Juanita Joan Nielsen, who was born Juanita Smith, went missing on July 4, 1975.
She was an Australian newspaper owner, publisher, journalist, model, urban conservationist, and heiress.
She vanished after going to a meeting at the Carousel nightclub, also known as Les Girls, in Kings Cross on July 4, 1975.
Nielsen was against the urban development on Victoria Street, Kings Cross, Sydney.
This project was led by property developer Frank Theeman of Victoria Point Pty Ltd.
Many believe she was murdered due to her efforts to protect the environment.
There are also strong suspicions that organized crime and police corruption were likely involved.
A coronial inquest in November 1983 concluded that Nielsen had been murdered.
However, it did not reveal the location, cause, or individuals responsible.
Additionally, her body has not been found, making it one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved mysteries.
The Story Behind Juanita Nielsen’s Last Days
Nielsen was born as Juanita Joan Smith in New Lambton, New South Wales, on April 22, 1936.
Her parents, Neil Donovan Smith and Vilma Grace Smith, separated shortly after her birth.
As a result, she was raised by her maternal grandmother in Killara, Sydney.
Nielsen's father came from a very wealthy background.
In the early 1970s, Nielsen's father bought her a home at 202 Victoria Street in Kings Cross, Sydney, as well as a local newspaper called NOW.
She published NOW every two weeks from her home with the help of her business partner, David Farrell.
Frank William Theeman was an Austrian Australian developer who planned to redevelop the historic Victoria Street in Kings Cross.
The plan included three 45-storey apartment buildings and a 15-storey office block, which would involve demolishing all existing buildings.
The Kings Cross community protested against the development.
They successfully persuaded the Builders Labourers' Federation (BLF) to impose a green ban on the site in 1972.
The residents of Victoria Street refused to leave their homes, and Nielsen used her newspaper to publicize the issue.
Kings Cross Conspiracy: The Controversial Urban Development and Its Impact
In July 1973, Kings Cross resident Arthur King was kidnapped by two unidentified men, who put him in the trunk of their car.
King was taken to a motel outside the city and held for three days before being released near the Venus Room in Kings Cross.
King resigned as the head of the residents' action group and quickly moved out of the area after the incident.
He did not reveal the full truth about his disappearance until 1977, two years after Nielsen's disappearance.
This was because he did not trust the police due to recent harassment.
Other residents on Victoria Street were regularly harassed by men hired by Theeman, who was trying to get them evicted from their homes.
The men were led by Fred Krahe, a former detective sergeant with the New South Wales Police.
Krahe was known for his ties to organized crime.
He was also suspected of killing prostitute Shirley Brifman after she accused him of corruption.
In 1974, Nielsen increased her opposition against the proposed development through her newspaper.
By February 1975, Theeman had met with Nielsen to try to convince her to support the project, but he didn't succeed.
The Carousel Club Incident
The Carousel Club in Kings Cross, also known as "Les Girls" at times, was one of several bars and nightclubs run by Abe Saffron.
Saffron was a major figure in Sydney's organized crime and was known to lend money to various businessmen, including Theeman.
The Carousel had no previous dealings with Nielsen, but on June 13, 1975, the club's management invited her to a press night.
Nielsen, however, did not attend.
On June 29, the Carousel's PR manager, Lloyd Marshall, invited Nielsen to a meeting at the Camperdown Travelodge.
The meeting was supposedly to discuss advertising in her newspaper related to landscaping.
However, her partner, David Farrell later said that Nielsen became suspicious and chose not to attend.
On June 30, two employees from The Carousel went to Nielsen's house since she had refused to come to their meeting.
They claimed they were there to discuss advertising in her newspaper.
It was later revealed that their plan was to abduct Nielsen when she opened the door.
However, their plan was thwarted when Farrell answered instead.
The two men told a cover story, but Nielsen was listening from an adjoining room.
According to Farrell, Nielsen was increasingly worried that her activism was putting her in danger.
About two weeks before her disappearance, she shared her fears with Farrell and regularly updated him on her whereabouts.
The Disappearance
On Thursday, July 3, at 5:30 p.m., Edward Trigg, an employee of The Carousel club, called Nielsen.
He told her he wanted to schedule an appointment to discuss advertising in her newspaper.
They agreed to meet the next day at around 10:15 a.m. at the club.
On Friday, July 4, 1975, Nielsen went to the Carousel Club in Kings Cross for a meeting with Trigg about advertising, as arranged the previous night.
At 10:30 a.m., she called Farrell to let him know she was running late for the meeting.
When she arrived for the meeting, Loretta Crawford, a receptionist at the Carousel, called the club manager.
She told him that Nielsen had arrived for the meeting and was waiting.
After the meeting, she left the club, and that was the last time anyone saw her.
Investigation
In 2000, the receptionist told authorities that the manager was "quite pleased" to hear that Nielsen was there.
In her original statement to the police, Crawford claimed that Nielsen left the club alone after the meeting.
However, in 1976, Crawford changed her story and said that Nielsen and Trigg, an employee of The Carousel, left together.
A local real estate agent told the police he saw Nielsen getting into a yellow car outside the club.
He said that there were two men inside the car before Nielsen entered and joined them.
That was the last known sighting of Nielsen.
On Saturday, Farrell reported her to the police as a missing person.
When Trigg was questioned by the police, he confirmed the meeting.
He also showed them a receipt that Nielsen had given him for an advance payment on the advertising.
He said she had left for a lunch appointment.
On July 7, three days after her disappearance, Nielsen's handbag and other belongings were found abandoned on a freeway near Penrith in Sydney's west.
On Tuesday, 8 July, the police released the news of the disappearance to the media.
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| Source - Daily Mail |
Suspects and Scandals: Key Figures in the Juanita Nielsen Case
In late 1977, Trigg, Shayne Martin-Simmonds, and Lloyd Marshall, who had all worked at The Carousel Club, were arrested.
They were charged with plotting to kidnap Nielsen in relation to the events leading up to her disappearance.
When interviewed by the police on November 6, 1977, Martin-Simmonds admitted that the advertising story was a ruse.
He confirmed that their real intention was to kidnap Nielsen if she was alone and take her to meet "people who wanted to talk to her."
Martin-Simmonds told the police he did not know the identity of the people who wanted to talk to Nielsen.
A trial commenced in 1980.
The judge ordered the jury to acquit Marshall, as there was no evidence connecting him to the plan to use force against Nielsen.
The jury could not reach a verdict on Trigg and Martin-Simmonds, so a retrial was ordered.
In 1981, Martin-Simmonds was retried, found guilty, and sentenced to two years in jail.
The judge asked him about the identity of the people who had hired him for the kidnapping, but he provided no information.
Trigg had fled to the U.S. using a fake passport and was arrested in San Francisco in 1982.
He was extradited back to Australia where he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
He was sentenced to three years in prison in 1983.
The Coroner’s Verdict: What the Inquest Discovered About Nielsen’s Disappearance
A coronial inquest with a jury was held in 1983.
It was the longest in NSW history, lasting 13 weeks and hearing from 69 witnesses.
Theeman denied that Nielsen was a threat to his development plans.
Saffron said that he had read about the disappearance in the newspapers but did not investigate further.
Anderson, the club manager, acknowledged that he was an obvious suspect but blamed Detective Fred Krahe for Nielsen's death.
The jury concluded that Nielsen had died "on or shortly after July 4, 1975,".
However, there was not enough evidence to show how she died or who was responsible.
The jury also found "evidence to show that the police inquiries were hindered by an atmosphere of corruption, whether real or imagined, that existed at the time."
In 1994, critics pointed out police failings and linked Nielsen's disappearance to property developers and the Kings Cross criminal underworld.
They also questioned the decision to use club manager Jim Anderson as a protected informer, given that he was a suspect in Nielsen's disappearance and other criminal activities.
A Million-Dollar Reward: Current Efforts to Solve the Nielsen Mystery
Marilyn King, a former girlfriend of Edward Trigg, told a journalist that Trigg came home on July 4, 1975 with blood on his clothes.
She also said that a piece of paper in his pocket had blood on it.
This was allegedly a receipt signed by Nielsen for advertising money paid by Trigg.
King said that Trigg threw away the shirt and the portion of the paper with blood on it.
King never provided testimony to the police or the coronial inquiry.
In 2004, ABC-TV's The 7:30 Report aired a new interview with Crawford, the then receptionist.
She claimed that her earlier testimony about Nielsen was false and made up to protect her former boss, James Anderson.
Crawford's new claim was that Nielsen had indeed been killed in the club's basement, in the presence of Trigg and Martin-Simmonds.
She said she had seen Nielsen's body on the floor with a single small gunshot wound.
She also said that a third man, whom she did not name, was standing over the body holding a pistol.
Trigg died on February 25, 2013.
The Australian newspaper reported that before his death, Trigg had written an account of his involvement in the case.
They said he also named those involved and revealed the location of Nielsen's remains.
A NSW police spokesperson confirmed that police had searched Trigg's residence after his death but declined to comment on the results.
In 2021, the reward for information about Juanita Nielsen's disappearance was increased to $1 million.
Her family and the police expressed hope that they might be able to locate Nielsen's remains.
The police say they are hoping that someone who was in or around Kings Cross in 1975 might come forward with information that could help bring closure to her loved ones.
Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Euclid detectives is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence.
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