Appeal to solve murder
IT was the murder that shocked the Sydney Jewish community and more than 17 years later, it remains unsolved.
IT was the murder that shocked the Sydney Jewish community and more than 17 years later, it remains unsolved.
Now former AJN and current Daily Telegraph journalist Yoni Bashan is asking the community, via a new weekly podcast, to help finally crack the case of who murdered Denise Govendir, who was found bashed to death inside her Dover Heights home on March 10, 1998.
“Some years ago a colleague of mine, another former AJN journalist, Sharon Labi, brought the case to my attention,” Bashan told The AJN.
“She knew Denny Govendir personally and, like us today, wanted to see justice done. At the start of this year an opportunity presented to explore the case further and so I jumped at it.”
Bashan’s podcast series, The Alibi, looks at the links between Govendir’s murder and the 1983 killing of Eva Webel, a family friend of the Govendirs. George Webel went on trial for his wife’s murder but was acquitted after Aaron Govendir – Denise’s husband – provided alibi evidence in his case.
No one has ever been charged with Govendir’s murder. In 2008 the Acting State Coroner found there was “significant circumstantial evidence” that Aaron Govendir was “complicit in her death” but there was “insufficient evidence to identify those responsible … beyond reasonable doubt”.
“Once I began looking closely at the Govendir case, the similarities with the Eva Webel murder became quickly apparent,” Bashan said.
“We would like the case to be reexamined. It has been sitting with the Unsolved Homicide Team since 2008. Another outcome is to prompt anyone with information to come forward – there are people who know more and for one reason or another they’re staying silent. But ultimately, we want to achieve closure, not just for the Govendir and Webel families but also the victims themselves.”
One major clue could be Denise Govendir’s white Ford Laser, which was stolen from the house and found 11 days later in neighbouring suburb Rose Bay.
“It had Denise’s blood on the armrest and the hand break so a logical extension is that whoever committed the crime also drove the car,” Bashan said.
“Another thing: the car was found abandoned, which is confusing as it was the only thing stolen from the house, which was ransacked to appear like a robbery.”
A police spokesperson told The AJN that anyone with any information is encouraged to come forward.
The idea to investigate the murders via a podcast was inspired by the success of number one iTunes-ranked US podcast Serial, which looked into a murder there.
Follow the podcast at www.dailytelegraph.com.au.
If you have any information email yoni.bashan@news.com.au or for information the police should know contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
GARETH NARUNSKY
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