Shane Spiller: The Missing Hero

Warneet is a sleepy coastal town about 56 kilometres from Melbourne, a popular spot for quiet family getaways, boating and fishing. In 1969, it was the kind of place where parents relaxed and allowed their children to roam free. Children growing up in the sun and playing until dark when they would have to go home for dinner. It was a carefree time. On Sunday, the 20th July 1969, 11 year old Shane Spiller grabbed his little tomahawk for a bonfire picnic at Ski Beach. Before heading to the beach Shane stopped at the neighbours house to collect his friend, Yvonne Touhy who was 12. As they walked down the well-worn path through scrub to the beach, they were met by the man who was to become known as Australia's Hannibal Lector, Derek Percy.

21 year old Derek Ernest Percy was an unassuming naval cadet who worked at the Cerberus Naval Base. Unbeknown to the children, he was waiting in his car for any potential victim to come down that beach track. As Shane and Yvonne walked past the car, Percy jumped out and grabbed young Yvonne. Percy asked Shane to come towards him. Unexpected to the coward Percy, little Shane Spiller showed a lot of courage. Shane brandished his tomahawk and warned Percy he would hit him. Percy backed off, maintaining his grip on Yvonne. Poor little Shane had to make a decision. Face a grown adult man or get help? Shane decided to run and get help. As he was running he could hear Yvonne's desperate pleas, "Help. He's going to kill me. He's going to cut my throat."

Despite being in such a horrific situation, Shane Spiller had kept his wits about him. He had observed the naval logo sticker on the bumper bar of Percy's vehicle. Police responded quickly, taking the young boy to Cerberus Naval Base, where Shane was able to point out Percy's Datsun 1000 in the parking lot. Once the police ascertained that Derek Percy was the owner of the vehicle they went to his room where they discovered Percy washing blood stains from his clothing. Detectives were able to get the Naval Command to release Percy into their custody. He was formally interviewed at Frankston police station by Detective Sergeant Richard Knight. It was the only time he would ever confess to anything. During the interview he told police he could take them to where Yvonne Touhy's body was. The police were directed Fisheries Road, Devon Meadows, 8 kilometres from where Yvonne had been kidnapped at knife point. Percy pointed out the bush under which he had left Yvonne's mutilated body.

"I've seen numerous things. I've seen numerous bodies, and this is the worst … It's still there."

- Chief Superintendent Ken Robertson (retired)

When police searched Percy's locker at the Naval Base they discovered a diary. Percy had kept a record of his sick and violent fantasies involving children. Police took note of the diary and Percy has been linked as a suspect in a number of other murdered and missing children cases. Unfortunately, Percy would never to confess to any other crimes. All the police had was the diary and a statement made to a friend, Ron Anderson. Anderson happened to be a police offer and was brought in with the hope that Percy would open up to him. All Percy said to Anderson was, "Looks like I've f*ed up this time."

The trial against Derek Percy was held in 1970. Not only did Shane have to stare into the eyes of evil once but for second time when he was a witness for the trial against Percy. As was custom for the day little Shane Spiller was required to walk up to Percy and point him out.

"What happened stuffed me . . . In the line-up at Russell Street (police station), I had to pick him. I had to walk up and point right at his nose. The look he gave me. I can still remember it."

- Shane Spiller. The Age 1998

Percy pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity and the jury accepted it. No one could accept that a person who would commit such a brutal crime was sane. Percy was never convicted for Yvonne's murder and he was sentenced to be detained at the Governor's pleasure, meaning that there was no set date for his release.

Fast forward to 2002, Shane Spiller was now living in the small country town of Wyndham, New South Wales. Locals described Shane as a decent and likeable man. Unfortunately, the trauma of his childhood never left him. He suffered with anxiety, depression, paranoia and substance abuse. Robert Read, head of the Victoria Police Victim Advisory Unit first met Shane in 1998. Read liked Shane from the start, "He was a knockabout sort of fella, a wild and woolly little character, very thin, with this big Ned Kelly beard. There wasn't much of him, probably more beard than anything. He was quintessentially a little Aussie bloke from the bush. But that was the facade. Underneath that he was a shattered individual and Derek Percy still controlled him. He was vulnerable and he was extremely fearful. Beneath the face of Shane Spiller lived a deep and dark cesspool of emotions."

Detective Sergeant Mark Winterflood from Bega police also met Shane in 1998. Every so often after that Spiller would ring to talk about Percy. Winterflood knew he was an alcoholic and that he grew and smoked a lot of dope, but he had a strange fondness for him. According to Winterflood, Shane was harmless, considerate and for the most part honest, "He was an unusual sort of bloke. But he lived on the fringe — and he didn't pick his friends very well."

This turned into a problem when he became addicted to morphine. "He mixed with this circle of substance abusing people. Anywhere he could get morphine, through shonky scripts or other friends who could scam it, he'd grab it," explains Detective Sergeant Winterflood, "People took advantage of him."

Shane was last seen on the 9th September 2002, when he went to collect his mail at the local store. A few days later friends and neighbours became concerned when they hadn't seen him. They went to his home and broke in. In the middle of the lounge room they found his medication, his boots and the dinner table set for two. His motorcycle was locked in his shed. His friends called the police and a search was immediately launched. Many people joined the search on motorbikes and horses, checking old mine shafts and lookouts. Not a trace of Shane has ever been found.

For four and half years after Shane's disappearance, Detective Sergeant Winterflood arranged searches, pumped out a flooded mineshaft at Devil's Hole, scouted the lookouts where he had his cannabis crops, conducted all the relevant death checks and checked immigration. In 2007, he sent a brief to the NSW coroner. He suspects there are two possibilities. One is that he suffered an overdose at someone's home and they panicked and hid the body. "What doesn't fit with that scenario is that Wyndham is such a small place where everyone knows everything and sooner or later the word would have got out. The other theory is that he's gone to a place of his choosing, a nice lookout or whatever, and done it there. Suicide." Spiller had already made two unsuccessful attempts to kill himself. His psychologist booked him into Bega hospital but after a few days he walked out. Not long after, he was gone.

Read, who knows too well the lasting damage done by trauma, says the suicide scenario doesn't sit right. "This was a bloke who talked night after night of killing himself, but it never happened. If I was honest with my emotions and my intuition, I'd have to say I don't believe he killed himself. Something else happened to him." Many others who knew Shane also deny that he would have taken his own life. His friends and neighbours still go out looking for him.

Whilst both scenarios seem plausible, I do question the table set for two in home for a man who lived alone. Was he expecting someone? If, so and he did take his own life before they arrived, why did they not report him missing then? I guess we will never know for certain. Shane Spiller was Derek Percy's last victim and wherever Shane is, I hope he has found peace.