Since her apparent vanishing in the early hours of September 23, 1986, there have been many different theories about where Vivienne Cameron could be.
While a 1988 coronial inquest concluded the 35-year-old took her own life by jumping from Phillip Island’s San Remo bridge, over the years there have been many rumours – Vivienne is buried somewhere on the island, she was secretly committed to a psychiatric hospital, or she disappeared to New Zealand or France.
More recently, when historical human remains were found at a property at the tiny town of Silverleaves on the small Victorian island, hope was raised that Vivienne might finally have been found.
But in January, police confirmed the bones weren’t related to any high-profile missing persons cases.
NO JUSTICE
Author Vikki Petraitis is certain – Vivienne didn’t jump from the bridge.
“I have never met one person from the island that has ever thought she [did], except for the police,” the author tells Woman’s Day.
“Every islander that I’ve spoken to has said it’s not high enough. Kids jump into it during the summer for fun. The only evidence is [the Camerons’] car was found parked nearby.”
It is likely Vikki knows more about this tragic case than anyone else.
Her first book, co-authored with Paul Daley, The Phillip Island Murder was released in 1993 and in 2019 her podcast, The Vanishing Of Vivienne Cameron she re-examined the case and presented a new perspective on what might have happened on the night one woman died and another vanished.
Her latest book returns to the subject, because, “It won’t let me go,” she says.
“The reason why is because there’s no truth at the end of the story and there’s no justice,” says Vikki.
“We don’t know where Vivienne is or who murdered Beth. Every time new information comes out I’m compelled to go, ‘How can we use this? How can we get the police to listen?’”
But the case is a cold one with the police saying they have no plans to reopen it, despite the many questions surrounding it.
What has seemingly never been doubted by the police is that Vivienne, a mother of two young sons and wife of prominent local farmer, Fergus, then 36, killed his mistress, Beth Barnard, 23, in a jealous frenzy after learning of their affair.
In 1988, a coronial inquest accepted this, stating, “I am satisfied that [Vivienne] is dead and that she leapt from the San Remo Bridge into the water below. . . and I am satisfied that the deceased contributed to the cause of death [of Beth].”
Beth, who worked with Fergus, was found on the morning of the September 23 at her family home on the other side of Phillip Island, in Rhyll, brutally stabbed to death.
The letter “A” was cut into her chest, which detectives believed was her killer’s way of branding her an adulteress.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Seemingly confirming Vivienne’s guilt, Fergus told police how his wife had only just learned about his affair that night and reacted very badly.
She had, he told them, smashed a wine glass across his head and back in a fit of rage, causing injuries so bad he needed medical attention.
When Vivienne drove her husband to hospital late on the night of September 22, she reportedly told Fergus, “I’m just going to get the little bitch.”
There are many unanswered questions about what happened before they got to the hospital and once they returned home.
Fergus later told police that in the early hours of the morning, after a long discussion, he and Vivienne agreed to separate immediately.
She would go to live in Melbourne while he would remain on the island and have custody of their children.
Fergus recounted how Vivienne told him Beth would make “an excellent mother”.
This year marks four decades since Beth died and Vivienne disappeared, and Vikki says she is still being offered up compelling new evidence that might solve the case.
“I never say never. As we’re finding out with the Easey Street [killings] and The Teacher’s Pet cases, you can have these 40 or 50-year-old cases where someone faces justice at the end of it,” Vikki says.
And even if the mystery is never solved, she hopes her books and investigation acts as a record for Vivienne’s sons and Beth’s family to read one day.
“I’ve never spoken to [Vivienne’s and Beth’s] families, so I can only draw conclusions about how devastated they were,” says Vikki.
“But I always thought the book would be an account for [them] to read, to show what knowledge was out there. If you’re a young boy and you’ve lost your mother, how are you ever going to know what happened if people aren’t talking about it?’
The Vanishing Of Vivienne Cameron by Vikki Petraitis is out now. (Simon&Schuster, $36.99)
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