She disappeared in 1986 from Perth’s northern suburbs and became one of Western Australia’s most famous unsolved crimes. Now, her husband has been charged with her mur*der.
Maxwell Robert Fulton, 77, who now goes by the name Raymond Reddington, went to Perth Magistrates Court on Friday after being charged with willing murd*er by the special crime squad.
It’s been 37 years since Ms. Fulton, a mother of four, was last seen at her home in Duncraig on March 18, 1986.
The body of the 39-year-old has never been found.
Mr. Reddington, who is in a wheelchair now, came in through a videolink from Perth Watch House with the help of a duty lawyer.
When asked what the charge against him was, he said, “I haven’t been given anything, no papers or anything.”
His bail was turned down, and he was sent back to jail until November 22, when he will appear in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court.
In a statement to the media on Friday afternoon, WA Police Detective Superintendent Darryl Cox said it was a big day for Ms. Fulton’s family.
“The loss of her has been terrible for her children,” Detective Superintendent Cox said.
“They haven’t had a mother in 37 years, and now their father has been arrested. It’s a very hard time for the family, and they have been thinking about what happened.”
“This morning I talked to one of Sharon’s kids, and even though he was upset, he said he had a lot of faith in the justice system.”
“The family and friends have been looking for answers for 37 years, and we hope that today they have them.”
In May, Western Australia Police and the state government offered a $1 million reward for information that led to the conviction of the person involved in the cold case.
She married Mr. Reddington in 1967, and they moved from Brisbane to Perth in the early 1980s.
When their mother went missing, Heath Fulton was three years old. In March, he told The Sunday Times Magazine that he wanted the truth to come out even if it hurt.
“There is nothing more I want in life than the truth to what happened to mum,” Mr Fulton told STM.
“We need to make her at peace so that we can move on, knowing that we can bury her and visit her in a place.”
“The person or people who ki*lled her have known for 37 years that they have caused my siblings and I a lot of pain and torture by keeping us guessing about what happened to our mother.”
“That person is old now.” They have a chance to make us feel a little better by telling us the truth.
