HAS LEANNE’S KILLER BEEN ARRESTED?

In December 2018 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland a 66 year old male was arrested and charged with four counts of Rape and one count of Indecent Treatment of his 11 year old granddaughter. He was held in custody but eventually granted bail. We cannot identify this man due to Qld legislation, so I shall call him Pedo.

Pedo appeared in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court in April 2019 and was committed to stand trial in the Maroochydore District Court on all charges. No date for the trial has yet been set. We shall watch with interest when it does.

At his committal hearing we were able to take photographs of him leaving court.

Pedo has a lengthy criminal history dating back to at least 1970. He has convictions for many offences, including sexual offences and has served several terms of imprisonment. He was sentenced to, and served 8 years imprisonment for the incest of his two daughters in 1998.

During my investigations into this murder I nominated three persons who were, in my opinion, more likely to have murdered Leanne Holland than Graham Stafford. Pedo was one of those persons I nominated.

I have been told that in the Police Review, Pedo was exonerated and eliminated as a suspect in the murder. I have also been informed I was criticized for even suggesting he may have been involved. Channel 7 used Pedo as their start witness and go to person to show Graham Stafford was the rightful offender.

I also claimed that Pedo was at the body dump site dressed as and in the company of detectives. A claim QPS strenuously denied, despite one of the detectives on the Police Review team telling me personally that Pedo had been at the crime scene. In a podcast presented by Channel 7, Pedo claimed he attended the home of the deceased on the morning the police investigation started, at the request of detectives, to ‘see what he could find out’. QPS have stated this was the murder site. So we now have a career criminal with a lengthy criminal history at a crime scene and body disposal site.

A photo is in existence of the male accompanying police at the body disposal site in 1991. We were able to have an expert compare that photograph to the photograph of Pedo taken outside Maroochydore Magistrates Court in 2019. Although there is a gap of some 28 years between photographs, we were told there is a ‘strong’ resemblance between the two person depicted in the photographs.

I have asked this question before and must ask it again:” What is a criminal doing attending crime scenes and seemingly involved in a murder investigation?”. The question becomes particularly relevant when a NUMBER of persons believe HE was involved in the murder of Leanne Holland.

The presumption of innocence aside I have prepared two profiles.

GRAHAM STAFFORD- 56 years of age. No criminal history. No history of sexual offending. No motive presented for him killing Leanne Holland. No witnesses to him killing Leanne Holland. No direct evidence of him killing Leanne Holland. Forensic and circumstantial evidence only connecting him to the crime which has been heavily criticized and contested. Does not smoke and never smoked. He only knew Leanne for approx 3 months. Has not offended since his release from prison in 2005. His conviction for the murder was quashed but he remains the only suspect. Continues to campaign his innocence of the crime.

PEDO – 66 years of age. Lengthy criminal history including sexual offences. Has served several terms of imprisonment including 8 years for incest of his daughters. His daughters claimed he burnt them with cigarettes. Leanne Holland had similar marks on her body. He did smoke at that time. Her lived next door to the Hollands for some years and lived at the Holland house for a few weeks before the murder.It has been claimed he took Leanne on trips with him in his truck. His daughters claim he had sex with them in the same bush spot where Leanne’s body was found. his daughters claimed he told them they would end up like Leanne if they told anyone what was happening between them. Other close family members support claims made by his daughters.

There has never been an inquest into the death of Leanne Holland, despite this being a requirement under Queensland legislation. Graham Stafford and a number of other persons have written to the Attorney General requesting an inquest. The AG’s official position is that ‘it is not in the public interest’.

The above and many other matters need to be explored by a coroner to get to the real truth behind the murder of Leanne Holland.