Donna Wheeler

**Donna Wheeler** (1969 - November 2, 1999) was a 30-year-old, Australian mother of one.

## Backstory

Donna was a bright and sparkly person who was well liked by her. She had a lot of friends and they described her as a beautiful, caring and loving person. shared a 12-year-old son with her ex-husband, John. Despite the breakdown in their marriage, they remained courteous and shared custody of their son. On the night of Donna's death, her son was staying with his father and she was to pick him up the next evening.

She had recently split up with her ex-boyfriend, Keith Bond, who had been verbally and physically abusive towards her in the past.

## Events

It was the evening of the Melbourne Cup, an annual horse-race in Australia. Donna had placed a bet on the winning horse, "Rogan Josh", and heard of the news whilst she was at work. Once she had finished her shift, at around 6:00 PM, she headed to the Regents Park Hotel to meet Keith's brother, Colin, celebrate. Donna had become friends with Colin through her ex-boyfriend and they had remained friends after her split from Keith.

After a few drinks with Colin at the hotel, Keith showed up with his new girlfriend, Debbie, and so Donna and Colin decided to leave and go to the Regents Park bowling club to continue the celebration. Whilst at the bowling club, Donna received a call from her ex-husband, John. John told Donna he needed to borrow some money. Donna agreed and arranged to meet John nearby. Colin went back to the Regents Park hotel, whilst Donna went to meet John, and order a Chinese takeaway to take back to Donna's house when she returns. Donna returns to the Regent's park hotel where Colin is waiting at the bar with the Chinese food , they left together and went back to Donna's house to eat.

The next day, John made a few attempts to call Donna but he couldn't get hold of her. He didn't think too much of this as Donna was due for a shift at work that day. But as the morning turned to afternoon and the afternoon turned to evening, John started to worry. By evening, he still hadn't heard from Donna. This was out of character for her. If she didn't answer, she would always ring back. He had their son and he needed to make sure she was still alright to pick him up, at the time they had arranged. She would always ring the day they were exchanging custody to make sure everything was still alright to go ahead.

John started to call friends and family. He called Donna's mother. She says that she hasn't heard from Donna either. John tried other friends and family without any luck. He rang Donna's mother back, and she suggested that John should go to Donna's house.

John droved to Donna's house with their son. They saw Donna's car in the driveway. Their son had a key for Donna's place and so John went inside. John found Donna's body in the lounge and called the police. She was found naked from the waist down and covered in blood and bruises. There was also a blood stained knife and a plastic bag at the scene.

## Aftermath

John was taken back to the police station with his and Donna's son where they were both interviewed. John immediately tells them about Keith, Donna's violent ex-partner.. John was well aware of the volatile nature of their relationship. Police interviewed John extensively and traced his movements the previous night, and his story checked out. They were able to conclusively say he had nothing to do with her murder.

Police pull up Keith's record and see that there was the recent assault charge against Donna and a restraining order application from Donna. Detectives visited Keith's house on the 4th of November, 1999. Keith was not home but Colin, his brother, was. Colin was cooperative and invited the detectives inside, he told them that Keith was at work for the day.

Detectives asked Colin when the last time he saw Donna was, and he told them about being with her on the night of her murder at the Regents Park hotel before taking some takeaway Chinese food to her place. Colin claimed that whilst at her house, Donna received a phone call and had to leave so she dropped Colin home. He told them he got home somewhere around nine or 9:30 PM.

On that day, Thursday, the 4th of November police conducted a search warrant at Keith and Colin's place. Not long into the search, they notice a few smears of blood on the floor in the lounge. A sample was taken to match just in case. Colin was present at the time of the search and a police officer noticed what looked like a blood smear on his watch. Colin was questioned about it and he says it was probably blood from when he hurt his hand gardening. Police seize the watch for DNA testing. They also took a ring he was wearing on his right hand.

The investigation then turns to Colin after Keith remembers his brother returning home around midnight, rather than 9:30 PM like Colin had said, the night of the murder and having a shower. Colin also washed his clothes and shoes, keeping Keith and girlfriend awake with the noise of the washing machine.

Colin is quickly arrested and charged with the murder. The plastic bag found near Donna's head shows a fingerprint in blood. The print belongs to Colin Bond, who had previously been convicted of manslaughter of a woman who rejected his sexual advances 10 years prior, it transpires. It is believed that Donna had rejected Colin's sexual advances, also, and that is what led to the murder.

Colin Bond stood trial in June, 2001. Keith was subpoenaed to attend court and give evidence, but he refused. He didn't comply with the subpoena. And he went into hiding, leading Colin and his lawyers to place blame on Keith. Despite this, the jury reached a guilty verdict on June 29, 2001.

Colin was sentenced to 30 years in Lithgo prison with a non-parole period of 25 years. Colin died of a heart attack in prison a few years later.