Delia D'Ambra

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.

John didn't feel confident that police in Kenya were really going to work Julie's case though, so he continued to carry out his own investigation.

He traveled back and forth from England and kept trying to track down all the people who'd been staying at Sand River Camp on the day she disappeared.

Those efforts sent him and those who were helping him to Spain, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and even the United States trying to track down witnesses and conduct interviews.

He posted a 10,000 pound reward for information that might lead to an arrest.

That amount then would have had the buying power today of over 33,000 US dollars.

So it was a lot of money in 1989.

After the inquest, it appears things in the case, at least in Kenya, went quiet for a while.