The family of murdered amateur prospector Raymond Kehlet and his wife Jennie — who is missing, believed dead — say a decision not to prosecute anyone over the deaths leaves a killer on the loose in the community.
Seven years after the couple disappeared in the outback, family members have been told by police that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had ruled out any charges being laid.
The decision follows a coronial inquest and finding handed down last year that Raymond Kehlet was murdered, and Jennie Kehlet was dead but the cause was unknown.
Raymond Kehlet's remains were recovered from the bottom of a mine shaft, weeks after the couple first set out.
Jennie Kehlet's body has never been found.
Family believe double homicide took place
Jennie and Raymond Kehlet disappeared in March 2015 about 30 kilometres south of the tiny town of Sandstone, which lies roughly 650 kilometres north-east of Perth.
Jennie's former husband Jim Keegans, with whom she had three now-adult children, believes she was murdered, and her body is still lying somewhere near Sandstone.
"She hasn't touched any bank accounts," he said.
"No evidence of anyone using her identity to get out of the country. No phone records, nothing."
And he thinks without a criminal trial, Jennie's remains may never be recovered so their children can lay her to rest.
"They still don't know what happened to mum, they still don't know where she is," he said.
"It's still hard for them to talk about now ... you know, they're all grown up now. But that's still their mum.
"The fact that now it's not going to go any further is devastating."
Jennie's daughter, Kelly Keegans, just wants her mum back home.
"It would mean everything, to have her home," she said.
"To have that chance to say goodbye, and have that closure, that would be amazing."
Ray Kehlet's brother Dave said the DPP's decision was "devastating".
Dave has never spoken publicly about his loss, staying hopeful the police investigation would yield results.
But the recent decision has changed that.
"Obviously, all we want is justice for Ray and Jennie and for Jennie to be found," he said.
"If you read through the coroner's findings in detail, you can see that it's not a small matter.
"The coroner found that Ray was murdered at the bottom of a 12-metre mine shaft, and then it doesn't warrant imagining what happened to Jennie after that.
"[The] type of person that would do that shouldn't be in the community."
He sent a letter to the DPP on behalf of the Kehlet and Keegans families in November asking for an update and CC'd the Attorney-General, John Quigley's office.
In 2017, Mr Quigley introduced the "no body, no parole" legislation in WA where convicted killers must cooperate with police to locate their victim's remains to be eligible for parole.
In the letter, Dave Kehlet said this legislation was "self-evidently fundamental" to the families' hopes.
Mr Quigley never replied to Dave's letter.
A spokeswoman for Mr Quigley said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) was an independent prosecuting authority and acted independently of government in decision making on criminal prosecutions.
"The Attorney extends his condolences to the family and friends of Raymond and Jennie Kehlet," the spokeswoman said.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the DPP said the decision not to commence proceedings was made "strictly on available evidence", and cost had no bearing on that determination.
"In this case, all the evidence was closely examined by some of the most senior prosecutors in the state, who determined that there are no reasonable prospects of conviction on the available evidence," the statement said.
"It is also not the case that a criminal prosecution will necessarily compel an accused to answer questions, indeed, the opposite is often true."
WA Police said the investigation remained with the Special Crime Division and was active and ongoing.
Questions raised over early investigation
The family have also raised questions about the early stage of the investigation.
"The way the case has been handled since day one really has been a bit of a shambles," Mr Keegans said.
"Families on both sides have given the police the benefit of the doubt, stuff up after stuff up.
"So, after seven years of a double murder, nothing's going to get done, it's going to get shelved.
He said police initially treated the case as two missing persons, rather than foul play, which meant opportunities to gather forensic evidence were missed.
He said this was despite family members telling police the campsite where the couple disappeared was not difficult terrain.
"If you were someone from the city that had never been to the bush, you might find it a little bit daunting, but for people who are out there, Mount Magnet's [a nearby town] not that rough," he said.
"For [police] to think that someone had disappeared at that point, to the point where they couldn't be found with planes and horses and all the rest of it was just silly.
"[Jennie and Ray] both spent a lot of time in the bush, ... there's no way they would have got lost, and police were told that at the time."
Ray Kehlet's brother, Dave, agrees.
They grew up near Wubin, only a few hundred kilometres from Sandstone.
"We grew up in that same kind of environment, other than the mine shafts, clearly ... there was just no chance that they would have got lost," he said.
Ms Keegans said because police at first did not suspect foul play they did not secure their campsite as a crime scene.
"A lot of the evidence wasn't looked at until six months after the fact," she said.
"Suspects were allowed in the area without supervision by the police in the lead up to the search as well, so a lot of where there could have been evidence has been lost or destroyed or tampered with in one way or another."
The ill-fated trip
A happy, hard-working and likeable pair, the Kehlets shared an adventurous spirit and loved the outdoors, particularly camping.
According to family, they had arranged to travel to Sandstone with a colleague who was a regular prospector — Graham Milne.
They practised abseiling with Mr Milne before leaving, and told a friend they planned to abseil down old mine shafts looking for gold.
The Kehlets left their farm in Beverley, about 100 kilometres east of Perth, on March 19, telling family they would be out of phone range for 10 days, and not to worry if they weren’t in touch.
But by late March they still had not returned and their beloved rescue dog Ella had wandered into Sandstone caravan park, dehydrated and alone.
Ella's apparent abandonment was another reason Mr Keegans believes his former partner met with foul play.
"She just wouldn't walk away and leave her dog wandering around in the bush," he said.
"They were both mad keen dog people."
Their disappearance sparked a massive land search that at the time was the most expensive the state had ever run.
Ella the dog was even returned to the site on the off chance she could help rescuers locate her owners.
Graham Milne told police he had left the campsite in the early hours of March 22, after going out prospecting on his own for about 20 hours.
He said he left without seeing the Kehlets or saying goodbye, as he didn't want to wake them, and last saw them alive the previous day.
Mr Milne returned to the site on April 3, to assist police with the search, showing them an area he said Raymond and Jennie had been interested in.
He said they had dubbed the area, south-east of the campsite, the "$3 million patch".
Eight days later, Raymond Kehlet's body was found down a mine shaft about 1.8 kilometres north of their campsite.
The search was expanded but ultimately called off.
Milne denies any involvement in deaths
At the inquest and at all other times Mr Milne has denied any involvement in the pair's deaths.
He told a media outlet in an interview a few months after the disappearances he thought about the couple every day, and couldn't believe it when Ray's body was found.
In 2017, the WA Government announced a $250,000 reward for information.
By this point, homicide detectives were treating the situation as suspicious.
It was later revealed by a senior detective at a coronial inquest that he wanted to charge Mr Milne over the deaths.
Detective Steve Cleal told the inquest, launched in 2020, he had recommended charging Mr Milne, though he did not specify what charge or charges.
Mr Milne also gave evidence, after making an application for a certificate that would prevent any of his evidence being used in criminal proceedings, which coroner Ros Fogliani granted.
No criminal charges have ever been laid against Mr Milne.
While the coroner ultimately found Mr Kehlet was murdered, she wrote:
"Due to the publicity concerning this case and the focus upon Mr Milne, including past television coverage of propositions put to Mr Milne, it is important for me to state that the referral to the Director of Public Prosecutions is not made by reason of any belief that I have formed concerning any action or omission on the part of Mr Milne in relation to Ray or Jennie."
Blood on Ray Kehlet's boots and fracture to his neck
Part of the evidence that convinced the coroner Ray Kehlet was killed down the bottom of the mine shaft was his blood found on the boots he was wearing.
She found the evidence supported Ray having stood for a period in a pool of his own blood, and that he hadn't walked around after that point as it would have been knocked off the soles of his boots.
The inquest also heard about a fracture on his neck, on the hyoid bone, a u-shaped bone that supports the tongue.
The coroner did not believe the evidence ultimately supported the idea that Ray Kehlet fell down the mine shaft.
As such, she considered a reasonable inference that the break to the hyoid bone was due to blunt-force trauma or strangulation.
"I am satisfied that Ray came to harm at the base of the mineshaft," she wrote.
"His death was violent and attributable to trauma, from injuries sustained as a result of the actions of a person or persons unknown. "
Ms Fogliani said as she believed an indictable offence had been committed in connection with Ray’s death, a copy of this finding would be provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
She found Jennie Kehlet had died, but in the absence of her remains could not make a finding on the manner of her death.
'Salt of the earth' couple
Dave Kehlet remembers his brother as a country boy, who loved tinkering with machinery from an early age.
Their dad was a farm labourer and Ray always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
"All he ever wanted to do was to be a farmer," he said.
"He was driving and operating agricultural machinery from pretty much from when he could walk.
"Very resourceful, ... always tinkering away with hobbies.."
He said Ray was "absolutely besotted" with Jennie, and they were both head over heels for each other.
Kelly Keegans remembers the couple as "salt of the earth people", who always had time for everyone, and said her mother was always very kind.
Jennie Kehlet was an artist who loved painting, and donated her work to charities for auctions.
But she also loved the outdoors, especially camping.
"They were very much rough and tumble-natured sort of people," she said.
"They kept their farm with a few alpacas and cows and donkeys and their dog Ella they loved tremendously."
Mr Keegans wonders if their very ordinariness meant the pressure for a prosecution was not greater.
"The question we ask is, you know, if it was someone from City Beach or Wembley or one of the affluent suburbs, and there was a double murder, how far will we get then?
"But because these are two ordinary people from the country, and they are out in the bush, it almost feels like it's been swept under the carpet."
Anyone with any information about their deaths can contact Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000.
A reward of $250,000 is available for information about their deaths.
Tips can also be provided anonymously.
