Wanda Beach Murders

Wanda Beach murders
Date11 January 1965 (1965-01-11)
LocationWanda Beach near Cronulla, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
TypeMurder x 2
Cause
  1. Throat slashed and multiple stab wounds
  2. Blow to the back of the head and multiple stab wounds
OutcomeUnsolved cold case
Deaths
  1. Marianne Schmidt
    (aged 15 years)
  2. Christine Sharrock
    (aged 15 years)

The Wanda Beach Murders, also known simply as "Wanda",[1] were the unsolved murders of Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock at Wanda Beach near Cronulla in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 11 January 1965. The victims, both aged 15, were best friends and neighbours from the suburb of West Ryde, and their partially buried bodies were discovered the next day. The brutal nature of the slayings and the fact that they occurred on a deserted, windswept beach brought massive publicity to the case.[2] By April 1966, police had interviewed some 7,000 people, making it the largest investigation in Australian history.[1] It remains one of the most infamous unsolved Australian murder cases of the 1960s,[3][4] and New South Wales' oldest unsolved homicide case.[5]

  1. ^ a b "The Wanda Beach Murders/Beaumont Children Mystery". Crime Investigation Australia. Series 1. Episode 11. 2007. Crime & Investigation Network.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Smith, Hayden (16 October 2015). "FNQ photographer Hans Schmidt accepts his sister's murder might never be solved". Cairns Post. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  4. ^ "New Wanda clue". The Sun-Herald. 4 June 1988. Retrieved 3 January 2017.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Benny-Morrison, Ava (7 October 2017). "Missing: 50 unsolved NSW homicides have evidence that's missing or discarded". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 January 2018.