Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan

Bruce Burrell killed for money. In 1995 grandmother Dorothy Davis left home in Lurline Bay to visit Burrell’s home. She was never seen again. Burrell owed Ms Davis $100,000, and she wanted it back. He was convicted of her murder in 2008.

Dorothy Davis
Dorothy Davis

In 1997 he kidnapped former employer Kerry Whelan – she was last seen with him in Parramatta – and sent her husband a $1 million ransom note. After a lengthy legal process, Burrell was convicted of her murder in 2006. As with Dorothy Davis, he never said where Kerry Whelan was buried, and their bodies have never been found. This added considerably to the suffering of both the victims’ families.

Kerry Whelan
Kerry Whelan

Burrell owned  a farm that backed on to the Bungonia wilderness on the edge of the Southern Highlands. Police conducted extensive searches of the surrounding area but found  no graves. Cases like this prompted the NSW Government to consider “No body, no parole” laws, but sadly this will be of no help for these families. Burrell died in prison in 2016, without revealing where he had left his victims.

 

Bungonia
Bungonia