Ex-cop backs psychics on body search

By Rachel Tiffen
A former detective sergeant working when Luana "Laverne" Williams disappeared 20 years ago, says police have never conducted an extensive search for her body and have nothing to lose by digging up McLaren Falls.
Now a private investigator in Tauranga, John Bermingham made the allegation in frustration, following Tuesday night's screening of Sensing Murder and years of discontent at the way the unsolved case had been handled.
He questioned why specialist search squads could not be brought in, as they were for last year's Wairoa Bridge double-killing.
He was interviewed on the TV2 show and had fielded several phonecalls since from retired police colleagues, congratulating him on his stand.
Mr Bermingham was extremely disappointed with the police decision not to further excavate the site but said cost and resources may have played a part.
"It's hard to know what their real reasons are. If they had their own theory then they would but it's because a psychic has said it that they're saying no."
In Sensing Murder, two psychics independently identified the same area at McLaren Falls as the burial site of the dead woman. A third confirmed the site on being taken there. Williams disappeared from her Gate Pa home on June 5, 1986, aged 25. Her body was never found.
But Tauranga police inquiry head Detective Sergeant Eddie Lyttle said police had legitimate reasons for not excavating.
"Police have had a number of psychics identifying various locations and we just can't go searching everywhere because (a) we don't have the resources and (b) we need more than a psychic account."
Mr Lyttle said certain aspects of the case could not be made public, as they might impede the investigation, but said they definitely influenced the line police were taking.
He was happy with the public response to the show. By this morning about 24 people had phoned police - several of whom provided fresh information relevant to the case.
"Nothing to do with what was in the programme but the show has caused them to ring us because they have information that may assist.
"So obviously there are some people who need to be re-interviewed."
Meanwhile, the Tauranga man living with Williams when she disappeared had "mixed feelings" about the TV show and the enquiry.
He said police involved in the investigation had made several search decisions over the years, far more dubious than digging at the falls. These included a ground-probe search at the former couple's Munro St home, two separate forensic tests on a car that "was out of action for months prior and months after Luana disappeared", the forensic testing of another vehicle and sending an officer to Australia on a tip-off, he said.
"Where they looked and where they dug, they may have had good reason but I can't understand it because to me these places were not logical places."
The man was annoyed at the way he was portrayed on television - "when police came to the door it looked like they were obviously trying to make me look guilty" - and at the naming of his new wife, who he was alleged to have been seeing at the time of Williams' disappearance.
Since the show aired, Ninox Television staff and police have been swamped with calls from viewers and people purporting to be psychic.
Producer Yvonne Grace could not put a figure on it but said they'd had "a really good response".
She said Ninox trusted the police decision not to dig and believed they were waiting for further evidential information.
She was convinced there were people with crucial details about Williams' disappearance and said now was the time to come forward. "Then police will be able to justify a dig."
The Williams family is disheartened by the police refusal to dig at McLaren Falls. Younger sister Melanie said her "gift" had made her aware of the site's importance shortly after Luana's disappearance. But the immense stress on her family meant she put all of her energy into supporting them.
"And on a spiritual level I also felt it was not the right time, I had to go with my intuition," she said.
In latter years a move to Australia and serious illness made it difficult for Melanie. She said family members had wanted to explore the area in the Kaimai Range but were told it would hinder police.
Public reaction to the psychic analysis of the Williams' case has been huge. Talkback lines have been ringing hot and the Trade Me website community page boasts hundreds of hits about the show.
At McLaren Falls, flowers have been placed near the alleged burial site and a purple dream-catcher hangs from a tree.
Loose earth and displaced leaves mark the spot dug beneath the "tree with seven branches", referred to by one of the psychics in the show.
Curious, friends Jade Hurford and Francis McCormick ventured to the site for a look. Ms Hurford said the show "freaked her out". She found the area "eerie" on closer inspection and thought police needed to dig more extensively.
- additional reporting, Rob Hay