I was a respected pillar of the community after decades of good work – until I was branded a serial killer… and my life never recovered
A former mayor wrongly accused of being Claremont’s infamous serial killer has told how the damaging and hurtful claims have destroyed his life.
Peter Weygers was the mayor of the Perth suburb of Claremont for 12 years. He chaired the Council for Civil Liberties for another thirty years and committed to a position as a senior psychologist at a school.
But that all changed in 1996 when local newspapers accused him of kidnapping and murder secretary Sarah Spiers, 18, childcare worker Jane Rimmer, 23, and lawyer Ciara Glennon, 27.
All three women disappeared after a night out with friends. The bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon were discovered in the bushland weeks after they were killed, but Ms Spiers’ body was never found.
Mr Weygers and his family were relentlessly harassed and abused by members of their own community for more than two decades until the real killer, Bradley Robert Edwards, was arrested in 2016 and convicted in 2020.
At one point, a severed cat’s head arrived in Mr. Weygers’ mailbox.
Peter Weygers was wrongly accused of being the Claremont serial killer between 1996 and 2016
Sarah Spiers (photo) was 18 when she was murdered in 1997. Her body was never found
In an episode on Tuesday evening, he will describe the emotional toll the false accusations have had on his life Insight into SBS.
Mr Weygers told the program he was a leading member of his community before the killings began in 1996 and a newspaper headline read: ‘Mayor refuses to help Rimmer police.’
He said: ‘It portrayed me as uncooperative and suggested I had something to hide.
‘This couldn’t have been more untrue.’
A week after Ms Rimmer disappeared, he launched an audit of the city center’s security with police and organized a police safety and security committee in the city’s council chamber.
He also took six months off to demolish 4,500 houses and provide police safety information to residents.
On election day, when he hoped to be re-elected, a newspaper published another headline: ‘Weygers has ‘postponed’ Glennon’s questions.
He told the programme: ‘My role at the Civil Liberties Council often brought me into conflict with the police, politicians, local journalists and publications.
“I have no idea why the media insinuated that I could be the Claremont serial killer, but I believe that was the reason I was never re-elected.”
Jane Rimmer (pictured), 23, was the Claremont killer’s second victim
Ciara Glennon (pictured) was 27 when she was kidnapped and violently murdered in Perth
In 2004, two of his properties were raided by police in the name of investigating the murders.
Journalists and television cameras lining his street gathered in Mr. Weygers’ front yard before a detective told them he was a suspect.
“On the day of the first raid, a journalist told me that they had been tipped off by the police, no doubt to ensure they received maximum media attention,” he told the programme.
“My reputation was everything, and I held myself to the highest standards in everything I did… The years of media attention destroyed my reputation.”
After spending most of his life in Claremont, he suddenly found himself unable to spend time there due to the trauma and humiliation he had suffered at the hands of his own community.
People shouted at him on the street and called him a murderer, threatened to hurt his family and stared at him when he walked down the street or went to the supermarket.
“I am now 80 years old and have a serious heart condition, but the damage pales in comparison to the heartbreak my family and I have suffered in the name of this research,” he said.
“I have so much sympathy for the three victims of this tragedy and their families.”
Bradley Robert Edwards (pictured) was jailed for life for serial murder in 1996 and 1997
However, he said there is no excuse for the media trial that destroyed his life.
He never received an apology from the police or the newspapers responsible for the treatment he was subjected to.
The Claremont serial killer case is WA’s largest, longest-running and most expensive criminal investigation.
Edwards, the killer, had previously admitted assaulting two other women and raping a 17-year-old girl in 1995, but denied killing Ms Spiers, Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon between January 1996 and March 1997.
Prosecutors relied on DNA evidence collected from under Ms. Glennon’s fingertips as she scratched and scrapped for her life.
Also crucial to their case was a match between fibers from Edwards’ car and those found on the bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon.
Police had long had their sights on the convicted killer – who dubbed himself the ‘boogeyman’ online – but he repeatedly lied to them about his crimes.
The bodies of Ms Glennon and Ms Rimmer were found in bushland north and south of Perth weeks after their disappearance and had suffered neck injuries.
He was found guilty of their murders in the WA Supreme Court in 2020, but he was acquitted of Ms Spiers’ murder. Without a body, the judge ruled there was not enough evidence to convince him beyond a reasonable doubt.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
