His daughter insisted she saw her father after he disappeared… but investigators say he had already been d3:ad for days and the truth behind it is sending chills down everyone’s spine
WWII veteran Les Ball vanished in suspicious circumstances in 1993. His daughter maintains she was visited by her father, but police say he died days before, raising questions on what may have been a meticulously constructed deception surrounding his disappearance.
A single, forged train ticket has also emerged as a pivotal piece of evidence in the decades-long cold case.
This crucial detail, alongside conflicting accounts, is casting a stark new light on what happened to the 71-year-old just before he vanished.
On April 17 1993, a ticket was booked in Mr Ball’s name for a train journey from Townsville to Brisbane, with an onward connection to Dalby.
The ticket was picked up from Townsville Railway station on April 19, the same day Mr Ball was due to settle on a new home by paying the $63,000 he still owed. But he never turned up for settlement – or the train ride.
Queensland Rail records show Mr Ball never boarded either train, marked instead as “failed to show.”
War veteran Leslie Ball who is believed to have been murdered. Picture: Supplied
Police believe Mr Ball was already deceased by the time the ticket was purchased and that his signature on the ticket was a forgery.
The intricate web of evidence surrounding Mr Ball’s disappearance and who may be responsible for his death are being meticulously unpacked by investigative reporters Jo Townsend and Callum Denness in new podcast Perfect Alibi.
The podcast delves into the conflicting accounts, the forensic details, and the police’s growing suspicions, exposing what investigators believe was an elaborate “smokescreen” designed to distract from the truth.
Perfect Alibi Ep 2: Body of Evidence
How a single,…
An initial coronial inquest in 1994-1995 concluded that “person or persons have deliberately tried to convey the impression that Mr Ball travelled to Brisbane by train”.
But this is at odds with the long-held account of Mr Ball’s daughter, Leanne Phillips, who steadfastly maintained her father visited her in a Brisbane hospital on the evening of April 21, 1993.
In a recorded police interview in 2011 – 18 years after her father vanished – Leanne told police she remembered using a public phone while on the seventh floor of the Princess Alexandria Hospital when he father emerged from the lifts at about 8.30pm.
Train ticket said to have been bought by Les Ball. Picture: Supplied
The passenger record with Mr Ball marked as “FTS – failed to show”. Picture: Supplied
Leanne told police her father stayed for about 30 minutes and they sat on chairs in the waiting area talking about how his ex-wife Margaret, who is Leanne’s mother – was staying with the Phillips.
Leanne claimed her father then left, telling her he was going to visit his other daughter La-Chelle on the Sunshine Coast.
Police investigations found no other evidence to support this visit, and a later coronial finding determined Ms Phillips held a “genuinely held but mistaken belief” regarding the encounter.
Mr Powers said it was clear “someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the evidence, to create a version that would distract us, that would put us on the wrong path”.
Adding another layer of complexity, Ms Phillips had a losing lottery ticket that she said was physical proof of her father’s hospital visit.
She claimed Mr Ball gave it to her that evening. That ticket was purchased in Townsville on April 20 using Mr Ball’s card.
During her police interview, Leanne Phillips told detectives she remembered finding the lotto ticket “on the side of the drawer” on her hospital bed and that she was “pretty sure” her father put it there.
Former Detective Noel Powers told the Perfect Alibi podcast investigators interviewed the woman who shared Leanne’s hospital room.
“She said Leanne did not receive any visitors in hospital on that day,” Mr Powers said.
“It just didn’t seem to add up.
“I’ve got no doubt that before the 19th and even before the 20th, he’d met his demise.
“And I’ll say that now … there’s no doubt about it that, that Les Ball had been killed prior to that day,” Mr Powers said.
Les Ball’s son-in-law, former Victorian detective David Phillips. Picture: Supplied
Les Ball’s daughter and David Philip’s wife Leanne. Picture: Supplied
While a second coroner found Ms Phillips had no involvement in purchasing the ticket, its presence, coupled with the forged train ticket, deepened suspicions that someone else played a part in Mr Ball’s disappearance.
Mr Ball was reported missing by his youngest daughter La-Chelle despite not making any contact with family members for weeks.
Perfect Alibi – Who’s who
The mystery deepened further with the chilling discovery in July 1993 of Mr Ball’s distinctive, hand-built blue trailer, found burnt to ashes in a remote Townsville dumping ground.
Evidence pointed to deliberate and extensive efforts to conceal and destroy the trailer, including multiple attempts to clear the site.
“I remember finding little scraps of just tiny bits and inch by an inch or something that I knew were part of a dinner set that was ours that I’d given him, you know?,” La-Chelle’s mother and Mr Ball’s ex-wife Et Ison told Perfect Alibi podcast.
Leslie Ball had packed up his life in a trailer and was getting ready to move to Cardwell. The trailer was found burnt out in bushland after he went missing.
Mr Ball’s trailer and personal possessions are found burned in bushland off Jurekey Street, a 10-minute drive from the Phillips’ home
Among the items found were his collection of golfing magazines.
Also found strewn were his personal items including clothing.
“Having to go through … with my fingers to pick out any tiny little bit of thing that I knew was Les’s – that was emotionally one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life because I’m going through ashes.
“And all the time I didn’t know whether his body had been burnt there. It was a horrible time for me. Dreadful,” she said.
“But I didn’t want La-Chelle to have to do it. I went through and did it.”
The Homicide Cold Case Investigation Team extensively reviewed Mr Ball’s disappearance between 2010 and 2017, leading to the reopening of the inquest in 2019.
Perfect Alibi
I know who killed my father
Body of Evidence
On June 13, 2023, the Deputy State Coroner delivered a definitive finding: Mr Ball was deceased, likely to have occurred on or about April 18, 1993.
The role of David Phillips, Leanne’s husband and a former police detective, has also come under intense scrutiny.
Mr Phillips’ evasive conduct during interviews and his professional background in major crime investigations have raised significant questions about his knowledge of the events.
His claims about Mr Ball’s “tendency to go missing” were pivotal in the initial coronial inquest delivering an “open finding,” leaving the case unresolved for decades.
SOURCE: NEWS.COM.AU
https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/how-a-faked-rail-journey-exposed-the-smokescreen-in-les-ball-cold-case/news-story/d7abf2e4cee7f700a68fe67180399aef
