In August of 2018, Robert Whitwell's neighbors noticed a few days worth of newspapers on his front step.

As he was 81 years old and living alone, they were worried for his

well-being. But what they imagined happened was nowhere near as tragic as the

truth. I'm Charlie and welcome to crime lines.

Welcome to crime lines.

Welcome back to the 12 days of crime lines. This case takes place in Australia and it starts with an unlikely victim.

81 year old Robert Whitwell.

He lived a quiet life in a quiet neighborhood in a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.

Robert had raised his kids and now even his grandkids were becoming adults.

He was devoted to his family and he and his wife

Joyce always loved having their grandkids around for school breaks and for

outings whenever they could. They were the grandparents that never forgot birthdays and

always sent a card. As they aged though Joyce who was a little bit older than

Robert began having issues with her memory. When her care needs became more than Robert could handle,

at home alone, she moved into a nearby nursing home close enough that Robert could see her every single day.

Robert himself was still very independent.

He got his first cell phone at the age of 80 and he loved that he could just text his family to be even closer to them on a day-to-day basis

particularly his daughter Tanya and her kids. They were living in the Brisbane area which was a two or three hour

plane ride away. So the more ways Robert had to keep in touch with them in

between visits, the better.

To keep himself busy in his retirement, Robert loved to garden and his neighbors said that

his yard and house were always immaculate. He would also help neighbors out even little things like taking their trash out to the curb

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