Family of Cheryl Grimmer give her alleged killer, ‘Mercury’, an ultimatum

“I want to bury him in the ground,” Nash said.

“There are photos his colleagues sent me, I have his wedding photos, we have everything about this man and we will have it everywhere. He has nowhere to hide.”

Cheryl’s toothy grin seen in black-and-white family photos returned to headlines 10 years ago. The investigation in 2011 turned into a re-investigation in 2016.

A year later, police charged a man in his 60s with murdering Cheryl. He did not admit his guilt.

Only then did the Grimmers learn that a teenage boy had confessed in detail to kidnapping and murdering his sisters in 1971.

But without Cheryl’s remains or any other evidence, the teen was never charged and his confession never came to light.

“When he confessed in detail to kidnapping Cheryl to have sex with a three-year-old little boy and killing her because she screamed and fought back, authorities put that confession in a box for 45 years,” Nash said.

“They didn’t even search the area.” [the suspect] He took a step forward in 1971.

After his arrest, the man received the nickname “Mercury” because he was not yet 18 when he confessed and the law prevents naming children in the courts.

Two years after Mercury’s arrest, as the trial approached, the Grimmers suffered another blow: Judge Robert Allan Hulme ruled that Mercury’s confession could not be used as evidence.

Hulme noted that Mercury was unintelligent, made his confession without an adult in the room, and endured a “very disturbed upbringing.”

Prosecutors knew that without crucial evidence their case was doomed to failure, and Mercury walked free with his name concealed from the public.

“He sat in jail for two years without saying anything, then he got out in 2019 without saying anything, and he’s not defending himself,” Nash said.

“The system protects someone who confessed to the horrific murder of a three-year-old girl and left her to rot.”

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Admission, reporter understands, details what the people on the beach were wearing, where they were sitting, and details how Mercury killed and hid Cheryl’s body.

Mercury later claimed that he had never been to Fairy Meadow Beach.

The Grimmers appealed to lawmakers and the media in an attempt to uncover new evidence, new leads or change the mind of the legal system that allowed Mercury to walk.

In 2024 Greens MP Sue Higginson questioned current Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon about new informants and witnesses coming forward.

But it didn’t lead to anything.

Nash said he felt his family was backed into a corner and that police were “burning every opportunity” to get justice for his sister while the courts tried to prevent the naming of a “bad guy”.

“They put Cheryl in a box and forget about her again,” he said.

This month, former Greens and now Cannabis Legalization MP Jeremy Buckingham said he would use parliamentary privilege to name the Mercury despite his name being withheld in the Wollongong media.

Buckingham said of Mercury’s confession: “If anyone read the confession, it would cause concern to think that person was at least at the scene where Cheryl was abducted – if not responsible.”

“If someone has the tendency to do this, to kidnap a child, to sexually assault, to kill, what else has he done or is he capable of doing?”

On Friday, Nash gave Mercury an ultimatum: Meet with them and reveal the confession, or he’ll give Buckingham the green light.

“Come out from behind the rock you’re hiding behind and tell us how you know what you know or why you do what you do,” Nash said.

Buckingham said he would comply with Grimmer’s wishes unless the demand was met.

Legal sources familiar with the case but not authorized to speak publicly said they feared naming Mercury would incite a lynch mob, but equally realized the Grimmers had failed.

Nash says police often tell him they believe Mercury is Cheryl’s killer. But murder charges cannot be brought against him again without new and convincing evidence.

Nash said he named Mercury reporter This may be the only chance to obtain new evidence.

“They will not be able to obtain new and convincing evidence because he is hiding behind the alias ‘Mercury’,” Nash said.

“But when he gets out we can get information from the public, we can be inundated with new information. We’ve been pushed into a corner and we have nowhere else to go.”

“Hopefully we can find some peace, maybe Cheryl can get some rest.”

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