For the first week after the murders, Sef stayed with his Uncle Joseph, then at the North Ryde home of Cecile Ferrer.
Even though the grief was raw for the relatives, police knew the urgency of conducting a public appeal for anyone who might have any information about the murders to come forward. The way to reach the widest audience was an appeal through the media.
Of course, the police had already asked for witnesses to come forward and had issued a photograph of the Gonzales family, dressed to the nines for the wedding of Loiva’s younger sister Liza to her husband Steve Carroll, with Sef’s face blanked out from the photo. However, the police appreciated that an appeal is strongest when it comes from a relative of the victims. Only those close to the victims can truly convey the agony and outrage of the crime, and describe the victims properly.
Sheehy asked Joseph Claridades if he would be willing to make an appeal. Asking Sef, the only surviving member of the immediate family, indeed the one who found the bodies, was not really contemplated. It was assumed it would be too difficult for him to address the media.
When Sef learned from his Uncle Joseph about the request, he surprised everyone by offering to issue the appeal himself.
Sef carefully prepared the statement, and on the night of 12 July, two days after his family’s murder, showed what he had written to Sheehy for approval. The statement was fine. In fact, it was extremely well written.
So on Friday, 13 July, the media turned out in droves to listen to and report on Sef’s statement, issued in the media briefing room at the old New South Wales Police Headquarters at College Street in central Sydney.
Sef wore a dark blue suit. For moral support, his Uncle Joseph stood by his side. Sef read from his statement in a dignified voice, maintaining his composure.
As the cameras clicked in quick succession and the television cameras rolled, this is what Sef Gonzales said:
Most of you are probably aware of the tragedy that my family has experienced this week. I would like to speak briefly about my family.
The best way I could possibly describe my father is that he was my hero and role model. He believed that there was no limit to what he could do for his family, friends or those less fortunate.
I admired him in every way possible and my greatest aim in life was to one day become at least half the man that he was. I’d always said that if I was ever to have a son, I would name him after my father.
My mother was the heart of my family. She was the heart of her friends and anyone who knew her. She had a very strong, passionate character and always stood up for what she believed was right. We have always confided in each other as best of friends and she made it seem that nothing was impossible. No problem seemed unsolvable. She had given life meaning through sharing her strong faith in God.
My sister was the life in the family. She was an expert on smiling and made us all believe that life should be taken lightly. She had always told me she believed that I was more talented than her and that she looked up to me. I had always replied to that with a smile. I never got the chance to tell her that I looked up to her. She had so many qualities that many people, including myself, envied. But she would always be my baby sister.
It is difficult to explain the love and ties in my family but if you were to picture the four corners of the world, in my world we were the four. We had so many plans and we had just started to bring our dreams to life. Unfortunately on Tuesday night, they were all taken away.
The other three corners of my world are now gone.
My father never got the chance to see a grandchild named after him. My mother won’t be able to give any more meaning to the unsolvable, and my sister, who had just turned eighteen on Monday night, was just beginning to bloom.
My family, friends and myself would like to ask anyone out there to please help us and provide any information that could possibly help find who took them away in Tuesday night’s senseless act. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask those concerned to please join us in prayers for my family.
So many of my family and friends are in mourning. I would like to ask the media to please respect our privacy and leave us in peace as we mourn. We would like to thank those who have shown concern and helped us so far.
Thank you.
Shortly afterwards, Sef was led from the room.
ON 16 JULY, Sef Gonzales participated in a video reconstruction of his movements at the Gonzales house on the afternoon and evening of 10 July 2001. The police wanted to tie him to a comprehensive version of his movements.
Sef arrived at the house accompanied by two of his uncles, Joseph and Edmund. They were there to give him moral support.
The video began with Sef and Mick Sheehy standing outside the house on the paved driveway. Both were dressed in blue forensic jumpsuits and white booties. On video, Sef looked half the size of Sheehy, who towered over him. They looked strange, almost comical, standing together, dressed identically, as Sheehy began to talk seriously for the camera, introducing Sef and his two uncles.
He told Sef that at any time the recording could be suspended so he could speak to his uncles. ‘As I said to you before, I want you to understand that you’re not obliged to say or do anything unless you wish to do so, as your activities and anything you say will be recorded on camera and form part of the evidence. Do you understand that?’
‘Yes,’ Sef replied.
Sheehy was extremely conscious of his height and the possibility it could be seen as physically intimidating to the small-framed man. He had decided from the outset to keep his distance from Sef as the video camera operated, and if he needed to be near Sef for the purposes of the reconstruction, he crouched down. He would continually be alert for signs that Sef was becoming upset, and at those points would offer Sef the opportunity to take a break from filming.
Sef pretty much stuck to his former version of events, confirming the phone calls in the car at 6 pm and then explaining how he had come home later that night and discovered his parents and sister. He kneeled down and mimed hugging their bodies. At times during the re-enactment Sef would start to breathe in a distressed fashion and Sheehy would give him the opportunity to stop, but Sef insisted he was okay to continue. Then he would be off again, unprompted, telling police what he had done next. It was the same behaviour Sheehy had observed the night of the murders: Sef had the ability to throw off his upset and organise his thoughts remarkably well.
By this stage, Sheehy’s original opinion that Sef was not likely to be the killer had virtually gone down the drain. The re-enactment reinforced his suspicions of Sef, but he never let them show, except at one point during the reconstruction. As Sef led him to the corner of Ryrie Street, describing the point where he had stopped chasing the running figure, Sef became distressed. Again, though, he did not wish to stop or take a break. As Sef turned and began describing how he had headed back to his house to see if he could help Clodine, Sheehy for once looked directly into the camera. It was only a quick glance, but his face conveyed a bemused disbelief more than words could have.
BY THIS STAGE, there had been heated debate amongst Tawas detectives about how Sef should be interviewed from now on. It was the view of Auglys and Tony Polito that police should be applying a lot of pressure to Sef; that if they put the inconsistencies in his alibi to him, Sef would crack and confess.
Sheehy, Shaun Ryan and a few of the others, including Detective Senior Constable Paul Sullivan, a trained psychologist who had joined Tawas, disagreed. From their observations of Sef’s behaviour, he was never going to confess, so they had to have Sef commit himself so strongly to a version of events that he could not back out. Let him talk, and then follow it up. It could be proven wrong afterwards, but the main thing should be that Sef thought police believed him. This was the tactic they would adopt.
Sheehy’s instincts told him he was taking the right approach. He and Sef had developed a rapport. Sef saw him as an officer who could be trusted, the one who would ‘save’ him. If Sheehy told Sef he did not believe what he was saying, Sef would clam up and stop talking. Sheehy thought if police were patient, gave Sef enough rope, he would end up incriminating himself beyond doubt.