A criminologist who has closely followed the disappearance of William Tyrrell says she believes police are focusing on the wrong person after naming his foster mother as a person of interest.
Dr Xanthe Mallett, a criminologist at the University of Newcastle and author of the book Mothers Who Murder, toldThe Project that she had pored over testimony and victim impact statements during the coronial inquest and believes William's foster mum to be credible.
"I have to say nothing has ever made me suspicious that she had any involvement at all," she said.
As police comb through evidence around the town of Kendall, where William was last seen, Mallett said she is confident the little boy will be found if he is there.
A decision on whether the William Tyrrell investigation will “be taken further” will be announced at the end of the search, according to the NSW police minister. Investigators today continuing their hunt for clues to crack the case.#TheProjectTVpic.twitter.com/a7MZIhiMds
"If William is in one of those three locations that are being searched outside of Kendall over the coming days and weeks ... they will find his remains," she said.
The comments came after NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller confirmed that the only person being looked at now as a person of interest is William's foster mother.
William Tyrrell. Photo / Supplied
Detectives are investigating whether William fatally fell from the second-storey balcony of his foster grandmother's home and have spent the week digging up and sifting through the dirt of the garden below.
Police are also investigating whether a Mazda 3 seized in southern Sydney which previously belonged to the foster grandmother may have been used to transport William's body to nearby bushland.
Former homicide detective Gary Jubelin, who led the search for William, also said there was nothing to make him suspect William's foster parents had anything to do with his disappearance.
Jubelin has revealed that he interrogated the missing boy's foster parents and bugged their car to listen in on their conversations before they were ruled out as suspects.
William was three when he vanished from his foster grandmother's home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, in 2014.
Jubelin headed the investigation for more than four years from early 2015 until 2019 when he was stood down as the head of Strike Force Rosann not long before he left the NSW Police Force.
The house in Kendall where William Tyrrell was last seen. Photo / File
He was convicted in April last year of making four illegal recordings of interviews with a person of interest in the case and fined A$10,000.
Foster mother denies any involvement
William's foster mum – who cannot be named due to legal restrictions – has strongly denied having anything to do with his disappearance.
"We have nothing to hide. We gave them everything. They took our laptops," she said.
William foster mother is a wealthy professional from Sydney's north shore. She is now 56 years old.
On the day that William went missing, she was visiting the home of her mother when William suddenly disappeared in the middle of a game.
Criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett.
Being a person of interest does not necessarily suggest William's foster mother is a suspect.
