Arabic version: جلسة تحقيق تسمع أن الانتحار مستبعد في اختفاء باترفيلد

According to ABC News, a coronial inquest is examining whether Mossman mother Joanne Butterfield died after disappearing in June 1998 and whether the police investigation was adequate. Retired Queensland police search-and-rescue coordinator Jim Whitehead told the inquest that suicide did not fit the available pattern.

Dr Whitehead, who completed a doctorate on the disposal of homicide victims, said Ms Butterfield’s belongings being discarded near a lookout and cane railway line about two hours’ drive from where she was last seen was difficult to reconcile with suicide. The items included clothing, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a handbag containing her passport, other identification and a freshly updated resume. Her Medicare card and bank card were posted to her daughter at school.

“I still think that, while suicide is a possibility, it’s not the one that I would put my money on,” Dr Whitehead told the inquest. He said policing resources were more limited in 1998, but added that he believed Ms Butterfield would have been found if she had taken her own life.

Taxi operators Colleen Brischetto and David Arduino gave evidence about arguments they said occurred between Ms Butterfield and Concetto Tati before she disappeared. Mr Tati, who spoke to police during the investigation, told the inquest he recalled meeting Ms Butterfield only once and had no knowledge of or involvement in her disappearance.

The inquest also heard that Michael O’Donoghue denied involvement in, or knowledge of, Ms Butterfield’s disappearance. Ms Brischetto and a former Mossman Hotel bartender said Mr Tati and Mr O’Donoghue stopped attending the hotel after Ms Butterfield went missing. The inquest continues next week.