Monday, August 10, 2009

Family’s questions need answering


Family’s questions need answering

27/06/2009 4:00:00 AM
Four years on from the death of Kristy Scholes-Walker in Dubbo her family still has unanswered questions about her final hours.

The 24-year-old was found dead behind a locked door of a family member’s home, her young children discovered in another part of the house.

Her murder came six months after the mysterious disappearance of another family member, Lateesha Nolan.

Today the Scholes-Walker families feel only the main suspect, missing man Malcolm Naden, can answer their haunting questions.

Police have warrants in place for his arrest in both the Scholes and Nolan homicides.

There is a $50,000 reward in place that was released by the Minister for Police on January 3, 2007 in the terms ‘Information leading to the arrest of Malcolm Naden’.

These terms are broad and rewards of this nature are few and far between, Orana crime manager Detective Inspector Rod Blackman said.

In four years of grieving, Kristy’s children, Libby and John, were the strength that kept them going, Kristy’s mother-in-law Margaret Walker revealed.

Kristy disappeared while housesitting while partner Reg and other family members were away from Dubbo.

She was later found dead in the room Malcolm Naden, her partner’s cousin, lived in at his grandmother’s.

The family was told at first Kristy had committed suicide but later declared her death suspicious and the search for Malcolm Naden continues.

“We never believed it was suicide,” Mrs Walker said.

“Malcolm would have the full story. We don’t have a full story, we’d like that.”

While the family “didn’t know if Malcolm was in the house or not” they “never expected anything like this to happen”.

“We didn’t know that he was dangerous, capable of murder,” Mrs Walker said.

Mrs Walker has treasured memories of Kristy, who she’d known for about seven years.

“She was a quiet girl who liked going out with her friends,” she said.

“She loved Take 5 magazines and a coffee, she was always on her phone.

“The Newcastle Knights were her football team.”

Tragically Kristy’s own mother had died when she was young.

“She wanted to be around for her children,” Mrs Walker said.

Her children, Libby and John, aged 9 and 7 this year, are growing up fast.

“They’re mostly happy. They know where (their mother) is, we told them she’s in heaven,” Mrs Walker said.

With their father Reg they moved to Kempsey to be closer to Kristy’s family, but are now back in Dubbo.

“They go to visit the grave when they go to Kempsey,” Mrs Walker said.

Libby and John are both getting on well at school and Reg’s life had gone forward, Mrs Walker said.

“Libby is a good little reader, her mother was a good reader,” she said.

“I take it one day at a time.”

Detective Inspector Rod Blackman said yesterday that as of November 2008 Malcolm Naden was hiding in bushland in the hills behind the Kempsey region.

Tragically Kristy’s own mother had died when she was young.

“She wanted to be around for her children,” Mrs Walker said.

Her children, Libby and John, aged 9 and 7 this year, are growing up fast.

“They’re mostly happy. They know where (their mother) is, we told them she’s in heaven,” Mrs Walker said.

With their father Reg they moved to Kempsey to be closer to Kristy’s family, but are now back in Dubbo.

“They go to visit the grave when they go to Kempsey,” Mrs Walker said.

Libby and John are both getting on well at school and Reg’s life had gone forward, Mrs Walker said.

“Libby is a good little reader, her mother was a good reader,” she said.

“I take it one day at a time.”

Detective Inspector Rod Blackman said yesterday that as of November 2008 Malcolm Naden was hiding in bushland in the hills behind the Kempsey region.

faye.wheeler@ruralpress.com

John,7 and Libby,9 Scholes-Walker with grandmother Margaret Walker.

No comments: