When Joanne Butterfield suddenly disappeared without a trace in June 1998, some locals in her Far North Queensland town were quick to form suspicions.
asserted
locals → disappear → suspicions
As Colleen Brischetto, a long-time Mossman taxi operator, put it at a coronial inquest this week: "In a small town, everyone talks."
asserted
everyone → put → town
To some, Ms Butterfield appeared troubled in the lead-up to her disappearance, telling friends and acquaintances her children would be better off if she left town.
asserted
she → appear → town
But some things appeared to be going well for her too.
asserted
things → appear → her
She had taken a job at a local supermarket earlier that same month and, at the start of that year, mental health services believed her condition had improved enough to recommend the closure of her file.
asserted
condition → take → file
Coroner Stephanie Williams is examining whether Ms Butterfield has died and the adequacy of the police investigation into her disappearance.
asserted
Butterfield → examine → disappearance
Men 'disappeared' from pub
Colleen Brischetto knew Joanne Butterfield in 1998, routinely driving her in the taxi, often to a local pub.
Ms Brischetto also knew Concetto Tati, a lifelong local who lived down her street.
Mr Tati, who spoke to police during the investigation, has told the inquest he only recalled meeting Ms Butterfield once.
asserted
he → disappear → Butterfield
The 67-year-old also told the inquest he had no knowledge of or involvement in her disappearance.
asserted
he → tell → disappearance
However, Ms Brischetto's evidence suggested that in the two months before she disappeared, Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati argued "three or four times" at a taxi rank.
uncertain
Butterfield → suggest → rank
One of those occasions came after Mr Tati went looking for Ms Butterfield, asking Ms Brischetto to drive him to Mossman Gorge.
asserted
Tati → come → Gorge
"He was anxious to find her … and when someone said she wasn't up there, I said, 'Why don't you just leave her alone?'
asserted
you → find → her
And he got really angry," Ms Brischetto told the inquest.
asserted
Brischetto → get → inquest
David Arduino, now 55, told the inquest he frequently collected Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati from the Mossman Hotel together in his cab.
asserted
he → tell → cab
"Sometimes, he was quite rude and a bit aggressive," Mr Arduino recalled of Mr Tati.
asserted
Arduino → recall → Tati
Mr Arduino told the inquest that Ms Butterfield and Mr Tati argued in his taxi "several times".
asserted
Butterfield → tell → taxi
But the taxi ride Mr Arduino best remembered occurred on a night Mr Tati was alone and asked Mr Arduino to drive along a rural road where Michael O'Donoghue lived.
asserted
O'Donoghue → remember → road
"[Mr Tati] looked pretty nervous and just looked like he was on edge," Mr Arduino said.
asserted
Arduino → look → edge
The taxi driver said Mr Tati had a duffel bag with him and, at one point, asked Mr Arduino to pull over before briefly wandering into the scrub, the inquest heard.
asserted
inquest → say → scrub
"He said, 'It would be a good place to die', and that's all
asserted
that → say → ?
I can remember,"Mr Arduino said.
asserted
Arduino → remember,"mr → ?
In 2021, Mr Arduino gave a statement to police about the taxi ride with Mr Tati.
asserted
Arduino → give → Tati
However, he could not recall whether it happened before or after Ms Butterfield's disappearance.
uncertain
it → recall → disappearance
Ms Brischetto recalled having to leave a party early that night because Mr Tati's behaviour had frightened Mr Arduino to the point he no longer wanted to drive the taxi.
asserted
he → recall → taxi
Ms Brischetto said that about a week after Ms Butterfield disappeared, Mossman locals were discussing her possible whereabouts.
asserted
locals → say → whereabouts
"A friend of mine said she saw scratches down [Mr Tati's] face and he was calm as a cucumber," Ms Brischetto told the inquest.
"He never worried about where she was."
asserted
she → say → inquest
Ms Butterfield had mentioned "she was having trouble with Con", she said.
asserted
she → mention → Con
"I've approached the police a few times, but I just kept getting told: 'No, she just went away.
asserted
she → approach → police
She went down to Sydney.'
asserted
She → go → Sydney
"
Men 'disappeared' from pub
asserted
Men → disappear → pub
Natalie Cavanagh, then a 19-year-old Mossman Hotel bartender, recalled Ms Butterfield as a regular patron who was often at the pub with Mr Tati and Mr O'Donoghue.
asserted
who → recall → Tati
"Con was a person that I would always remember, only from the way he used to treat us barmaids," she told the inquest.
asserted
she → remember → inquest
She said Mr Tati and Mr O'Donoghue stopped coming to the pub after Ms Butterfield went missing.
asserted
Butterfield → say → pub
Mr O'Donoghue, now an agoraphobic recluse, has also given evidence denying involvement in, or knowledge about, Ms Butterfield's disappearance.
asserted
O'Donoghue → give → involvement
Mr Tati's lawyer, Sacha Smith, asked Mr Arduino and Ms Brischetto whether they had mistaken Ms Butterfield for another woman named Leanne Downey.
asserted
they → ask → woman
Neither could remember Ms Downey.
uncertain
Neither → remember → Downey
The inquest has also heard evidence about a man named Victor Varga, who died in recent years.
asserted
who → hear → years
His friend, Anthony van den Broek, 60, gave evidence about an afternoon they picked up a hitchhiking Ms Butterfield on their way back to Cairns from Mossman.
asserted
they → give → Mossman
Ms Butterfield stayed that night at Mr Varga's home, the inquest heard, and Mr van den Broek said he recalled her leaving in the morning.
asserted
her → stay → morning
"I think Vic was trying to maybe ask her to stay or something like that, and she said, 'No, I gotta go, I gotta go,' or something like that," he said.
asserted
he → think → that
Mr van den Broek recalled Mr Varga as "a bit of a womaniser" and a "party type", who believed in conspiracy theories.
asserted
who → recall → theories
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
