7-18-2009 Australia:An alleged paedophile murdered as he slept in his Mandurah home in January was the victim of a vigilante attack, friends said yesterday.
They said Robert George Dalliston, 69, who was to face 25 charges of indecent dealings and sexual penetration involving several girls aged under 13, was a gentle and kind man who was killed as retribution for the alleged sex abuse.
Police believe Mr Dalliston, a widowed pensioner who lived alone, was attacked on January 8 while he slept at his Ward Street home. His body was found seven days later by a friend who went to check on him.
The charges against him were formally dropped in the District Court on Thursday after the Director of Public Prosecutions presented a death certificate.
Raelene Phillips, who lived across the street from Mr Dalliston, said he used to visit several times a week to socialise with her and her husband Jeffrey.
She did not believe he was a paedophile but believed the allegations led to his murder.
“He was a lovely, funny man and when people around here started saying he was a paedophile I just thought, ‘What? Where has that come from’,” Mrs Phillips said.
“I never believed he was that type of person. I had my grandchildren around him many times and he was more interested in us than the kids. But I think that (the allegations) is why they murdered him. Somebody’s sneaked in there and killed him because of that. It is just so sad that he has been killed because of allegations that were never even proved.”
She feared the police investigation into his death could be hindered because of the abuse allegations.
“I just hope that anyone who knows what happened to him wouldn’t hold back from telling the police because they thought he was a paedophile,” Mrs Phillips said.
Another former neighbour, who did not want her name published, said Mr Dalliston had been a good friend who regularly helped her with handyman work.
She described his death as tragic and said she, too, believed the murder might have been prompted by the sexual abuse allegations.
“He was going to court the next day (on sex charges), so my first thought was that someone’s got to him before he could talk,” she said.
Mr Dalliston was last seen alive at 8.22am on January 8. He was filmed on a CCTV camera at the post office at Silver Sands shopping centre in Mandurah. Detectives believe he went to Perth that day to volunteer at a bike shop before going home.
A week after his body was found, police raided a home in Elizabeth Street, three streets from the murder scene, and questioned an acquaintance of Mr Dalliston in his 40s. Detectives said they took clothes for forensic tests from that and other houses. ..Source.. by RONAN O’CONNELL
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