'The grief is heart-wrenching': Pleas for child-killer to make deathbed confession
A convicted child killer is being pleaded with to make a deathbed confession revealing the final resting place of the boy he murdered.
A second family also wants answers about the fate of their little girl.
As 7 News exclusively revealed, Dieter Pfennig's clinging to life after a massive heart attack.
He has been in jail for 24 years serving life for the murder of 10-year old Michael Black.
The child’s body has never been found.
The remains of Adelaide schoolgirl Louise Bell, who he denies abducting and killing, are also missing.
“The grief is heart-wrenching and that's exacerbated by not knowing where the body of your loved one is,” Victims’ Rights Commissioner Michael O’Connell said.
A former inmate has testified that Pfennig told him he buried the children together but did not say where.
Calls have been made for Pfennig to reveal anything he knows about Louise Bell, if he was involved.
“This is a genuine opportunity, should he recover, to let those people know where their loved ones are so they can pay the appropriate respect and bury them with dignity,” Mr O’Connell said.
Pfennig has been on trial for the 1983 kidnapping and murder of the schoolgirl, but with the prisoner now in an induced coma, the trial has been put on hold.
When asked outside court what the future holds for it, Prosecutor Sandi McDonald said it would be called for mention on Tuesday morning.
If Pfennig survives, he could be brain damaged. If he can not instruct his lawyers, the trial will be abandoned.
The only other avenue for the Bell family is a coroner's inquest.
“That may provide some comfort to the victims but when all is said and done they want accountability, they want to the person who is responsible for killing their loved one to face justice,” Mr O’Connell said.
