Linda Stilwell, 7, went missing from the St Kilda foreshore in August 1968. It is believed she is one of child killer Derek Percy's victims. Picture: HWT library. Source: HWT Image Library
CHILD killer Derek Percy will finally be forced to answer questions about the 1968 murder of Linda Stillwell, 7, after a landmark court ruling.
The sex fiend could also be forced to give evidence about other unsolved child murders before a re-opened Coroner's inquest into the young girl's death.
In a landmark decision handed down by the Court of Appeal this morning and met by tears from barristers in the case, Derek Ernest Percy will also be forced to face a grilling in court about any involvement he is suspected of having in the brutal mutilation sex-killings of five other children - including the Beaumonts - across three states.
There are some who believe he is responsible for even more killings.
Did Derek Percy kill young Allen Redston?
Linda Stilwell's grieving mother, Jean Priest, was today also in tears as she received news of the legal breakthough while visiting family for Christmas in Perth.
Jean Priest, whose daughter Linda Stilwell went missing in 1968, has never given up her battle for justice for her girl. Picture: Alex Coppel
Mrs Priest, 73, has waited almost 45 years to learn what became of her daughter, snatched from the St Kilda foreshore and never seen again.
"I just can't stop crying, its absolutely wonderful news,'' Mrs Priest told the Herald Sun.
"It's been all this time not just for me but for my whole family and we just want to find out that it is possible we can get some answers.''
Mrs Priest said the most important answer Percy could give would be to tell what he knows about what became of Linda's body.
'We need to give her a burial, that is our main objective but just to know that he (Percy) has to finally face up to people, not just for Linda but what happened to all the other children (he is suspected of killing).
"This is just fantastic news, I feel the (Court of Appeal) judges have just given me a huge hug''
Deputy State Coroner Iain West, investigating Linda's disappearance, declined to use new laws to compel Percy to give evidence at the inquest because his apparent psychotic state in the 1960s might mean his evidence was unreliable.
Mr West made a formal interim finding that Percy, the prime suspect in the abduction, was in the vicinity of seven-year-old Linda on the day she disappeared.
Percy is currently Victoria's longest serving prisoner who faces an indefinite term for the killing of Yvonne Tuohy several months after Linda disappeared.
Derek Percy is a suspect in the disappearance of the missing Beaumont children Jane, Arnna and Grant..
Percy claimed he had no memory of killing children other than Yvonne, but told police he may have abducted Linda and was in the areas where others were taken.
Mrs Priest believes Percy has for years feigned a memory lapse brought on by psychosis in relation to the abductions of killings.
"I believe that he does remember and he needs to give us some closure, not that we will ever have proper closure.''
Mrs Priest thanked her legal team of Elizbeth McKinnon and Simon Gillespie-Jones and Detective Wayne Newman who picked up the cold-case file for their persistence in the case.
Both Ms McKinnon and Ms Gillespie-Jones were in tears at today's finding.
"Wayne Newman, the policeman that went after him, he just kept on going and going.''
Following reports in the Herald Sun, the Victorian government, through Attorney-General Robert Clark, vowed to indemnify Mrs Priest from an ever-increasing legal bill as she fought her way through the courts appealing the decision by Deputy Coroner West not to compel Percy to take the witness stand.
Mum's battle for justice
In December 2009, Mr West commenced an inquest into Linda's disappearance and death.
During that inquest, Ms Priest sought to rely on a number of statements made by police officers, a forensic pathologist and a psychologist that she submitted tended to demonstrate that Percy killed her daughter.
But Mr West deemed those statements irrelevant and ruled they be removed from the Stillwell brief of evidence.
Percy was called to give evidence at the inquest but objected on the basis of possible self incrimination.
Mr West ruled there were reasonable grounds for that and decided not to compel Percy to give evidence, partly on the ground that any evidence he might give could be unreliable.
"The coroner did not inform Mr Percy that if he gave evidence willingly he would be given a certificate of immunity in respect of that evidence," a summary of today's COA judgment stated.
The inquest was adjourned to allow Ms Priest to challenge Mr West's rulings.
A Supreme Court judge dismissed Mr Priest's challenge.
Mum's bid to get Percy onto the witness stand
Ms Priest then took her fight to the Court of Appeal, where President Justice Chris Maxwell and justices David Harper and Pamela Tate this morning allowed the determined mother's appeal.
"The Court of Appeal held that the coroner was obliged to take into account most of the statements relied on by Ms Priest as relevant to the inquest into Linda Stillwell," the judgment summary said.
"It also held that the coroner was obliged to take into account the most recent medical evidence relevant to the issue of the reliability of Mr Percy's short-term and long-term memory.
"In addition, the Court of Appeal held that the coroner was obliged to inform Mr Percy that if he gave evidence willingly he would be given a certificate of immunity and the effect of such a certificate."
The judges directed that the inquest be reconvened.
Outside court afterwards, Ms Priest's barrister, Simon Gillespie-Jones, spoke of the family's happiness as Ms McKinnon wiped away relieved tears of happiness.
"The family is very happy and very relieved," Mr Gillespie-Jones said.
"The whole process has been very difficult for them."
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