decades later, the reward has never been increased.

“We’re dealing with one of the worst murders in the country… we’re still at $20,000. This is a small amount due to the lack of a raise,” Schmidt said.

Two small children, a boy and a girl, in Sunday clothes, pose for a black and white photo in front of the church. — Schmidt said he knew something was terribly wrong when his sister didn’t come home from the beach. (Delivered by: Hans Schmidt)

New South Wales Police said they were still offering a $20,000 reward for information.

In a statement, police said the awards were set by the Reward Assessment Advisory Committee, which recommends different payments based on a “structured evaluation process.”

Many people have been investigated in connection with the murders over the years.

Waterson said Christopher Wilder is a person of particular interest. The Australian-American was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Manly two years before the murders.

“Christopher Wilder stood out for the level of violence he could commit and the way he preyed on young girls,” Waterson said.

Photos of a detective in his sixties, sitting in a chair in an office, wearing a gray suit and red tie — Former Inspector Ian Waterson worked on the Wanda Beach murder investigation for years. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)

Wilder fled to the United States after being charged with additional crimes against children. He then murdered eight women before dying from gunshot wounds in a fight with police.

Another interesting person mentioned by Mr. Waterson was convicted child killer Derek Percy. He died in October 2013 and was found to have killed 12-year-old Yvonne Tuohy.

A year after his death, it was formally ruled that Percy had abducted and killed seven-year-old Linda Stillwell.

Hopes for a solution

Mrs Lewis hopes the police will bring closure to her cousin’s murder.

“As long as they find out who did it. Maybe they died, I don’t know, but just to get an answer to what happened,” she said.

Schmidt believes it is very unlikely that anyone will confess to the crime, but he hopes that a family member of the perpetrator will come forward.

New South Wales Police maintain the case remains open.