In March of 2002, tragedy struck the Pacific community of Norfolk Island. 29-year-old Janelle Patton had been found murdered at the Cockpit Waterfall Reserve, and local law enforcement had no other choice but to include the AFP – the Australian Federal Police – in the investigation. Part one can be found here.
Where the AFP could lend local police their resources and expertise, local officers could lend a knowledge of the island and its inhabitants. Together, both levels of law enforcement were determined to solve the murder of Janelle Patton.
They started by sending a survey to each resident and visitor to the island for the months of March and April. By May of 2002, 84% of visitors completed the survey, while only 56% of residents felt the need to do so. Most residents didn’t want to have anything to do with the murder, or the investigation. They would soon find they didn’t really have a choice.
While both permanent residents and visitors accounted for nearly 2,500 people, only those aged between 15 and 70 were asked to voluntarily provide DNA and fingerprints.
Investigators had found fingerprints on the black plastic sheeting that had been wrapped around Janelle’s body. By collecting fingerprints, both local investigators and the AFP were hoping to quickly eliminate as many people as possible.
Two years later, in May of 2004, investigators were no closer to finding Janelle’s killer. They’d managed to exonerate a great majority of those who’d volunteered their prints and DNA, but not every resident or visitor had provided them, despite constant urgings to do so.
Feeling at a loss, investigators decided to open an inquest into the murder. The inquest proved challenging. The heavy rains on the day of Janelle’s murder had washes away a lot of evidence – including tire marks, footprints, and some potential DNA. All they had that was concrete were the prints on the black plastic sheeting.
However, investigators did have something. They had a list of 16 people who were considered persons of interest. And this list was made public.
Near the top of the list were Janelle’s parents. They were quickly exonerated. They’d cooperated with every step of the investigation, and volunteered their prints and DNA when asked. Neither of their prints matched those from the black sheet.
Another person on this list was a friend whom Janelle had fallen out with. Despite the bad blood between them, she was also exonerated.
While browsing through Janelle’s diary, investigators came up with a few more names that were on their list of 16. Despite having relocated to Norfolk Island after bad luck with relationships, it seemed that Janelle wasn’t having much luck on the island either.
A couple of men whom Janelle dated described her as difficult and possessive. They said that she drank heavily, and was often unreasonable and unconsolable when drunk. These men were also exonerated.
It was quite clear that everyone on this list, aside from Janelle’s parents, had either fallen out with her, or had expressed a dislike for Janelle. Though there was much bad blood between her and the numerous persons of interest, one by one, each of them were exonerated and ruled out as Janelle’s killer. Their fingerprints simply did not match the evidence from the black plastic sheeting.
Having disqualified all sixteen persons as Janelle’s murderer, the inquest concluded on a sour note. Investigators were no close to discovering who had murdered Janelle Patton. Until, suddenly, they stumbled upon exactly what they were looking for.
As part of the inquest, investigators decided to look over every single piece of evidence in the police file with a fine-toothed comb. This included looking over every single fingerprint that was on record with the authorities – not just the ones collected for the case. By reviewing these prints, investigators were led to a prime suspect – Glen McNeill.
In the year 2000, Glen and his girlfriend, Aliesha, moved from Nelson, New Zealand to Norfolk Island where they married in January of 2002. Investigators reviewed his prints, which had been taken during an investigation of a break-in at a tourist shop, and found that they matched the prints that had been found on the now-infamous black plastic sheeting.
As this discovery had been made, investigators also learned that McNeill had left the island, divorced Aliesha, and was living with a new partner. Having matching prints wasn’t quite enough to haul McNeill back to the island, they needed more evidence.
Investigators conducted a forensic examination on the vehicle that had been registered to McNeill at the time, a white Honda, as well as his previous lodging.
Both the vehicle and the house had traces of green glass that matched the glass that had been found in Janelle’s hair. The back garden also held a black plastic sheet, which matched the sheet that had been wrapped around Janelle’s body.
The forensic examination also found hair in the trunk of the Honda. Seeing as the hair was without root, it could not be tested for DNA, but it could be sent in for mitochondrial testing.
In early 2006, the results of the mitochondrial testing found that “Janelle and her maternal relatives couldn’t be excluded as sources of the hair” (Casefile podcast). Though not a positive identification, it did not rule out the fact that McNeill had either killed Janelle, or participated in disposing her body. Either way, it was clear that Glen McNeill had definitely been involved in Janelle’s death.
On February 1st, 2006, Glen McNeill was apprehended by the murder of Janelle Patton by New Zealand authorities at his home in Nelson, New Zealand.
At the police station, the case against him was laid out. He was told that he didn’t have to say anything – especially without and legal guidance there at the time. But he did not heed the advice of the officers. He confessed.
McNeill claimed that on the morning of Janelle’s murder, he’d been driving around and smoking marijuana. He claimed that he took his eyes off the road for a moment to pick up a carton of cigarettes, and that’s when he hit Janelle with his car. He stopped, and found her body underneath the car.
He picked her, put her in the trunk, and went home, thinking she was dead and contemplating what to do with her. He was home for an hour or two when he said he heard moaning from the trunk of the car. Rather than take her to the hospital, McNeill decided he needed to kill Janelle. So, he attacked he, and stabbed her repeatedly with a fish fileting knife.
Then, he grabbed some of the black plastic sheeting from his garden, wrapped it around Janelle’s body – which was now quite dead – and drove to Cockpit Waterfall Reserve, where he placed her body near the barbecue area.
Then, he said, he went home, cleaned up the crime scene, played video games, picked up his then-wife from work, threw the knife into the ocean, and proceeded to go about his business as though nothing had happened.
McNeill’s story didn’t quite add up. According to the pathologist who completed Janelle’s autopsy, McNeill’s version of events did not match any of the evidence, nor the injuries on Janelle’s body. McNeill was lying about something – it was obvious that he had been involved in Janelle’s murder, but it simply could not have occurred the way he claimed it had.
On February 9th, 2006, following an extradition from New Zealand to Norfolk Island, Glen McNeill was formally charged with the murder of Janelle Patton.
In August of 2006, as pre-trial hearings began, McNeill entered a plea of not guilty and retracted his confession. He said that he’d been in a terrible mental state at the time of his initial arrest, and he would have simply agreed to anything the police had told him. With that, the pre-trial hearings were underway.
On the second day, a biologist testified that she’d found an unknown female DNA sample on Janelle’s shorts, as well as under her fingernails. This put some suspicions firmly on McNeill’s ex-wife, Aliesha, as a potential co-conspirator.
Aliesha testified that she had no knowledge of the murder, nor did she have any involvement in it. She was dismissed, and allowed to return home to New Zealand. Her DNA has never been tested in this case.
At the conclusion of the hearings, the pre-trial judge declared that there was enough evidence to proceed with a full trial.
The full trial began on February 1st, 2007 – a full year after McNeill’s arrest.
The prosecution argued that McNeill’s motive for the attack on Janelle had been sexual in nature, despite there not being any evidence of a sexual assault having taken place.
The defence argued that the unknown female DNA sample proved that the murderer had been a woman who’d staged the body to make it look like an attempt at a sexual assault.
Aliesha was brought in to testify, and again stated that she had no knowledge and no involvement in the murder. She stated that she did not see any blood on or near McNeill on the day of the murder, and, though he had been acting strangely, she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
McNeill read from a sworn statement, meaning that he could speak tot he court from a document that had been sworn in as evidence without havin to face cross-examination. From the statement, he said that he did not kill Janelle, and that he had not seen Janelle at all on the day or her murder.
On March 9th, 2007, the trial ended and the jury deliberated. They returned a verdict of guilty against McNeill. On July 25th, 2007, Glen McNeill was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
McNeill has appealed his conviction without success.
In June of 2011, there were rumours that the case could be re-opened due to claims made by McNeill stating that he knew who the real killers were.
He claimed – and still claims to this day – that a couple – a man and a woman – had killed Janelle because she threatened to tell the police about their drug activities. The couple had enlisted McNeill’s help in hiding the body as his repayment for stealing two of their cannabis plants. If he didn’t help them, he said, they’d go after Aliesha.
The AFP dismiss these claims. They maintain that there is no evidence to support them. The case remains closed, and Glen McNeill remains in custody for the murder of Janelle Patton.
A match has never been found for the unknown female DNA sample.
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Sources:
Casefile: True Crime podcast – Episode 39: Janelle Patton
A Pacific murder mystery that won’t go away – Roger Maynard – The Independent
Janelle Patton Wikipedia page
[…] Stay tuned for part two. […]