Former top cop Karl O’Callaghan warns Perth to steel itself for details about Claremont serial killer’s victims

WA’s former top cop has warned the Perth public to prepare to be shocked by the gruesome details about how suspected Claremont serial killer victims Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon died. Former police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan was in charge of the force on the day in December 2016 that Bradley Robert Edwards was arrested and charged with the murders, which took place in 1996 and 1997. He was later charged with a third murder, that of Sarah Spiers. Mr Edwards will go on trial for all three next Monday. And when that evidence finally starts to be revealed, more than 20 years after the first of the girls disappeared, Mr O’Callaghan said there would still be details that will still surprise and shock. “There is gruesome detail in any murder, of course. And there will be gruesome detail in this,” Mr O’Callghan told Channel Seven’s Flashpoint. “And I think probably the most shocking material will be what comes from the descriptions of the crime scenes.” Seven’s Flashpoint will tonight air a special report into everything known about the Claremont case so far — and what to expect from the six-month trial. The Macro investigation, which had run for more than two decades, culminated in the dramatic arrest of Mr Edwards at his Kewdale home almost three years ago. Mr O’Callaghan, who had been police commissioner for more than 10 years at that stage, said he would always remember the moment he was told the massive investigation might be about to bear fruit. “I’ll never forget the feeling when the assistant commissioner walked in my office and said: ‘Boss, I think we’ve finally got him, I think we have finally got the Claremont serial killer’,” he said. Mr Edwards still denies any part of any of the murders, with a trial before just Justice Stephen Hall — and no jury — to decide on his guilt or innocence. On Friday, prosecutors trying to prove Mr Edwards is the killer were told they would be allowed to present their theory that personal torment turned him into a three-time killer. But Justice Hall warned he may not use the purported motive to come to a decision on Edwards’ guilt or innocence, and will make his final call as the trial proceeds.