The Phillip Island Murder

The discovery of the body of Beth Barnard in her Phillip Island farmhouse in 1986, began a homicide investigation that rocked a peaceful community.<br />It also created an enduring mystery, for no one was ever brought to trial for her brutal death, and the main suspect disappeared – never to be seen again.<br />Beth Barnard, a popular and attractive 23-year-old, had been having an affair with a local married man.<br />On the night of her brutal murder, a car belonging to Vivienne Cameron – wife of Beth's lover – was found abandoned near the bridge that connects the famous tourist island to the mainland.<br />No trace of Vivienne was ever found, and her disappearance has never been adequately explained.<br />Nevertheless, a Coroner's Court found that Vivienne had killed her rival then jumped to her death into the waters of Westernport Bay. The case was closed but not forgotten.<br />Ever since their first edition of The Phillip Island Murder, in 1993, Vikki Petraitis and Paul Daley have been regularly contacted by people wanting to know more; people who, like the authors, let the case get under their skin.<br />More than three decades later the mystery, rumours and arm-chair solutions continue.