Killer who dumped ex-wife’s body near gravesite of murdered schoolboy Gerard Ross investigated over ‘prowling’ allegations

The convicted killer who dumped his ex-wife’s body in a pine forest just metres from the gravesite of murdered schoolboy Gerard Ross is under investigation for allegedly “prowling” in the yards of his neighbours and “peeping” through their windows. A group of residents who live in the same Housing Authority block of units as the 74-year-old have reported him to the Department of Communities after allegedly catching him watching female occupants through their windows on multiple occasions. One of his neighbours, Carla D’Agostino, said she has actually caught the man “prowling around” her unit at night at least twice but had been hearing noises in her yard at night for months before identifying the alleged offender. The 55-year-old said she used to “sit out the back at night smoking cigarettes” with a female friend, when they started noticing noises and suspected someone was watching them. WATCH: The Boy in the Blue Cap The Gerard Ross Story On one occasion, they allegedly saw a man through a gap in the fence and thought it was the convicted murderer, but did not confront him. On another occasion, she allegedly caught the man outside the window of another unit, causing him to “startle” before trying to hide behind a bush. Within weeks of moving into the unit complex in July, a second female occupant claimed to have seen him prowling around at night. In August, the single mother — who spoke to The West but did not wish to be named — spotted the man watching her from the bushes outside her kitchen window. “He crouched down to hide when she caught him out,” Ms D’Agostino said. “There were footprints in the sand outside her kitchen window.” A male neighbour then confronted the man, who apologised to the second occupant “if he had scared her” but denied any wrongdoing. Rather, he claimed he was merely trying to protect the unit occupants from local drug addicts. Ms D’Agostino and a male occupant from another unit both lodged separate complaints with the WA Housing Authority in the past fortnight and were told a departmental investigator would interview the man in person. However, the neighbours — who now “fear for our safety” — yesterday said the investigator has not yet visited. Department of Communities spokeswoman Jackie Tang refused to respond to The West’s questions regarding the complaint and the safety of its occupants due to “tenant privacy”. Ms D’Agostino and the other female complainant say the man has “absolutely no need” to be near their units so have been suspicious for several months about “why he’s hanging around the ... units”. “They (Department of Communities) were stupid to put him in a housing complex like this. It’s very communal,” Ms D’Agostino said. “They could’ve put him somewhere else. “This used to be a very communal, happy place to live, where everyone socialised and got along but now everyone keeps their doors locked and watches their back.” The residents say they were unaware of the man’s criminal history until recently seeing it in the media. “He’s never said anything about his past,” Ms D’Agostino said. “He always made out he was squeaky clean.” This comes after The West last month revealed the former jockey and taxi driver may have abused a boy in the mid-1970s after interviewing his alleged victim. He denied the allegation, saying he lived in Melbourne during the 1970s and only moved back to Perth around 1986. However, WA Turf Club records show he was horse racing in Perth in the mid-1970s when the alleged sexual abuse took place. In mid-1998, months after 11-year-old Gerard’s body was found in the Karnup pine plantation, detectives discovered the body of the man’s ex-wife, Chalauy, just metres from the schoolboy’s gravesite. He was later found to have bashed his estranged Thai wife to death with a hammer in the bedroom of his Huntingdale home before dumping her body in the pine forest, 50km south of Perth, and disposing of her belongings across various locations. The jury found him guilty of murdering the 36-year-old mother of three. He received a mandatory life sentence and was ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years before possible release. He was released in May 2015 after serving 16 years behind bars. When approached by The West last month, he denied any involvement in Gerard’s abduction or murder, or abusing a boy in the 1970s. He has since disconnected his mobile number and this week refused to return messages or answer his door. Ms Tang said that all complaints are thoroughly investigated by the department’s disruptive behaviour management unit and that tenants are subject to a “three strikes” process before facing eviction. “When a tenancy receives the maximum number of strikes under the disruptive behaviour management strategy, the department commences court action to end the tenancy,” she said. “The final decision to terminate any tenancy rests with the magistrate.”