Police work to debunk potentially fake alibis given in 44-year-old Western Australia cold case

Debunking potentially fake alibis given after a West Australian teenager was murdered in 1980 could be the key to solving the 44-year-old cold case, say police.

Annette Deverell, 19, was last seen on September 13, 1980 near the Mandurah Post Office talking to an unidentified blonde man about 11pm that evening.

It would be almost two years before her remains were found by bike riders near Pinjarra, about 30km from Mandurah, on June 4, 1982.

Annette Deverell, 19, was murdered and her body was found two year later. (A Current Affair)

Deverell’s murder is the subject of the WA Police’s Cold Case Western Australia podcast, hosted by veteran crime reporter and former police media advisor Neil Poh.

There is a $1 million reward for any information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in Deverell’s death.

Police are also hosting a mobile facility today behind Mandurah Post Office in the hope members of the public will come forward with fresh information.

Cold Case Investigation Squad Detective Sergeant Peter Sloan told Poh police there may be someone out there who knows what happened to Deverell and could be willing to talk decades on.

“I think most of these people know… when you read their statements back in the early 80s, Mandurah was pretty loose, they were all having a good time, it was a party town,” he said.

Annette Deverell murder 1980
The teenager was last seen speaking to a blonde man outside Mandurah Post Office. (9News)

“Now they’re all married, children, probably grandchildren, so obviously your morals change. We’ve still got a family out there that still wants answers.”

Sloan said some of the alibis given to police at the time have since been proven to be false.

The alibis of 51 individuals are now being re-examined by police.

“A couple of these persons of interest were persons of interest back then but all the friends vouched for them providing what they believed were airtight alibis,” he said.

“Further information has come forward recently… those alibis have fallen down, allegiances have changed. 

“And whether there was a threat there previously, that is no longer there, so people are not hesitant in coming forward.”

Police believe some alibis given at the time were false. Annette pictured here with friends. (A Current Affair)

Deverell’s brother Michael ‘Digger’ Deverell said his family were haunted by what happened and were desperate for his sister’s killer to face justice.

“We’d like to know who done it, just for peace of mind, and so my mum can go to her grave knowing who done it,” he said.

“Someone knows, definitely knows who did it, and them themselves know who did it – just give yourself up basically.”

Deveral’s friend Wendy Wintle told the podcast she believed only someone with local knowledge could have committed this murder.

Friends believe Annette’s murderer was a local because the bush where her bones were found is so secluded. (A Current Affair)

She said only longtime Mandurah residents knew about the Pinjarra site where Deverell’s body was found.

“If you weren’t local, you wouldn’t know that area, and we, all of the Mandurah young ones… we’d go up there most weekends, swimming and camping, or they’d ride motorbikes,” Wintle said.

“The guys used to go shooting up there. And, yeah, everyone thought it has to be a local person.”

Police believe it is likely Deverell knew her killer and the unidentified blonde man from the post office remains a key focus of the investigation. 

Annette Caroline Deverell was 19 years old when her mother Margaret Carver dropped her in central Mandurah on Saturday, September 13, 1980.

She was meeting friends at the Boathouse Tavern, but never made it home alive.

Annette disappeared at around 1130pm, with some witnesses telling police they saw her standing near the post office at the corner of Sholl St and Pinjarra Rd.

In one account she was talking to a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair.

Her remains were found near a large log in a burnt out forest area near Scarp Road, Pinjarra, on Sunday July 4, 1982.

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