Former William Tyrrell suspect changes story
Paul Savage, an 80-year-old pensioner who was once questioned by detectives over the disappearance of William Tyrrell, has shared a different version of his actions to what he previously told police.
Savage told news.com.au's podcast on the case Witness: William Tyrrell, that he spotted part of a child’s Spider-Man costume – matching the one William was famously last seen wearing – a day earlier than he had reported to police.
In 2017, detectives ran a covert surveillance operation while Savage was being pursued as a person of interest. At the time, they set up a Spider Man suit on the bushtrack the pensioner walked each day near his Benaroon Dr home.
On the first day of the sting, the surveillance team saw him stop and look in the direction of the suit for 12 seconds before continuing on.
Detectives believed Savage had seen the suit, but he insisted that he did not see it until the second day it was there, saying: “I’ve never seen it the day before.
“Why would I leave it a day and then go down and ring up? Why would I do that?”
The 80-year-old has now told news.com.au that he did see part of the suit on the first day, but as it was only the top, he wasn't sure if it was William's and thought to himself “I don’t know about that”, he claimed.
On the second day when he said he saw the whole suit, Savage "thought it was probably his [William's]."
When asked why he didn't tell police of his sighting on the first day, he told the podcast: “I’ve left it a bit longer than I should have but it will come out eventually.”
The podcast also revealed the secret police recordings made inside the pensioner's house, which were previously tendered in court.
The police had been listening in to a bug in Savage's home and car for several weeks and continued to use audio surveillance on him until November 2017 following his police interview.
Savage, who had lost his wife in his mid 70s, would often speak to himself or appeared to be talking to her. In one of the recordings after the police interview, he was recorded saying: "Make sure you don’t tell anyone, Love,” the court heard.
“They’re right after me. Don’t tell anyone, Love. Please, they’re right after me. Sorry,” he continued.
At other times he was heard saying: “I couldn’t hurt a kid,” and later “You’re sick. You bastards want to pin it on me. You can’t do your job so you want to pin it on me."
Savage, who lives across the road from where William vanished, has never been charged and denies any knowledge of what happened to him.
He also told the publication that police had not formally spoken with him after former lead detective Gary Jubelin, who questioned him, was taken off the case.
He has never been officially informed whether he is still a person of interest in their investigation.
Images: news.com.au