Delia D'Ambra

But none of those folks remembered seeing her or her vehicle in the gully between September 6th and September 13th, which only further supported the notion that it had not been there the entire time Julie was missing.

A local pilot later told investigators, though, that the film crew was actually staying further away from where the Jeep was left, and it was entirely possible that they had just not noticed it or been able to see it.

It also came to light during the inquest proceeding that some members of the Maasai tribe had heard a woman's prolonged screams coming from the general area where Julie's remains were eventually found on September 13th, which raised a really big question.

Did Julie die on that day or did she die on the day she was last seen, September 6th?

If it was the former, September 13th, then where in the world had she been in the days between when she was last seen on the 6th and when her burned remains were located?

Andrew Hogg reported for the Sunday Times that it became clear during the inquest someone had likely held Julie captive for several days and killed her shortly before her charred remains were found.

That thought, as you can imagine, was a difficult reality for John Ward to process.

The inquest lasted for almost three months and ended in late October 1989, with the magistrate in charge ultimately concluding that Julie had been murdered, period.

He ordered that the Kenyan authorities investigate her case as a homicide moving forward.

Some of the big things he expressed that didn't add up to him were where Julie's Jeep had been found, where the missing can of fuel had ended up, and the clearly intentional injuries to her body.

He told the court that he believed the vehicle might have been planted by her killer or killers and that it was possible someone other than Julie had transported the can of reserve fuel from the Jeep to the burn site and then carried it away.

Regarding the state of Julie's remains when they were found, he said, quote, I can only come to the conclusion that those sharp cuts were man-made and not animal-made.

I think the animals are innocent, end quote.

The magistrate also said he knew the wards were going to continue to be highly suspicious of Simon Olimakalo, the game warden who'd found Julie's remains.

But the magistrate emphasized that if Simon was somehow involved, it was unusual that he would have wanted to be the person who led people to the burn site.

In my opinion, I think that's debatable.

I mean, we know from looking at some true crime cases that involved parties can sometimes be right in the middle of an investigation, if not the person who relishes in finding remains or clues.

Anyway, the magistrate officially labeling the case as a murder, though, wasn't total vindication for John Ward.

The court had made it clear that even though murder was the most likely scenario, there had not been a cover-up.

Therefore, the magistrate wasn't going to refer the case to the attorney general's office for further investigation on the matter.