New book challenges theories of Juanita’s death

They say art imitates life but it can also chronicle violent death, and a new book by a British-born investigative journalist paints a lurid picture of the dark side of Sydney and a murder plot that will strike a chord with many Sydney readers.

Entitled The Nelson Conspiracy, it is presented as a work of fiction but for many it will echo the real-life story of the murder of newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen.

The book challenges the accepted theories of Neilsen’s disappearance, claiming they are based on false evidence.

The author, Barry Ward was one of two journalists who conducted a long but thwarted investigation into Nielsen’s disappearance.

Ward was a reporter for various Sydney newspapers between 1963 and 1979 and had met Juanita, the editor of the Kings Cross newspaper Now, shortly before her disappearance on 4 July 1975.

“I was a sports writer but I couldn’t ignore the story when it broke,” he said, “and I opened an investigation into the case with my colleague Tony Reeves. It wasn’t long before we realised we were onto the story of a lifetime.”

In the course of their enquiries they discovered they were under constant police surveillance and that their phones were tapped. When they traced a man police said was a key witness they were beaten up, abducted and handed over to the Darlinghurst  police who threw them into jail on spurious charges. These were later dismissed after an eight-day trial that involved four barristers and set a legal precedent.

Ignoring threats of death and assorted violence, the pair traced witnesses who endorsed their claims that Juanita had been murdered for what she was about to publish on organised crime and corruption.

They established that the official version of events was a fabrication, a cover-up devised by the notorious (now dead) former detective sergeant who had accepted the murder contract and who had prevailed upon his erstwhile colleagues to endorse the story.

They made their findings known to senior members of the newly elected NSW Wran Labor Government, requesting a judicial hearing to bring the plotters to justice. But although the State Attorney General was a supporter, he couldn’t persuade the Premier to agree.

For the safety of their families both men left Sydney when the death threats became persistent. At one stage they were warned “you’ll get yer kneecaps nailed to a tree in Centennial Park.”

Ward returned to England, where he still works as a journalist and follows his obsession with the case.

“We’d written a true crime version at the time but it was perceived as too dangerous, legally and physically, and Sydney publishers wouldn’t look at it,” Ward reveals.

So, intermittently, for the next 30 years, and aided by the advent of the internet, Ward beavered away at the in the hope that some day he could help Juanita’s tormented spirit to find peace.

The Nelson Conspiracy, 320 pp, Legend Press, $AUD34.95 [delivered], available on-line via www.amazon.co.uk where you need to search for the title.

Pictured is a portrait of Kings Cross Busker Cathie O’Brien and Juanita Neilsen, by Brenda Humble. O’Brien writes music themed on the Neilsen mystery.