David Birnie

When told of her lover's confession, Catherine Birnie also broke. They agreed to take police to the bodies that were buried not far from the city. It was as though it was a load off David Birnie's mind. He spoke freely with the detectives as he directed the convoy of vehicles out of the metropolitan area and towards the State Forest, north of the city.

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The convoy moved along Wanneroo Road and through the pine forests. Birnie was so relaxed and chatting so much that they were almost at Yanchep before he realised that they had gone too far and instructed them to turn around and go back. Squinting into the darkness, David Birnie recognised a track that led off the highway and into the darkness of the Gnangara pine plantation.

About 400 yards into the forest, Birnie instructed them to stop. He pointed to a mound of sand. "Dig there," he said. Within minutes, police had uncovered the corpse of Denise Karen Brown who had been reported missing only five days earlier.

With a guard placed around the shallow grave, Birnie directed the convoy south to the Glen Eagle Picnic Area on the Albany Highway near Armadale. After travelling for half an hour, Birnie guided police into the forest and along a narrow track. Up an incline about 40 yards from the track, police uncovered the decomposing body of 22-year-old Mary Frances Neilson, who had gone missing on 6 October.

A further kilometre down the track, David Birnie pointed out the burial site of 15 year-old Susannah Candy who hadn't been seen since 19 October. Detective Sergeant Katich was amazed that neither of the Birnies showed any emotion or embarrassment while the bodies were being uncovered. If anything, they appeared to enjoy being the centre of attention as they pointed the graves out to police.

Then Catherine Birnie said that it was her turn. She would like to indicate the position of the next grave. She pointed out that it was where they had buried 31-year-old Noelene Patterson who they had kidnapped and murdered on 30 October.

Catherine Birnie went to great lengths to explain to police that she disliked Noelene from the moment that she and David had abducted her. She was glad that she was dead. As she pointed out the grave to police, she spat on it. She showed a great deal of pride in being able to find the grave unassisted. It was as if she didn't want David Birnie to get all of the credit.

As they left the burial grounds, David Birnie commented to Katich: "What a pointless loss of young life."

There was absolutely no doubt in the detective's mind that if the young girl hadn't escaped earlier in the day, the killings would have gone on. Psychiatrists attached to the case agreed that Catherine Birnie could not have killed on her own. She just wasn't the type. But the quiet mother of six children was totally obsessed with David Birnie and would do anything for him, including murder.

She was even prepared to take her own life for him. When he got too fond of one of their victims, Catherine turned the knife on herself and said that she would rather die by her own hand than see him fall in love with anyone else.

David Birnie was a completely different story. The product of a desperately poor family, he had been in and out of institutions and prison all of his life and was always going to end up in gaol for a long time. But no-one could possibly have forecast the magnitude of his crimes.

The gravesite of one of the Birnies' victims

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