When millionaire Australian socialite Margaret Wales-King and her husband, Paul King, disappeared in April 2002, friends and family became concerned something serious had happened to the older couple. Those fears and concerns were confirmed a few weeks later, when park rangers discovered their bodies in a shallow grave in Marysville, Victoria. Margaret and her husband had been clubbed and strangled to death.
The press dubbed the murders “the society killings” and the tragedy captured the Australian public’s attention for the ways it seemed to have been pulled right out of a classic mystery novel. Yet for all the couple’s wealth, nothing appeared to be missing from their home and their bodies were discovered still wearing jewelry and in possession of credit cards and other valuables. Under the circumstances, police looked to Wales-King’s children, who stood to gain a great deal of money in the event of Margaret’s death. Within a week the case started to come together, and a suspect was revealed.
While most of the family responded to the Wales-King murders in a manner one would expect, thirty-four-year-old Matthew Wales behavior was erratic, explosive, and suspicious. Upon interviewing Matthew, investigators learned he was the last person to have seen his mother and stepfather the night they were murdered, after having dinner with Matthew and his wife, Maritza. A few weeks later, after multiple interviews, Matthew Wales confessed to murdering his parents; though why he had done it came as a shock to everyone who knew the family.
References
Anderson, Paul, Philip Cullen, and Mark Butler. 2002. "Bodies of missing couple in shallow grave." Advertiser, May 1.
Bonney, Hilary. 2003. The Society Murders: The true story of the Wales-King murders. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
Clifton, Brad. 2002. "From high society to a grave in the bush." Daily Telegraph, May 4.
Daily Telegraph. 2002. "Son guilty of family killing." Daily Telegraph, October 18.
Green, Sue. 2002. "Crowds gather as search unfolds - son, wife charged over murders." Daily Telegraph, May 13.
Medew, Julia. 2007. "Wife of 'society murderer' avoids jail on ring theft." The Age, February 21.
Monroe, Ian. 2002. "The wayward youngest son." The Age, October 18.
Murphy, Padric. 2002. "Couple's disappearance baffles police." The Age, April 11.
Ross, Norrie, and Mark Buttler. 2003. "Death family vendetta, wife of killer brother will not profit." The Mercury, April 12.
Silvester, John. 2003. "Murder in the Family." The Age, April 11.
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Episode 544: The Career Girl Murders (Part 1)
Episode 543: The Execution of Hamida Djandoubi (with Special Guests Alvin & Fran From Affirmative Murder Podcast)
Episode 542: Listener Tales 83
Episode 541: The Unsolved Murder of Georgette Bauerdorf
Episode 540: Anna George and the Murder of George Saxton
Episode 539: Ronald Dominique: The Bayou Strangler (Part 3)
Episode 538: Ronald Dominique: The Bayou Strangler (Part 2)
Episode 537: Ronald Dominique: The Bayou Strangler (Part 1)
Episode 536: The Murder of Gary Triano
Episode 535: Florence Burns and the Murder of Walter Brooks
Episode 534: The Story of Laurie Bembenek and the Tragic Murder of Christine Schultz (With Special Guest Holly Madison)
Episode 533: The Mysterious Death of Charles Morgan
Episode 532: Listener Tales 82
Episode 531: Tom Bird and Lorna Anderson Eldridge
Episode 530: Preston Castle and the Murder of Anna Corbin
Episode 529: Ann & Billy Woodward
Episode 528: The Murders of Stan Farr and Andrea Wilborn
Episode 527: The Murder of Mary Stannard
Episode 526: The Death of Joan Robinson Hill- Part 2
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