The Mystery of the Wanda Beach Murders Quiz

Answer: Sydney

Wanda Beach is located 20 kilometres south of Sydney.

Answer: Germany

Marianne and her family arrived in Australia from Germany in 1958. They moved into a nice house in Brush Road, Ryde, in Sydney's inner north-west, and, while their neighbours made little effort to get to know them, Marianne made close friends with Christine who lived next-door with her grandparents.

Marianne's father, Helmut, died soon after their arrival in Australia.

Answer: False

On January 11th, 1965, Marianne and Christine took Marianne's younger siblings, Peter, Trixie, Wolfgang and Norbert, on a trip to Cronulla Beach. In the early afternoon, they decided to walk north to Wanda Beach. However, the younger children were getting tired, so the girls left them sitting behind a sand dune with their towels. The girls told them they would go back to the southern end of the beach to get their bags, but instead, they continued walking north, into the dunes.

The last official sighting of the girls alive was actually made by a local man, Dennis Dostine, who was walking with his young son. He took notice because one of the girls kept looking over her shoulder, very much in a way of trying to see if she was being followed.

Answer: Peter Smith

On the morning of January 12th, the day after the girls had been reported missing, Peter Smith and his two young nephews found what they thought was a department store mannequin buried in the Wanda Beach sand dunes. In reality, what they had found was Marianne Schmidt's body.

Christine's body wasn't discovered until the police arrived.

Autopsies revealed that Marianne had been stabbed a total of 14 times while Christine had not only been stabbed but also beaten with a large heavy object, possibly a rock.

Answer: Christine's grandmother

Christine's grandmother reported the girls missing when Marianne's younger siblings returned home from the beach alone.

Answer: Derek Percy

While all these people are known serial killers, Derek Percy has been a suspect in the Wanda Beach Murders for a long time. He's also suspected of murdering three-year-old Simon Brook and six-year-old Alan Redston. Some people also believe he may be responsible for the abductions and presumed murders of eight-year-old Linda Stilwell and the Beaumont children.

In 1969 he was charged with the horrific murder of twelve-year-old Yvonne Elizabeth Tuohy but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Answer: January

Marianne's and Christine's funerals were held on January 20th, 1965, a week after they were murdered.

The funerals were shown live on television.

Answer: True

A 34m drag-mark leading to the girls' graves suggested that at least one of the girls, probably Christine, had tried to escape, only to be caught, murdered and dragged back to be buried.

Answer: 7,000

Despite conducting 7000 interviews, no-one was ever officially charged with the girls' murders.

Answer: For an operation

It's unclear exactly what Elizabeth's operation was for.