MUM’S PLEA: ‘HELP ME FIND MY SON’S KILLER'
EIGHT YEARS SINCE CHRISTOPHER’S DISAPPEARANCE HIS MURDER REMAINS UNSOLVED…
For Lillian Watkins, it seems like only yesterday that she was talking to her son, Christopher Dean Watkins, at a family barbecue in her hometown of Launceston, Tas. Little did the mum of five know it would be the last time she’d see her eldest child.
In early August 2013, 28-year-old Christopher went missing from the Mayfield, Tas, unit where he was casually staying with four male friends.
While his body has never been found, police believe the man known to family, friends and the close-knit community as a lovable larrikin was abducted and killed.
Now eight years have passed with no arrests or convictions, making Christopher’s disappearance one of Tasmania’s most high-profile unsolved murder mysteries. For Lillian, time brings no comfort to the heartache she’s endured.
“We just want answers,” tearful Lillian tells New Idea.
She smiles as she fondly remembers her son being the happiest kid growing up. A whirlwind of energy with a cheeky, mischievous streak, Christopher was loved by all.
“He was an affectionate and protective big brother, always out with his younger brothers and sister on their bikes and off fishing,” Lillian recalls. “Family was everything to him.”
While Christopher was not academic, he was practical. He loved to cook and at 10, he took himself off to a local restaurant and asked if he could help the chef in kitchen. He’d then come home and cook a roast dinner.
“He was easily led and sadly, when he was a teenager he got in with the wrong crowd and was in and out of jail for petty crimes,” Lillian says. “But he always had the kindest heart and wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
When Christopher disappeared, he was living between Lillian’s home and shared accommodation with mates in a unit 10 minutes away.
On the night of August 7, 2013, it’s believed Christopher made a panicked phone call to a family member, telling them that two men he had history with had arrived at the apartment. He wasn’t seen or heard of again.
From early on in the investigation, police believed that Christopher had met with foul play.
“I knew something terrible had happened to him,” Lillian says. “He’d never go more than a week without contacting me – he loved his family too much.”
A search ensued, and an investigation led to at least six men providing statements to detectives and police at the time. And yet, in a shocking twist, it transpired that some of the statements provided were false.
Four men faced charges of conspiracy and perverting the course of justice, and later, a woman was convicted of failing to report Christopher’s killing and making a false police report. A second person was also charged with failing to report a killing.
To date, nobody has been charged with Christopher’s suspected murder.
In time Christopher’s case went cold. For his family, many milestones have been and gone – Christmases, birthdays, holidays – each one a crushing reminder of what is lost.
Recently there has been renewed hope for the family in their ongoing search for answers and quest to bring Christopher’s killer to justice.
Tasmanian police announced the reward for information leading to a conviction has been increased to $500,000 for each of the state’s seven high-profile unsolved murder investigations – with Christopher’s being one.
“Over the years I’ve had to be strong for my kids – I can’t
“IT’S TORTURE NOT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON”
fall apart on my family, but it’s torture not knowing what happened to my son and that his killer is still at large,” Lillian says.
“The increase in the reward brings us hope, and if anyone knows anything, please be brave and come forward so we can have the answers we need and lay my beloved boy to rest.”