Chilling case of mum-of-2 who tucked kids into bed then vanished & how her neighbour’s late night view could solve it
IT’S been more than 30 years since a devoted mum of two disappeared from her home in New South Wales, Australia, never to be seen again.
Can a new podcast unlock the mystery of what happened to Bronwyn Winfield?
Late one summer’s night in 1993, Judy Singh witnessed a scene from the balcony of her home in the sleepy seaside town of Lennox Head, New South Wales, that would haunt her for the next 30 years.
Crawling slowly down the street was the car belonging to her neighbour, Jon Winfield, and in the back seat – illuminated by the interior light – was a figure wrapped in a sheet.
“The light was on and I could see into the car. I saw what looked like a mummy in the back of the car, and I thought: ‘What is he doing late at night with something like that?’” Judy, now 69, recalls.
“It was long and covered.
“The head of the mummy was in the corner of the back seat pressed up against the door, quite upright.”
Two weeks later, Judy learned, to her horror, that Winfield’s wife, Bronwyn, then 31 and a waitress in a local cafe, had gone missing.
Had Judy witnessed a crime – the disposal of a woman’s body in the dead of night?
It’s a question that remains unanswered more than three decades later.
To this day, Bronwyn is missing, the mystery of her disappearance unsolved.
But a new podcast may finally shine a light on what happened to her.
When we moved to Lennox Head, I was even more lonely. The house that was built became Jon’s castle and my prison.
Bronwyn Winfield?
The podcast Bronwyn, hosted by The Australian’s national chief correspondent, Hedley Thomas, launched earlier this year, after Hedley spent years unearthing files and case notes, and interviewing key people.
Jon and Bronwyn married in December 1987, when she was 25 and he was 33.
They had two young children: Chrystal, Bronwyn’s daughter from a previous relationship – who was 10 when her mum disappeared – and the couple’s daughter Lauren, who was five at the time.
Cracks were already appearing when the couple moved into the dream home Jon had built for them.
In her personal diary, Bronwyn wrote: “When we moved to Lennox Head, I was even more lonely.
“The house that was built became Jon’s castle and my prison.”
Bronwyn confided in friends that the marriage was troubled and that she wanted to leave her husband.
In March 1993, the couple separated.
Jon remained in the family home, while his wife moved to a rented flat nearby with the children.
Bronwyn reported to social services that there had been emotional violence and custody threats made by Jon and told family members he had assaulted her and that she was struggling financially.
She began divorce proceedings in the weeks before her disappearance and was also in the process of making a claim for assets, including the house they shared.
Her solicitor advised her she was within her rights to move back in, so she and her daughters went back to the house on May 14, while Jon was working away.
Two nights later, Bronwyn disappeared without a trace.
Chrystal would later recount to police that she and Lauren were woken by their father that night and driven to Sydney, more than 400 miles away, where they stayed for almost a fortnight.
On their return, Jon reported Bronwyn missing, alleging that on the night they left for Sydney, Bronwyn had said she needed a break from the girls for a few days, had made a phone call, and a car had collected her from their home.
He suggested to police that she was living somewhere with the help of a wealthy “sugar daddy”.
The local police accepted his explanation, even though Judy reported what she’d seen that night in Winfield’s car.
“The police were blasé,” Hedley says.
“Women who went missing from their husbands were regarded as flighty.
“It was stupid because these women were not just leaving their children, who meant everything to them, they were also leaving significant equity in their own homes and their personal belongings, even jewelry.
“Back then, Lennox Head was a very sleepy coastal town.
“If you were posted there as a copper, it was an easy end-of-career job.
“They didn’t bother checking out Bronwyn’s disappearance.”
It was only in 1998, after pressure from her family, that police began to investigate.
During the interim five years, none of her bank accounts had been touched, and there had been no sightings of her.
A statement Chrystal gave to police in 1999, when she was 16, explained what she recalled of the night her mum disappeared.
“I heard Mum and Dad arguing in the kitchen. I could hear Mum crying,” she said.
Chrystal fell asleep and then remembered being woken up by her father.
“Dad told me he was taking Lauren and I to Sydney,” she said. “I recall that we packed a small bag of clothes and got in the car.
“My dog, whose name was Mopsy, was also put in the car with us.
“Lauren asked where Mum was and I remember Dad saying something about Mum going away on a holiday, and he had a job to do and that we would have to go with him to Sydney.
“Lauren was asking Dad all the time about Mum, and he just said she would be back soon.
“I became aware after a couple of weeks that Mum had been reported missing to the police, but Dad never spoke to me about it,” she continued.
I was only 10 at the time, so I just thought she’d left.
Chrystal
“I have not had any contact with my mother since she disappeared in 1993.”
In the statement, Chrystal also said that her father had hit Bronwyn and had used physical violence against her and her sister.
At that time, Jon also gave a statement to police, in which he doubled down on his explanation that Bronwyn had run away.
He suggested she had mental health problems, stating that there was a history of mental illness in the family and that Bronwyn had suffered postnatal depression after Lauren’s birth.
Murder charge blow
By the time more robust inquiries were made in the late ’90s, the car Judy had seen had been sold and sent for scrap, and any evidence in the house was long gone.
After their mother disappeared, Lauren remained in the care of her father, while Chrystal ended up moving in with friends, foster families, and church groups.
Jon sold the family home in 1999 and moved to another house in the Lennox Head area.
In 2002, an inquest was held into Bronwyn’s disappearance, thanks to the persistence of her family, and a coroner ruled she had most likely died at the time she disappeared.
The coroner recommended Jon Winfield be charged with her murder, but the director of public prosecutions at the time declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence.
She has been very troubled by this for a long time, because she believes she saw a dead Bronwyn wrapped in sheets and that Jon was going off to dispose of her body that night.
Hedley Thomas
In 2009, after more family pressure, the police made a renewed appeal for information and offered a $100,000 (around £52,000) reward for information.
Minister for police Michael Daley said: “[Bronwyn] left behind two young children, aged five and 10 at the time, making the attack all the more heinous.
“Ms. Winfield’s family, particularly her children, deserve to know what happened – and her murderer deserves to be behind bars.”
Despite this renewed push for answers, the case remained cold until 2018, when Hedley became involved.
He’d heard about Bronwyn while making 2018 true crime podcast The Teacher’s Pet, investigating the 1982 disappearance of Lyn Dawson.
During that investigation, he uncovered new details about the case, and in December 2018, Lyn’s husband Chris was arrested and charged with her murder.
He was found guilty in August 2022 after a nine-week trial and sentenced to 24 years in prison, although he has never revealed where Lyn’s body is.
After Hedley’s interview with Judy was aired on the podcast, police from the Unsolved Homicide Unit in Sydney got in touch with her.
Officers met with her and took her back to her old house in Lennox Head to take a detailed statement.
“She has been very troubled by this for a long time, because she believes she saw a dead Bronwyn wrapped in sheets and that Jon was going off to dispose of her body that night,” says Hedley.
Hedley also contacted Jon, who responded by email saying: “I have previously made a sworn statement in 1998, in which I answered 415 questions.
“I stand by the answers I gave.”
Bronwyn's family help with the podcast
Bronwyn’s cousin Madison Walsh, 21, has been helping with the podcast.
She tells Fabulous: “Bronwyn was always mentioned within the family, and I grew up knowing about her disappearance.
“I remember when I was about 10, asking my mum: ‘Who’s Bronwyn?’ and that’s when I found out.
“She explained that Bronwyn went missing and it was thought that she had been murdered.”
The case influenced Madison’s choice of career.
She recently graduated from university with a degree in forensics.
“I’ve read about the case and know that no forensic investigation was ever done, and I can understand how important that information can be in securing a conviction,” she says.
Bronwyn’s memory is kept alive within the family.
“She’s remembered as someone who was gentle, loving, kind, and a devoted mother.
“She is remembered for being softly spoken and just being such a lovely person,” adds Madison.
Chrystal, now 52 and living in Sydney, and Lauren, 47, have not been involved with the podcast, although a source says Chrystal has suspicions her stepfather killed her mother.
Lauren believes her father is innocent and remains close to him, while Jon, now 69, still lives in the Lennox Head area.
He has reportedly never remarried.
Jon remains the only police suspect and the case is still open, with the reward still available.
In addition to Judy’s testimony and the renewed interest from police, listeners to the Bronwyn podcast have also speculated on a possible body deposition site near the Winfield’s family home.
Many believe the answers may lie at the bottom of Lake Ainsworth.
“It’s eight minutes’ drive from Bronwyn and Jon’s house,” says Hedley.
“Many of the locals following the podcast have speculated how, if you dumped a body in it and weighed the body down, it would have been almost impossible to find.
“But we have better technology for underwater searches now.”
Indeed, thanks to the renewed interest in the case, one highly experienced search organization has already started scanning the lake with sonar equipment.
Speaking on behalf of Bronwyn’s family, Madison is hopeful that they may finally find answers, if not in the lake, then through fresh information from podcast listeners.
“I’m hoping there will be some form of closure and then, obviously, justice. Her daughters deserve justice.
“The family deserves justice. Bronwyn deserves justice.”
- You can download and listen to the Bronwyn podcast at Bronwynpodcast.com.
- Photography: The Australian, Getty Images, Liam Mendes/The Australian.