Geesche Jacobsen - Abandoned: The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble

Geesche Jacobsen has been a journalist for more than 13 years and has reported on court cases and crime since 2004. She reported on the inquest into Dianne Brimbles death and on Mark Wilhelms trial for the Sydney Morning Herald. She is currently that papers Crime Editor.

Geesche has also contributed a chapter to Through Other Eyes, a book on the Fred Hollows Foundation, and has put together an ABC radio documentary about the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Geesche was born in Germany, studied at Oxford, completed a PhD in politics and used to work in banking.

The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble
ABANDONED
GEESCHE JACOBSEN

First published in 2010

Copyright Geesche Jacobsen 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: info@allenandunwin.com
Web: www.allenandunwin.com

Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available
from the National Library of Australia
www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au

ISBN 978 1 74175 454 4

Cover photos: Above: Dianne Brimble
Below: Eight men boarding. Back row, left to right: Mark Wilhelm,
Matthew Slade, Dragan Losic, Petar Pantic. Front row left to right:
Ryan Kuchel, Letterio Silvestri, Luigi Vitale, Charlie Kambouris

Typeset in 11.5/16 pt Bembo by Post Pre-press Group
Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To the memory of those who died alone.

Table of Contents

Authors Note

Many thanks to my publisher, and my family, friends and colleagues who have encouraged and supported me in this endeavour and have tolerated me spending much time and energy on this project.

Thanks also to those who shared their views and knowledge of this case, but wished to remain anonymous.

This book is based on the recollections of dozens of people. Sometimes their memory of events, or of their sequence, differed. The passage of time, intoxication, failings of memory or self-interest can account for this.

I have chosen the version I believe most credible, likely or which was supported by other evidence.

But there are still some questions, which might remain unanswered forever.

If you know something which may shed some light, please feel free to drop me a line by email to thediannebrimblestory@gmail.com.

I hope you will enjoy reading this book and forming a view about what happened on board the Pacific Sky and afterwards, and about what led to the sad death of Dianne Brimble.

Dramatis Personae