Saturday, July 16, 2011

Time to send in army, urges grieving father PATRICK BILLINGS 16 Jul, 2011 04:00 AM

Time to send in army, urges grieving father
PATRICK BILLINGS
16 Jul, 2011 04:00 AM
The army should be brought in to capture suspected double murderer Dubbo’s Malcolm Naden, reported to be hiding in dense scrub in the state’s northeast.

That’s the call from Mick Peet whose daughter Lateesha Nolan, Naden’s cousin, went missing in 2005 from Dubbo and has not been seen since.

Naden, 37, a former abattoir worker, is wanted in connection to then 24-year-old mother’s disappearance.

Police also want Naden in relation to the murder of Kristy Scholes who was discovered strangled in his bedroom about six months after Lateesha vanished.

Also a 24-year-old mother, Kristy had been going out with Naden’s cousin when she was killed.

Mr Peet keeps a vigil-like presence on the internet in the hope of finding information about Naden’s whereabouts.

He is circumspect about the search being put in for one NSW’s most wanted fugitives.

Naden’s listing on the NSW Police website under “most wanted” comes with few details - his birth date, what he his wanted for and the reward (doubled to $100,000 in February) on offer for his capture.

There is no mention of where he his from, where he was last seen and on what date. Even the photo of Naden is outdated and unlikely to match his current appearance Mr Peet said.

“I’m thinking if it was one of the politicians’ daughters would it be the same?” he said.

“I’ve spent six years in limbo.”

Six years ago a reported sighting of Naden in Taronga Western Plains Zoo saw 60 police and a helicopter descend on facility but Naden evaded authorities.

Four years later, with sightings in between, police reportedly found his fingerprints in the one cop town of Bellbrook 50kms west of Kempsey.

Last year reports came through that Naden might be hiding in the rugged Barrington Tops, part of the Hunter Valley.

So dense is bushland in the Barrington Tops that the wreckage of a Cessna aircraft, which crashed there in 1981, has never been found.

“They’ll never find him unless they bring in somebody to help, he’s too cunning,” Mr Peet said“If you can hide in suburbia (without being caught) it makes it real easy in the scrub.

“I can’t stop thinking about how the army could be brought in.”

The hunt for Naden was given a political bump last year when the then opposition police spokesman Mike Gallagher raised it in parliament.

Mr Gallagher was also reported as saying the reward money for Naden should be increased to $200,000 and berated the then police minister Michael Daley for failing to bring Naden in.

Mr Peet said he had not heard from Mr Gallagher since he became police minister earlier in the year after the Coalition took office.

However Mr Peet dismisses suggestions that Naden’s capture was a just a head line grabber for Mr Gallagher while in opposition.

“I don’t want to believe that. I’m hoping he’ll keep his word and keep on the job,” Mr Peet said.

Earlier in the week it was reported that fresh finger print matches of Naden were found at break-ins near Kempsey.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Fingerprints latest clue in search for Malcolm Naden

Fingerprints latest clue in search for Malcolm Naden
12 Jul, 2011 04:00 AM
Suspected double murderer Malcolm Naden has police on high alert after fresh fingerprint matches were made.

Naden, from Dubbo, is wanted in relation to his cousin Lateesha Nolan’s disappearance in 2005 and the murder of Kristy Scholes about six months later.

He is also wanted on indecent assault charges. Naden is believed to be hiding along a long strip of remote bushland, hopping between well-hidden campsites, and breaking in to up to 20 homes, the Newcastle Herald reported. Police are on high alert for any reports of break-ins at remote properties from Barrington Tops to Kempsey.

The latest break-ins linked to Naden occurred west of Kempsey in April.

It follows the Newcastle Herald revealing last year that Naden, an expert bushman and former Dubbo abattoir worker, was responsible for more than 20 burglaries of remote farmhouses east and north of the Barrington Tops.

Police remain nervous about Naden’s movements through the Hunter, with four patrol cars racing to a remote property at Wards River, near Gloucester, on Thursday after a resident suspected someone was in his roof.

The resident had returned home to find a manhole open and raised the alarm.

According to the Herald, senior police have publicly suppressed all new leads on Naden with the homicide squad failing in numerous attempts to hunt down the fugitive since he evaded capture near Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo in 2005.

Earlier this year the reward for information leading to the capture of Naden, one of the state’s most wanted outlaws, was doubled to $100,000.
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Monday, July 11, 2011

Fingerprints match fugitive

Fingerprints match fugitive
BY DAN PROUDMAN CHIEF POLICE REPORTER
11 Jul, 2011 04:00 AM
Fresh fingerprint matches of fugitive Malcolm Naden has placed police on high alert for any reports of break-ins at remote properties from the Barrington Tops to Kempsey.

The state’s most wanted man is believed to be hiding along a long strip of remote bushland, hopping between well-hidden campsites to avoid questioning over the suspected murders of two women in Dubbo more than six years ago.

The latest break-ins linked to Naden occurred west of Kempsey in April.

It follows the Newcastle Herald revealing last year that Naden, an expert bushman and former abattoir worker, was responsible for more than 20 burglaries of remote farmhouses east and north of the Barrington Tops.

But senior police have ordered that all new leads on Naden be kept from the public, with the homicide squad failing in numerous attempts to hunt down the fugitive since he evaded capture near Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo in 2005.

Police remain nervous about Naden’s movements through the Hunter, with four patrol cars racing to a remote property at Wards River, near Gloucester, on Thursday after a resident suspected someone was in his roof.

The resident had returned home to find a manhole open and raised the alarm.

Police did not find anything, but the fact that four cars travelled more than an hour to get to the scene suggests how important senior police regard his arrest.

Naden is suspected of being involved in the disappearance of his cousin Lateesha Nolan in early 2005, and the murder of Kristy Scholes about six months later.