Son charged with murder of parents
Jane Cactus (JC)
couple who played bridge... JC
Son charged with murder of parents
May 11 2002
Matthew Wales was charged with the murders of his mother and stepfather,
millionaires Margaret Wales-King and Paul King, after making full admissions
to police today, a court was told.
Wales, 34, of Burke Rd, Glen Iris, the youngest of Mrs Wales-King's five
children, appeared in an out-of-sessions hearing at the Melbourne Custody
Centre late this afternoon.
Homicide Squad detectives arrested Wales, 34, today and took him to the St
Kilda Police Complex where he was interviewed.
"Matthew Robert Wales was interviewed by detectives today where he made full
admissions," Detective Sergeant Henry Van Veenendaal from the Homicide
Squad.
"He was charged on two counts of murder."
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The hearing before a bail magistrate lasted just seven minutes.
Wales, wearing a purple dress shirt and black trousers and clutching a
packet of Benson and Hedges cigarettes, told the court he understood the
charges that had been laid against him.
When asked if he had anything to say, Wales said: "No".
He was not required to enter a plea. The bail magistrate remanded him in
custody and ordered him to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on
Monday.
Det Van Veenendaal told the court Mrs Wales-King, 68 and Mr King, 70, were
last seen alive at a dinner with Wales, his wife Maritza their son Domenik
at Wales's Glen Iris home on April 4.
They were reported missing by daughter Emma Connell the following Monday.
Family members had become increasingly concerned for their welfare because
they did not return phone calls, he said.
The couple's bodies were found in a bush grave near Marysville, about 95km
north-east of Melbourne, on April 29.
The couple were cremated after a private funeral at St Peter's Catholic
Church in Toorak last Wednesday. A memorial service, attended by an
estimated 700 people, was held at the same church the following day.
His brother Damian, sisters Emma, Prudence and Sally, and his wife Maritza
were not in the court this afternoon.
This story was found at:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/11/1021002403008.html
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Slimpickins
did this to them. Poor helpless couple! Thanks for posting this update for
us, Jonesie.
Slim
"Jane Cactus (JC)" <jonesi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OY7D8.8147$b5.2...@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
Patty
Hope to find out what the motive was.
Melbourne abuzz over society murders
The New Zealand Herald
11.05.2002
In a discreet place where nothing much seems to happen, the Kings
blended comfortably into their privileged surroundings.
At first glance, the crisp autumn leaves which cover the tree-lined
pavements appear the most lively attraction in one of Melbourne's
wealthiest, and sleepiest, suburbs.
Armadale may not lie far from the imposing city skyline or the cooler,
brasher and younger environs of its nearby upmarket counterpart,
Toorak, but it could be a world removed.
This is where the Old Money lives. Many of the homes here are hidden
from view behind mature trees, hedges, fences or security walls,
keeping the apparently successful lives and reputations inside free
from prying eyes.
Margaret Wales-King, aged 68, and her second husband, Paul King, 70,
fitted the Armadale mould. Born into privilege, Margaret Wales-King
was a wealthy, independent woman who appeared to be basking in the
autumn of a fortunate life.
The daughter of a road-building and construction tycoon, she had moved
on from the breakdown of her first marriage to the father of her five
children, and shrewdly invested her personal fortune.
She was a caring wife looking after Paul King, rendered invalid after
a series of strokes, and a loving mother and grandmother who doted on
a large extended family.
Her devotion to the card game, bridge, an emerging fad among
Melbourne's elite, seemed the most daring component in a lifestyle
dominated by normality.
But appearances can often be deceptive, and what seemed on the face of
it a contented existence is now being exposed to the jarring reality
of a murder investigation.
Last week the decomposing bodies of Margaret Wales-King and Paul King
were found dumped, one on top of the other, in a hastily dug shallow
grave.
Bound and wrapped in plastic, they were still dressed in the clothes
they had been wearing when last seen alive almost a month beforehand.
Both had been asphyxiated. Suggestions they were sedated beforehand
are being investigated.
The day after the grisly discovery in bushland to the east of the
city, one of Melbourne's most notorious criminals, Victor Peirce, was
shot dead in a city street.
But it is the so-called Society Murders which have captured the public
interest. With a list of suspects longer than a sawn-off shotgun, many
feel Peirce had it coming.
Not so the Kings. Conversations everywhere are wondering aloud why
anyone would wreak such a violent, gruesome, undignified end to lives
of an innocent old couple. And just what kind of person could do such
a terrible thing?
The speculative scene in one Toorak cafe is repeated all over
Melbourne.
"It can't have been a robbery or else they would have taken the
jewellery she was wearing," says one smartly dressed young woman as
she waits for her skinny latte.
The barista serving her pauses momentarily for thought. "Yeah, I
suppose so, but what if they were going to go back and get the
jewellery later?"
In a city full of amateur sleuths there has even been speculation that
the competitive bridge scene in which Margaret Wales-King recently
became an active participant is somehow the key to the baffling case.
Although every piece of gossip and innuendo is being treated
seriously, police have dismissed that theory as more Miss Marple than
real-life Melbourne.
Detectives are said to have been concentrating their efforts on those
closest to the victims.
After developments this week, public attention is focused on the
youngest of Margaret Wales-King's five children, 34-year-old Matthew
Wales.
He and his Spanish-born wife, Maritza, were apparently the last people
to see the couple alive.
The Kings had gone to their son's home for dinner on Thursday, April
4. Police were told they left in their top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz
at 9.45pm, but never made it home, just a five-minute drive away.
Several appointments were missed over the following days before
Margaret Wales-King failed to turn up at a prearranged meal with her
daughter that Sunday.
The lights were on when family members went to their A$1.5 million
($1.75 million) home. Plates and glasses - used to entertain friends
before the couple went to their son's house - lay unwashed.
A few days later the mystery deepened when their silver Mercedes was
found parked, locked and undamaged, in another part of the city.
But last week the family's worst fears were realised when two rangers
in the Yarra Ranges National Park discovered the bodies under a mound
of dirt they initially thought was a lyrebird's nest.
Such was the potential forensic value of the burial site, an order was
granted to ban publication of what was found with the bodies.
Although Margaret Wales-King's Louis Vuitton handbag, mobile phone and
car key remain missing, police have ruled out robbery as a motive.
They are treating the case as a calculated murder and investigating
one theory that a locked gate prevented the killer or killers from
dumping the bodies in a nearby lake.
Interviews and background checks have been carried out on family and
friends.
When Matthew Wales' house and backyard were searched, police stressed
it was a routine part of the investigation but speculation exploded.
Matthew Wales and his wife, who run a clothing shop on Armadale High
St, have been under siege since.
One television network filmed them secretly from a van and this week's
developments have merely added to the intrigue.
On Monday, Maritza, 37, was questioned by police after detectives
escorted her from the couple's home into a waiting unmarked car.
It was also revealed that Matthew Wales allegedly hired a trailer from
a local service station the morning after he last saw his mother and
step-father.
Police have seized the trailer for forensic testing and are
investigating neighbour's claims that Matthew was seen hosing out his
garage shortly after the disappearance. It was not something they had
seen him do before, or since.
Piecing together the fragments from a story which has dominated
Victoria's media for weeks, the court of public opinion is filled with
theories.
Last weekend, Margaret Wales-King's sister, Di Yeldham, a well-known
Sydney socialite and art dealer, told reporters she was aware of the
rumours, describing them as unfounded.
While eldest son, Damian Wales, expressed relief that the bodies had
been found, he said the family wouldn't rest until justice was done.
"We just want to get on now and try and find out who's done this," he
says. "Our minds won't be totally at rest until we've actually got a
result."
On Wednesday, the trauma of recent weeks was all too evident on the
faces of the family as the elderly couple were finally laid to rest.
About 40 relatives and close friends gathered for the funeral mass at
a church where Margaret Wales-King had worshipped every week.
Shortly after arriving, Damian Wales gave Matthew Wales a lengthy
embrace. The younger brother wiped tears from both cheeks and broke
down again after sprinkling holy water on his mother's coffin.
For the last month, Damian Wales has been acting as the family
spokesman, leading public appeals and, until the bodies were found,
making himself readily available to the media.
Journalists working on the story say he has been dignified throughout,
trying to hold his family together in the most difficult of
circumstances while protecting their privacy.
That privacy continues to come under scrutiny like never before.
At the funeral service two plain clothed officers sat behind the
family at the service. Police, although unwilling to comment on this
week's events, have put Matthew's house under constant surveillance.
The same tactic has also been employed by a more visible media pack.
Although Margaret was never a feature of the city's social circuit,
she was known among the city's elite.
Retirement with Paul, whom she married 25 years ago, was more than
comfortable. Her privately schooled children are all thought to be
financially sound.
That's something she had astutely considered when drawing up her will.
It contained an unusual clause that beneficiaries of her estimated A$5
million ($6 million) estate would receive their share only when they
turned 40.
She clearly didn't want anyone to be dependent on her for their own
financial gain.
In the meantime, Margaret Wales-King's lawyer has gone to the Supreme
Court to freeze her assets, which included cash, shares, "significant
investment portfolios" and the couple's home.
Solicitor Anthony Joyce said his application to secure her estate was
partly based on "confidential information provided ... by police
investigating the deaths of Mrs Wales-King and her husband".
Patty
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4300033%255E903,00.html
SON CHARGED
12may02
The Sunday Mail
THE son of Melbourne society millionairess Margaret Wales-King
appeared in court yesterday charged with murdering her and her husband
Paul King.
Matthew Robert Wales, 34, appeared briefly in an out-of-sessions
hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court just before 5pm.
He was not required to enter a plea and was remanded in custody to
appear in court again tomorrow.
The hearing lasted just seven minutes.
Wales showed no emotion, sitting in front of the bail justice's desk,
as he was charged with the murder of Mrs Wales-King, 68, and his
stepfather Mr King, 70.
Asked if he understood the charges, Mrs Wales-King's youngest son
said: "That is correct". Asked if he had any questions, he answered:
"No".
"Do you understand there is no bail?" he was asked. "Yes Sir," he
replied.
Wales was told he would be taken to the Melbourne Assessment Prison
and held on remand until facing court tomorrow.
His brother Damian, sisters Emma, Prudence and Sally, and his wife
Maritza were not in court.
Detective-Sergeant Henry Van Beenendaal, from the homicide squad, told
the court Mrs Wales-King and Mr King were last seen at Matthew and
Maritza Wales' house on the night they disappeared.
It is believed police arrested Wales while he was driving in his car
just before noon. He was questioned for several hours before being
taken to the out-of-court session. He was flanked by two plain clothes
police officers as he left the court.
Mrs Wales-King and her ailing husband were last seen leaving Matthew's
home in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris about 9.45pm on
Thursday, April 4, after dinner.
Worried family visited the pair's deserted home in the exclusive
suburb of Armadale the following Monday, after the couple missed
several appointments. They found a night light on and unwashed wine
glasses. There were no signs of violence or forced entry. A missing
persons report was filed.
The family made a public appeal on Wednesday, April 10. At 7.30pm, the
couple's $127,000 Mercedes-Benz was found at an intersection in
inner-city Middle Park, 20 minutes from their home. The car was
undamaged, locked and parked next to a vacant house.
More than two weeks later, rangers found the couple's bodies in a
shallow bush grave near Marysville, 95km northeast of Melbourne.
They were covered in bindings. They had been asphyxiated but their
bodies showed no signs of a struggle. The couple were dressed in the
same clothes and jewellery they wore when they disappeared.
They were murdered within 24 hours of their disappearance.
Mrs Wales-King's brown leather Louis Vuitton handbag, mobile phone and
car keys have not been found.
tiny dancer
"Slimpickins" <Sl...@work.com> wrote in message
news:DmcD8.14959$Ru2.3...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Omagawd! How horrible! What a creep! To think that their own flesh and
blood
> did this to them. Poor helpless couple! Thanks for posting this update for
> us, Jonesie.
>
> Slim
What a shame, they were elderly, looks like sonny boy couldn't wait a couple
years for his inheritance?
td
Jane Cactus (JC)
"Patty" <eartha...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f0e77308.02051...@posting.google.com...
Great articles, Patty, thx. Hey, that clause in her will is interesting,
that her kids won't get any money before turning 40. Wonder if the guilty
son knew anything about that? Prolly not.
JC
Jane Cactus (JC)
"Slimpickins" <Sl...@work.com> wrote in message
news:DmcD8.14959$Ru2.3...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
blood
> did this to them. Poor helpless couple! Thanks for posting this update for
> us, Jonesie.
>
> Slim
Very hard to stomach isn't it. These poor poor people.
JC
Jane Cactus (JC)
"tiny dancer" <tinyda...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:yWeD8.65009$gd5.26...@typhoon.southeast.rr.com...
>
> "Slimpickins" <Sl...@work.com> wrote in message
> news:DmcD8.14959$Ru2.3...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> > Omagawd! How horrible! What a creep! To think that their own flesh and
> blood
> > did this to them. Poor helpless couple! Thanks for posting this update
for
> > us, Jonesie.
> >
> > Slim
>
>
> What a shame, they were elderly, looks like sonny boy couldn't wait a
couple
> years for his inheritance?
>
> td
Sounds like he'll be disappointed, per the terms of the will that were in
the article Patty posted. He isn't over 40 yet.
JC
Jojoz
"Jane Cactus (JC> >
> > That's something she had astutely considered when drawing up her will.
> > It contained an unusual clause that beneficiaries of her estimated A$5
> > million ($6 million) estate would receive their share only when they
> > turned 40.
> >
> > She clearly didn't want anyone to be dependent on her for their own
> > financial gain.
> >
> Great articles, Patty, thx. Hey, that clause in her will is interesting,
> that her kids won't get any money before turning 40. Wonder if the guilty
> son knew anything about that? Prolly not.
> JC
>
Maybe he did know. Maybe the meeting was about money, or that he was
threatened with being taken out of the will?
Hope we get some more updates on this one....
Jojoz
Patty
The Sunday Mail
12may02
THE grounds of the Melbourne home of Matthew Wales, who last night was
charged with the murder of his mother and stepfather, were today being
searched by teams of Victorian police.
This morning police cordoned off the couple's two-storey brick
townhouse in busy Burke Road, in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Glen
Iris.
Ten police officers from the homicide squad, the force response unit
plus forensic experts and police photographers have spent the morning
searching drains around the property and the front and back yards.
The bodies of Margaret Wales-King and her husband, Paul King, were
found in a shallow grave in bushland outside Melbourne on April 29.
They were last seen alive at a barbecue at Matthew Wales's house on
April 4.
Police yesterday charged Matthew Wales, 34, with two counts of murder.
His wife Maritza Wales, 38, was charged with being an accessory after
the fact.
All blinds in the three-townhouse complex were drawn today and there
was no sign of Maritza Wales, who was released on police bail late
last night.
A police spokesman told journalists at the scene Mrs Wales would not
be returning to the house today.
"We have not spoken to Maritza today and have no plans to," he said.
Nor had police spoken further to Matthew Wales, who remained in
custody today, and neither Matthew nor Maritza would be brought to the
house while the search continued, the spokesman said.
Police officers were scouring the townhouse's front and backyard but
the spokesman said they would not be searching inside.
That had already been done in the course of the investigation.
"This is just follow-up work really. The investigation is continuing,"
he said.
The house was cordoned off by police cars parked in a line outside and
ringed with blue-and-white crime scene tape.
Outside the shopping centre across the road, a crowd of onlookers
gathered to watch proceedings.
The police spokesman said police would later drive a truck into the
grounds and load items from the property.
He would not reveal what items were being taken.
The spokesman also revealed that Matthew Wales had been visiting
family members yesterday when he was arrested.
He said Mr Wales had not joined family members to scatter their
parents' ashes into Port Phillip Bay in a private ceremony earlier
that day.
He refused to reveal the suburb in which Mr Wales was arrested, saying
only that it was inner Melbourne but confirmed that police had waited
until Mr Wales left the family member's house to make the arrest.
Patty
> Great articles, Patty, thx. Hey, that clause in her will is interesting,
> that her kids won't get any money before turning 40. Wonder if the guilty
> son knew anything about that? Prolly not.
> JC
>
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/05/10/1021002390447.html
Wales-King lawyer to control assets
By Ian Munro, Padraic Murphy
The Age
May 11 2002
The family of murdered Armadale woman Margaret Wales-King has granted
control of her estate to her lawyer in order to manage her substantial
investment portfolio.
The estate includes $57,000 in cash management accounts, about $80,000
in shares and investments jointly owned with her husband Paul King,
and what are described as "significant investment portfolios" in an
investment-holding company and a superannuation fund.
In an affidavit to the Supreme Court, her solicitor, Anthony Joyce,
said Mrs Wales-King's murder on April 5 left no one in control of the
estate.
He said it was not likely the will would be executed soon "and the
nature of Mrs Wales-King's assets is such that someone needs to be
able to control them without delay".
Mrs Wales-King and her husband were last seen alive on April 4 when
they left a family dinner for a five-minute drive to their home. Their
luxury Mercedes-Benz was found six days later in Middle Park. Their
bodies were discovered in a shallow bush grave on April 29.
An estate specialist, Malcolm Spottiswood of Victorian Estate
Planners, said the solicitor's move was unusual, but only because the
circumstances were also unusual. He said it was "perfectly consistent"
with the procedures available.
David Galbally, QC, also said he believed the move was highly unusual.
"It seems to suggest that what the executor wants to do is to protect
the assets until those who have (done) this crime are brought to
justice," he said.
Mrs Wales-King's estate is believed to be worth several million
dollars, including a luxury home in Armadale.
Her will, which was among documents lodged with the court, provides
for shares of one-sixth of her estate to each of her five children
once they reach 40 years of age. The remaining share was to provide an
income for Mr King and later to pass to her grandchildren.
Mr Joyce initially sought to become a director of the investment
companies under Mrs Wales-King's power of attorney, but this move was
thwarted because it emerged she was dead at the time this action was
taken, he said in his affidavit.
Her bank accounts and those of the investment companies had been
frozen by the ANZ Bank and there was no one to administer them.
Mr Joyce and Mrs Wales-King's two sons, Damian and Matthew, were the
surviving executors to the estate.
Mr Joyce's application was accompanied by an affidavit from Damian
Wales consenting to the move. In a faxed document, solicitors acting
for Matthew Wales indicated that he would consent to the application.
Mr Joyce has given an undertaking to consult the family before making
any decision on the sale of major assets, such as the home or its
contents.
Police are waiting on the outcome of DNA testing on material found
with the bodies in the grave east of Marysville.
They have also seized a hire trailer and conducted extensive searches
of the backyards and homes of family members.
Toxicology tests on the bodies, which could reveal any drugs or
sedatives, will take up to eight weeks.
Patty
Margaret Wales-King's niece was a former director of the Sundance
Film Festival. And Paul King's brother is a priest (Father) who lives
in a community of Marist fathers in Sydney. What is a Marist?
Goodbye, my sister of passion and grace: Di
By Paul Heinrichs
The Age
May 12 2002
After one closely observed private funeral, then a very public
memorial service, it might have been thought to be an almost
unendurable week for murdered Margaret Wales-King's loving little
sister, Di Yeldham.
But the Melbourne girl who became a Sydney socialite has stepped into
the breach as the matriarch of a family going through extraordinary
stress.
"I'm just so grateful we had Marg and Paul . . . I'm so grateful that
our prayers were answered that they were found, and that we have been
able to have beautiful private mass and a memorial service for
everybody.
"Also, that was the most important thing for everybody who has also
suffered in the past month, for them to be able to grieve and pay
their respects . . . and, hopefully, slowly heal."
In death notices, Di Yeldham described her sister as a woman of
"grace, passion and integrity" whom she would always love.
In a private ceremony yesterday, members of the family gathered to
bury the ashes of Margaret Wales-King and Paul King at Sorrento, where
the couple spent their summer holidays.
Battling flu, Di Yeldham is trying to maintain the cohesion of what
she describes as an "amazing" and "unique" family. She agreed on
Friday to speak with The Sunday Age about her role in helping the
family deal with the deaths of her sister, 68, and her second husband,
Paul King, 70.
"I just do what comes naturally," she said. "What comes naturally is
what I express, a great, great love for all those children. I just
feel of them as I do my own."
At another point she said: "It's quite strange because, with whatever
else is going on, I myself have absolutely at this point of time no
concern. All I know is my support is for the entire family."
She added: "It's a wonderfully strong family, quite deep-rooted on
both sides... We are all part and products of a very important family
tree."
As she spoke, three of the five Wales children, oldest son Damian,
Emma Connell and Prudence Reed, were visiting the media-besieged Glen
Iris home of Matthew Wales for what Damian called a family chat and
grieving session.
Police say the postmortems on the wealthy Armadale couple, found
buried in a bush grave at Marysville, showed they had been asphyxiated
- smothered - within hours of last being seen at a barbecue at a Burke
Road home on April 4.
They are conducting tests on a trailer hired early the following
morning from a service station about a kilometre away.
With limited information emerging from police sources, public interest
in the case has aroused the most frenzied media attention since the
mysterious disappearance of baby Jaidyn Leskie from Moe in mid1997.
His body was later recovered from a dam and a man charged was later
acquitted of murder.
Police have been taken by surprise by the media interest, and to
protect the integrity of their investigation homicide squad head
Inspector Brian Rix obtained an unprecedented suppression order from
the acting State Coroner, Iain West, prohibiting the publication of
details of potential exhibits found with the bodies.
In her early 60s, Diane (always known as Di) Yeldham is well known in
Melbourne as one of the two daughters of R. J. "Bob" Lord, the road
construction and quarrying magnate of the 1950s and '60s, and his wife
Doreen, nee Torey. They were raised in Camberwell.
Mr Lord, who jointly first introduced hotmix asphalting to roads in
Victoria, died in 1974. His wife died in 1978. They left a substantial
fortune to divide between the two daughters, an inheritance on which
each was to build further.
While Margaret married pilot Brian Wales and remained in Melbourne,
her sister Diane, nearly six years younger, was to marry Tony Yeldham,
founder of The Squire Shop in Sydney in the 1960s, and a cousin of the
Australian novelist Peter Yeldham and the late Justice David Yeldham.
They have since divorced.
In the 1970s, Di Yeldham brought The Squire Shop to Toorak. It became
for a time the "in place" for French fashions, but in recent years she
has been seen more in Sydney's art gallery and racing circles.
Di Yeldham believes she "never really left Melbourne" but her returns
to the city have been for four to five weeks with her children in the
summer beach scene at Sorrento, and to maintain contact with her older
sister and Paul King.
Di Yeldham's children, daughters Ali and Rebecca and son Joshua, are
highflyers in the Sydney art world. Ali is coproprietor with her
mother of the Art House Gallery in Paddington. Rebecca has spent 10
years in the United States, until recently as director of the Sundance
Film Festival, and Joshua, who won an Oscar nomination in 1994 for his
first film Frailejon, is also a much-exhibited painter.
Di Yeldham said that as Margaret's younger sister, "I used to follow
her around like little sisters do, and look into what she was doing,
but the six years does make a difference when there aren't any other
children in between."
The sisters became independent and different people. Di went all the
way through the exclusive Catholic girls' school Mandeville Hall;
Margaret went there only in her senior years, she thinks.
Di Yeldham respected Margaret and Paul's efforts over a decade to care
for an ageing aunt, Elsie Lucia McCandlish, known to all as "Lully",
who was the undoubted matriarch of the family until she died in July,
2000, aged 101. She is the person to whom Margaret WalesKing's
grandchildren referred in touching death notices this week, noting
that their "grannima"' and "pappi" had gone to heaven with Lully and
Heidi, Margaret WalesKing's schnauzer dog which died only weeks before
the murders.
Margaret Wales-King was a painter and drawer, especially of botanical
subjects, although the several strokes that disabled Paul King meant
she had little time left for this in recent years. Instead, she took
up bridge with a passion.
Her life, and Paul King's, were memorialised at a service held the day
after the funeral at the same place, St Peter's in Toorak Road.
Some 700 people packed into the dignified stone Catholic church to the
strains of Handel's Largo and Franck's Panis Angelicus played by
organist Adrian Kirk and one of son Damian Wales' former teachers,
violinist Philip Carrington.
They were a smart lot the men in suits, the women mostly blonde and
nearly all in black, except for a couple of Toorak lasses who turned
up still in their gym gear. Older friends of Margaret and Paul, the
younger ones in the professional and social circles of her adult
children, such as staff from the real estate agency Marshall White.
The service was conducted by Monsignor Gerry Cudmore with the
assistance of Paul King's brother from Sydney, the Marist priest
Father Stephen (Tony) King.
All five of the Wales children, Sally Honan, Emma Connell, Prudence
Reed, Damian Wales and Matthew Wales, had a role. Di Yeldham delivered
a eulogy.
In his eulogy, Damian Wales said his mother, even in the present
circumstances, would have wanted them to turn the other cheek.
Asked whether she was as forgiving as her older sister, Di Yeldham
said: "I suppose that's how we've been brought up. I don't know if
we've ever been in a serious situation like that, I know myself that I
believe I am able to forgive but not necessarily to forget."
Ms Yeldham was pleased at the end of the week that the two services
had provided for a full measure of expiation of grief and the
celebration of the lives of her sister and her husband.
She said the family had managed to insulate itself from the intensity
of the media interest and speculation surrounding the case.
"Nothing has been discussed, which is so fantastic, except the real
meaning of yesterday and the mass, which is quite extraordinary.
Absolutely nothing else talked about except wonderful stories of
'remember this, remember when'.
"It was all to do with Marg's stories. Another bridesmaid was there
yesterday, so there were lots of recollections."
Di Yeldham revealed that there was a strong Italian influence in the
extended family that had come through her mother, Doreen Torey, and
through "Lully", who was a godmother to all of them.
Whenever she came to Melbourne, she said, the first thing she would do
was visit "Lully", who remained lucid and active until her death.
Even now, Ms Yeldham said, she sometimes still thinks, "I'll ring
Lully, she'll know" but she is not there now that they need her most.
Di Yeldham is having to face the fact that she is the remaining active
member of the older generation, that the family's intactness partly
depends on her.
But the tragedy has also drawn her closer to Paul King's older
brother, Father Stephen (Tony) King, who lives in a community of
Marist fathers in Sydney.
"It's very helpful for me to go back to that, he's taken that back to
his congregation to give us support in Sydney," she said.
"That's the sort of family we are we focus on the things that we have,
and not the things that we have not."
Patty
like to know how they were suffocated and if there was anything put in
their food or drinks to sedate them. Seems like it must have been
planned. Read somewhere that accused son was a hairdresser at one
time. Was King married before and did he have any children?
Picture of son walking across a street
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4255711%255E903,00.html
Murder strain shows
RHETT WATSON
05may02
The Sunday Mail
MATTHEW Wales speaks quietly but calmly. Nearby, tears are running
down the cheeks of his Spanish-born wife Maritza.
This is a rare moment for a private couple as they reveal publicly the
incredible strain in their lives.
A month ago Matthew's parents, Melbourne millionaires Paul King and
Margaret Wales-King, disappeared in mysterious circumstances, only to
be found dead in shallow bush graves last Tuesday.
Matthew and Maritza are the last people known to have seen them alive.
"The fingers haven't been pointed at us yet," said Matthew, 34.
"It's difficult, but under the circumstances the police are doing
their job and I hope they're doing it properly.
"It's important for them to follow all the angles they can."
As he tried to smile at customers at their clothing boutique in the
upmarket Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Maritza was comforted by a
business friend.
"My wife is having a hard time. We're trying to deal with it," Matthew
said.
The family was particularly close and most members lived within
minutes of each other.
Mrs Wales-King, 68, had five children – Matthew, Sally, Damian, Emma
and Prudence – from her first marriage to a pilot, and 11
grandchildren she adored. She had considerable wealth gained from an
inheritance and astute property and share investments.
She and Mr King, 70, lived a quiet but happy life in their plush $1.5
million Armadale townhouse.
It started off as a normal family Thursday night dinner when Mrs
Wales-King and her husband visited Matthew and Maritza in their Glen
Iris home, five minutes' drive away, on April 4.
After dinner, they left in their $127,000 silver Mercedes E320, never
to be seen alive again. The car was found parked illegally in the
Melbourne bayside suburb of Middle Park, about 20 minutes away.
While police remain tightlipped, they have ruled out robbery as a
motive.
Mrs Wales-King was still wearing a $90,000 diamond ring and other
jewellery worth $10,000 but her handbag, car keys and Ericsson mobile
phone were missing. Their bank accounts remain untouched.
Police have taken soil samples from Matthew's home, searched his car
and searched the houses of other family members.
"The police have to do their investigation and they have to do it
thoroughly," Matthew said.
Meanwhile, the mystery continues and as investigating officer, Sen-Sgt
Steve Waddell said: "There's nothing in their background that can give
us some insight as to why this may have occurred."
Patty
I wonder if there was another man with the son when the trailer was
rented. Also says they think the bodies were orignally to be dumped
in a dam, not buried. Bodies were weighted down. Sure wonder what
was found near the bodies that they are running tests on.
Police seize rented trailer over Armadale couple's murder
By John Silvester
The Age
May 8 2002
Police have seized a rented trailer they believe may have been used to
transport the bodies of Armadale couple Margaret Wales-King and Paul
King hours after they were murdered.
The trailer was rented from a Glen Iris service station, less than a
kilometre from where the couple were last seen at the Burke Road home
of Mrs Wales-King's son, Matthew.
Mrs Wales-King, 68, and her frail husband Paul King, 70, visited
Matthew and his wife Maritza for dinner on April 4.
Service station attendant Scott Turley told Channel Seven News last
night he believed the trailer was hired the following morning.
''The purchase amount was just under $30. We assumed it was just a
fuel sale, but when we looked into our records it was a trailer hire.
And then on the Friday they (the police) confiscated the trailer."
Mr Turley said: "It was a month ago but I have a vague memory that
there was two males at the time. They seemed to be on a mission, they
knew what they were doing, they weren't mucking around."
Scientific tests will be conducted to establish if there is any
evidence linking the trailer to the crime.
The examination will include DNA tests to the victims and suspects.
Further tests will be conducted to see if there is soil or foliage on
the trailer linking it to the scene where the bodies were buried.
The couple were found nine days ago near Marysville, north-east of
Melbourne.
Police suspect the killers intended to dump the weighted and wrapped
bodies in a country dam but were forced to bury the couple when they
found a track blocked with a chained gate.
Mrs Wales-King was found wearing the $100,000 in jewellery she had on
when she went missing. Police seized the trailer last Friday. Tests
could take weeks to complete. Tests are also continuing on several
items found near the burial site.
The couple's $100,000 Mercedes-Benz was found locked in Middle Park
six days after they disappeared.
Mrs Wales-King's leather Louis Vuitton handbag, mobile phone and car
keys have not been recovered. Police believe those items could help
lead them to the killer.
A private funeral service for the murdered couple is scheduled for
today.
Jane Cactus (JC)
"Jojoz" <jojozisme@yahoo[nospam].com> wrote in message
news:GjmD8.53979$v32.3...@news1.west.cox.net...
I wonder if that could be, that the son was afraid of being cut out of the
will. Could be. Hope we learn something from the family about that kind of
thing - they've been pretty closed mouth so far. Wonder what the aunt meant
about loving each of the 5 children, even Matthew (this may have been from
one of the other articles)...
Jane Cactus
The Marist fathers, not to be confused with the Marist brothers, are an
order of priests who do missionary work and take vows of poverty, or so I'm
told, named after the founder of the order. (I just asked somebody who told
me this stuff.) There is a large Marist church not far from Chinatown in
Sydney. I get the idea it isn't a huge or growing order.
JC
Patty
orders of priests and nuns. Someone told me a few years ago that
their brother was a priest in a relatively new order, can't remember
the name. I find all the orders somewhat fascinating. I met a woman
who had once been a Carmelite nun, and I think she said they took vows
of silence. Hard to believe because she was so talkative.
I wonder if the King family had any money. Maragaret Wales-King's
will stipulated 1/6 of her will to go to King and her grandchildren.
I wonder if he would need any money if she died first.
I would consider a mercy killing with King's dementia, but there
wasn't any medical problems mentioned for Wales-King, and she seemed
very close to her family.
Patty
crosem
mother of Jesus. The "nickname" is Marist, meaning "of Mary."
The cloisterd (meaning those who do not mix with the public but live in
seclusion) Carmelite nuns do take a vow of silence, as do several other
orders of both nuns and brothers (who are religious order persons just like
nuns, but men, they are not priests, as they cannot celebrate Mass or other
sacraments). Cloistered convents have one sister (nun) who does meet the
public, taking deliveries, take care of the convent business (bills, etc.).
The only time these nuns leave the convent is to go to the doctor or
hospital. However, they do sing the Mass in beautiful a capella chant, and
say responses at Mass and prayers out loud.
Perhaps the chatty woman left the Carmelites because she could not keep
silence!
Jane Cactus
"crosem" <cro...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:BLyD8.53$DF2.20...@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com...
> A Marist is a priest whose order is the Society of Mary, devoted to the
> mother of Jesus. The "nickname" is Marist, meaning "of Mary."
>
> The cloisterd (meaning those who do not mix with the public but live in
> seclusion) Carmelite nuns do take a vow of silence, as do several other
> orders of both nuns and brothers (who are religious order persons just
like
> nuns, but men, they are not priests, as they cannot celebrate Mass or
other
> sacraments). Cloistered convents have one sister (nun) who does meet the
> public, taking deliveries, take care of the convent business (bills,
etc.).
> The only time these nuns leave the convent is to go to the doctor or
> hospital. However, they do sing the Mass in beautiful a capella chant,
and
> say responses at Mass and prayers out loud.
Thank you, Crosem. I am going to smack the person who told me it was named
after whoever founded the order.
I am fascinated by that whole system however, by people who actually found
certain orders of priests, nuns, brother, missionaries. And then there are
those religious who are non-ordered if I understand correctly?
Also, this order of Marist Fathers in Sydney (if my source can be believed)
also has some kind of mission or something about those who enter the
priesthood late in life, those who take "late orders" or something (eg
widowers)?
crosem
belong to an order (think of an order as a group or club with a common
mission and way of life), but are called diocesan priests in that they work
in a given diocese (geographical area headed by a bishop). However, nuns
and brothers belong to orders. In addition, there are groups of Catholic
lay people who are NOT ordained, but belong to an organizaton such as the
Third Order of St. Francis, who take similar vows but live in the community
and have a more heavyduty religious life than most.
The missions of the diff. orders are quite interesting:
Josephites - education of black children in the inner city; they have
priests, nuns and brothers
Maryknoll - missionaries, esp. medical missionaries
Carmelites - life of contemplative prayer for the world
Congregation of Divine Providence - education of girls, esp. rich girls to
work with the poor, in the USA and in Mexico
Jesuits - Society of Jesus, education, very scholarly, most have Ph.Ds.
There are hundreds of them...do a google search and read what you like.
We had RSM nuns in high school, we always said it stood for Registered
Sisters of Mercy, but it was really religious sisters of mercy.
Some very intersting stories are Katherine Drexel, a millionaire heiress who
founded an order and has just been declared "blessed.'
Mother Francis Cabrini, orig. from Italy, was the first USA saint, and
Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first US born saint, and founded the Daughters
of Charity who run a HUGE hospital network across the USA.
And so on. I got a million of them. The classic book is Butler's Lives of
the Saints, very inspiring.
The nuns' habits that we no longer see today were mostly just the ordinary
daily dress of the class of woman in the time and locale in which the order
was founded.
"Jane Cactus" <jonesi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:SLzD8.8948$b5.3...@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
Patty
> mother of Jesus. The "nickname" is Marist, meaning "of Mary."
>
> The cloisterd (meaning those who do not mix with the public but live in
> seclusion) Carmelite nuns do take a vow of silence, as do several other
> orders of both nuns and brothers (who are religious order persons just like
> nuns, but men, they are not priests, as they cannot celebrate Mass or other
> sacraments). Cloistered convents have one sister (nun) who does meet the
> public, taking deliveries, take care of the convent business (bills, etc.).
> The only time these nuns leave the convent is to go to the doctor or
> hospital. However, they do sing the Mass in beautiful a capella chant, and
> say responses at Mass and prayers out loud.
>
> Perhaps the chatty woman left the Carmelites because she could not keep
> silence!
>
Thanks for the information. This ex-Carmelite nun, still a practicing
Catholic, said that on one occasion she got in trouble when a cat, who
had been smuggled into the convent, had kittens and she got excited.
I guess broke her vow of silence at the time. She said that this was
probably her happiest time at the convent.
A San Francisco socialite, a widow with ten children and numerous
grandchildren, left her former life to become a Carmelite nun in the
late 1980s.
Here's from Town and Country Magazine 5/95:
Society's sister. (San Francisco socialite Ann Miller joins a
monastery); Behbehani, Mandy; Town & Country Monthly; ; ; May 01,
1995;
Nobody ever believed it would actually happen. But it did. Last year,
beloved socialite Ann Russell Miller of the bright eyes and quick
quip, who had health and wealth, power and influence, a passel of
children and an army of friends, took the final step in her plan to
renounce it all and join the Carmelite Monastery in Des Plaines,
Illinois. Within those walls she will remain, under the name of Sister
Mary Joseph of the Trinity, in contemplation, prayer, work and
virtually unbroken silence for the rest of her days.
For the gregarious, fun-loving Miller, there will be no more
nine-bedroom mansions overlooking San Francisco Bay, no more
gilt-edged Tiffany datebooks, parasols swathed in Hermes scarves,
world travels or happy so journs on the Island, the Millers'
redwood-grove retreat near Half Moon Bay. She will never again hold a
new grandchild in her arms.
Today, Miller, now 66, sleeps on a thin mattress and wooden plank in a
small room, shares a bathroom and is allowed visitors only by
permission of the Reverend Mother. Her eldest child, Donna Casey, 46,
has seen Miller only five times in the past year.
In San Francisco, she'd long been revered as a woman of wit and
elegance and as a community leader. Reared in luxury as the only
daughter of the chairman of Southern Pacific Railroad, she was a
member of countless boards; the Achievement Rewards for College
Scientists chapter that she founded in northern California in 1970
gives thousands of dollars annually in scholarships to gifted American
students of science and technology. Even after the death, in 1984, of
her longtime husband Richard (Dick) Miller--vice-president of Pacific
Gas & Electric and former chairman of the board of the San Francisco
Opera Association--she led a richly rewarding life. Her decision to
join the Carmelites, announced in 1986, set off a firestorm of
controversy among her friends and family (her mother, then 91, ten
children, fifteen grandchildren--the number has since climbed to
nineteen--and her beau of several years, George "Corky" Bowles). Why
would she surrender everything for a life of rigid discipline and
self-denial?
snip
Having announced her intentions, Miller began to set her affairs in
order--an endeavor she carried out with her usual flair. She jetted
off to visit friends in Europe, South America and Asia. She even
managed to make the divvying up of her fortune and the contents of her
home-linens, candlesticks, furniture--lots of fun. After her children
had wandered through their former home and picked out what they
wanted, Miller held a huge garage sale near the Island to get rid of
the rest. What nobody bought, she donated to charity.
Then, on October 30, 1989 (her sixty-first birthday), Miller went with
hundreds of friends to St. Mary's Cathedral, where they celebrated a
Mass officiated by Archbishop John Quinn. That night, she threw a
dinner dance at the Hilton Hotel for 800. The following morning, she
left San Francisco for the monastery in Des Plaines.
snip
Miller's mother, Louise Russell, a Catholic convert, was not happy
with her daughter's decision. "I think my mother was upset because she
had six bachelors she considered eligible all lined up practically at
Dick's funeral," Miller once said to a friend before she left. "I
said, `Listen, Louise, I'm not going to be married.' `Well, what's
going to become of you?' she asked. And I told her, `I'm going to be a
Carmelite.' She said, `Oh, don't be ridiculous!'"
But friends and family members say Miller's decision was the result of
a pact she'd made with her late husband, that whoever outlived the
other would join a religious order. (One person very close to Miller,
however, has speculated that her decision to take the veil might have
sprung from other motives: "She had spent all her fortune and knew she
could no longer continue to live the lifestyle she had lived. And Ann
was someone for whom it was all either stop or go.")
Miller's own explanation for her actions had to do with her respect
for the power of prayer. "She said, `I can do more for people
praying,'" says former advertising executive Robert Lansdon, a close
friend. Whatever Miller's reasons, and whatever resistance she may
have encountered along the way, she surprised all the skeptics by
persevering and successfully completing her five-year novitiate.
Finally, in May of last year, Ann Miller became a bride of Christ,
giving up forever all worldly possessions and embracing a cloistered
life of humility, fasting and prayer. Most of her family and some 100
friends flew in from around the country to witness her final vows
(although, as if in testament to the familial rifts her decision has
caused, three of her five sons did not attend). Her mother, now 96,
was there. Whatever hopes she'd fostered of her daughter's return were
put to rest once and for all. Afterward, visitors could still sec
Miller, but only through a double grille in the monastery's "speak
room."
snip
Now that Miller has taken her final vows, she can never again leave
the cloister except to go to the doctor or a hospital. She rises at
5:40 A.M. and spends much of the day praying. The rest of her time is
spent performing manual labor, such as raking leaves, growing
vegetables, folding laundry and walking Heidi, the monastery's German
shepherd. With the other nuns, she sews vestments, makes rosary beads
from crushed rose petals, receives donations of money or food and
helps Mother Agnes, the monastery's former Reverend Mother, add to her
collection of stamps.
Like her seventeen colleagues, Miller wears sandals, a brown habit and
a black veil. She is allowed to speak only during two hour-long
recreation periods each day. Telephone calls are not permitted, except
for family emergencies. For four months of the year--during Lent and
Advent and when she is on retreat--she is totally incommunicado.
Miller is happy.
snip
"What was so misleading is that she was always so flip and intelligent
and clever," says Father Valentine A. McInnes; a Dominican priest in
New Orleans and the chairman of Judeo-Christian studies at Tulane
University, he was pivotal in getting Miller to examine her vocation
in order to discover whether it should lead her to the Carmelites.
"I remember I gave a retreat once in Palm Springs, and on Easter
Sunday there was a brunch at Dolores and Bob Hope's house. Everyone,
including Bob Hope, got up to thank everyone else. Then Ann gets up
and has us all in fits in two seconds flat. And Bob Hope gets up again
and says, `I don't believe this--and in my own house, too! This dame
gets more laughs than I do, and she doesn't even have a speechwriter.'
Jane Cactus
One Christmas I helped deliver hot food to a bunch of nuns who were of the
same order as Sister Theresa, forget the order. And even tho it was chilly
they dressed in only these sarong-type things, or like, thin bedsheets
draped around their bodies. The food was going to be given to the poor, and
was also for those holy women themselves. I know other nuns who have taken
vows of poverty, but this was way beyond that. What surprises me is the
variety of all the orders there are.
JC
"crosem" <cro...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:72AD8.4133$MF1.10...@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com...
Jane Cactus
Patty posted:
-------snip-----
>...says Father Valentine A. McInnes; a Dominican priest in
> New Orleans and the chairman of Judeo-Christian studies at Tulane
> University, he was pivotal in getting Miller to examine her vocation
> in order to discover whether it should lead her to the Carmelites.
-------snip-------
I like stories like this. Regardless of her reasons, she was extremely
committed wasn't she. What a good story.
Patty
But can you imagine never being able to hold one of your grandchildren
again. Only seeing friends and relatives through a confessional
booth. I think she wasn't really being fair to her family. But I
have always found this to be an interesting story ever since I read
about it in the SF newspapers over a decade ago.
Was it the actress Delores Hart who also became a nun, a Carmelite,
too, I believe? The ex-nun I knew, I think her convent was actually
near Carmel, close to Carmel Highlands I think.
Patty
Jane Cactus
> But can you imagine never being able to hold one of your grandchildren
> again. Only seeing friends and relatives through a confessional
> booth. I think she wasn't really being fair to her family. But I
> have always found this to be an interesting story ever since I read
> about it in the SF newspapers over a decade ago.
>
> Was it the actress Delores Hart who also became a nun, a Carmelite,
> too, I believe? The ex-nun I knew, I think her convent was actually
> near Carmel, close to Carmel Highlands I think.
>
> Patty
Yabbut her children and grandchildren can talk to her a little during her
meagre visiting hours at least. That's more time together than some have. I
think it's good this woman was true to herself (assuming she was of course).
Now that you mention that actress, I vaguely recall... JC
crosem
my grandmother and I used to go to church was the length and height of the
wall of a room...maybe 12' long x ceiling height...
"Jane Cactus" <jonesi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:UW%D8.9835$b5.3...@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
DedNdogYrs
believe?>
Is that the one who used to be in Elvis Presley movies? If it is, she totally
ruined her life. As a young woman, probably in her twenties or early thirties,
she joined a convent that doesn't even speak or work. All they do is pray all
day. They don't work in hospitals or schools or counsel prisoners or anything
that nuns usually do. Just sit and pray and do cleaning chores around the
convent. Even Pelican Bay Prison isn't that bad.
Dogs & children first.
anneruss...@gmail.com
> Australia. Follow-up from previous story posted here. This is the elderly
> couple who played bridge... JC
>
> Son charged with murder of parents
>
> May 11 2002
>
>
> to police today, a court was told.
>
> Wales, 34, of Burke Rd, Glen Iris, the youngest of Mrs Wales-King's five
> children, appeared in an out-of-sessions hearing at the Melbourne Custody
> Centre late this afternoon.
>
> Homicide Squad detectives arrested Wales, 34, today and took him to the St
> Kilda Police Complex where he was interviewed.
>
> "Matthew Robert Wales was interviewed by detectives today where he made full
> admissions," Detective Sergeant Henry Van Veenendaal from the Homicide
> Squad.
>
> "He was charged on two counts of murder."
>
>
>
> advertisement
>
> advertisement
>
> The hearing before a bail magistrate lasted just seven minutes.
>
> Wales, wearing a purple dress shirt and black trousers and clutching a
> packet of Benson and Hedges cigarettes, told the court he understood the
> charges that had been laid against him.
>
> When asked if he had anything to say, Wales said: "No".
>
> He was not required to enter a plea. The bail magistrate remanded him in
> custody and ordered him to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on
> Monday.
>
> They were reported missing by daughter Emma Connell the following Monday.
>
> Family members had become increasingly concerned for their welfare because
> they did not return phone calls, he said.
>
> The couple's bodies were found in a bush grave near Marysville, about 95km
> north-east of Melbourne, on April 29.
>
> The couple were cremated after a private funeral at St Peter's Catholic
> Church in Toorak last Wednesday. A memorial service, attended by an
> estimated 700 people, was held at the same church the following day.
>
> His brother Damian, sisters Emma, Prudence and Sally, and his wife Maritza
> were not in the court this afternoon.
>
>
> This story was found at:
> http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/11/1021002403008.html
>
>
>
>
>