Episode 44: The Murders of Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins
Left: Lauren Barry Right: Nichole Collins
The weekend of October 3rd, 1997 began as a fun weekend of camping for fourteen year old Lauren Barry and sixteen year old Nichole Collins in Kalaru area near Bega, Australia. Hanging with friends, horseback riding and siting around the bonfire were the extent of their plans. However, on Sunday October 5th, the girls made a fateful choice to leave their camp and walk a dark isolated road to visit a friend in town. That night they would vanish and when the gruesome story of their murders was finally revealed, the devastation would leave lasting scars on their families, friends and community.
The murders, which would become known as the Bega Schoolgirl Murders, resulted in the conviction of two men, Leslie Camilleri and Lindsay Beckett, who’d committed the heinous crime against the two young women.
This true crime story inspired my novel Flowers in Her Bones. If you’re interested in checking out the book, you can find that here.
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Show Sources:
Crime Investigation Australia Documentary: The Bega Schoolgirls Murder
Illawarra Mercury: Bega Schoolgirl Murders: Brother Speaks Out Twenty Years On
Article by Caroline Overington: Face of the Devil
ABC.NET/NEWS: Bega killer Leslie Camilleri sentenced over murder of Melbourne schoolgirl Prue Bird
Newspaper Archives:
The Sydney Morning Herald (10.18.97). Town That Won’t Give Up
The Sydney Morning Herald (08.21.98). Life Sentence for Bega Girls’ Killer
The Sydney Morning Herald (4.18.99). Murdered Girl’s Parents Tell of Battle to Get on with Life
The Sydney Morning Herald (8.23.98). “I Hid in Hole to Escape Attackers”
The Sydney Morning Herald (11.16.97). Scandal of the Bega Murders Suspect
The Sydney Morning Herald (11.14.1997). Aborted Trial Set Bega Murderer Free