Gavin Owen Samer is the main suspect in the 1994 disappearance of model turned escort Revelle Balmain. He is pictured in 2018
A chef with no history of violence was ‘unfortunate’ to be publicly linked to the disappearance of a prostitute and the death of his flatmate in a house fire.
Gavin Owen Samer was named two decades ago as a suspect in the 1994 presumed murder of 22-year-old Sydney model and escort Revelle Balmain.
He had also shared an apartment with pensioner Rosa Rosenberg, 52, before she was killed in an explosion in their former home in January.Â
Samer has never been charged in relation to Ms Balmain’s disappearance but was convicted of assaulting Ms Rosenberg late last year.
That conviction was overturned in the New South Wales District Court on Wednesday by a judge who found there was insufficient evidence Samer had physically harmed Ms Rosenberg.
Judge Siobhan Herbert also removed a 12-month community corrections order and $500 fine imposed on Samer for intimidating Ms Rosenberg but let his conviction for that offence stand.
Judge Herbert heard Samer had already been punished by media coverage of his association with the two dead women, which was entirely coincidental.
‘Mr Samer has an unfortunate history in that he was a person of interest in relation to the presumed death of a woman on the 5th of November, 1994, which resulted in considerable media attention,’ Judge Herbert said.
That attention was renewed when he was convicted in September last year of having assaulted and intimidated Ms Ronsenberg in their Bondi flat, and by the fatal fire four months later.
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Revelle Balmain, (pictured) 22, was last seen at Kingsford in Sydney’s south east on November 5, 1994. Gavin Samer, who denies any role in Ms Balmain’s disappearance, has had a conviction for assaulting his onetime flatmate Rosalyn Rosenberg overturned
Rosalyn Rosenberg told writer John Dale about her experiences with Gavin Samer, who had assaulted her in the public housing unit they once shared. Four months later Ms Rosenberg died of injuries sustained in an explosion inside her home. She is pictured in that unit
Ms Roseberg – known to friends as Rosa – had subsequently told author John Dale that Samer was a ‘psychopath’ who kept a knife under his pillow, the court heard.Â
Samer had also been accused of committing sex offences against Ms Rosenberg but those charges were withdrawn when she was killed in the explosion at her home.Â
‘As a result of the media attention Mr Samer himself has suffered mental health issues and was admitted for treatment to the mental health unit of Gold Coast Hospital,’ Judge Herbert found.Â
Samer was convicted on September 2, 2019 of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and stalking or intimidating Ms Rosenberg at Bondi on April 12 that year.
The now 52-year-old had threatened Ms Rosenberg with a bottle while drunk and allegedly injured her left ear.Â
Samer was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and fined $1,500 – $1,000 for the assault and $500 for intimidation – in Waverley Local Court.Â
He was also the subject of a two-year apprehended violence order taken out by police to protect Ms Rosenberg.
Samer was convicted last year of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and stalking or intimidating Rosalyn Rosenberg. He was facing charges of sexually touching Ms Rosenberg without her consent but her death after a fire meant those charges were withdrawn
Rosalyn Rosenberg died in hospital after an explosion and fire in her unit in a public housing block (pictured) at Bondi on January 2. She had accused Gavin Samer of indecent assaultÂ
Ms Rosenberg later made a statement accusing Samer of molesting her at the Bondi unit and she was due to give evidence against him in July at Waverley Local Court.
It had been alleged Samer indecently assaulted Ms Rosenberg while she was incapacitated on medication by grabbing her hand and using it to fondle his genitals.
Samer had pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual touching without consent and sexual touching without consent.
The ‘aggravated’ factor in one of the charges related to Samer being Ms Rosenberg’s carer. She suffered from cognitive and physical disabilities and had a history of substance abuse.Â
Her death saw the charges dropped on the day the matter was to be heard.Â
A New South Wales Ambulance spokeswoman said at the time the January 2 explosion was possibly ‘purposeful’ and the fire was being treated as a mental health incident.
Ms Rosenberg allegedly told writer John Dale (pictured) that Gavin Samer was a ‘psychopath’ who kept a knife under his pillow
Ms Rosenberg was pulled from the burning Flood Street unit in a critical condition and taken to Royal North Shore Hospital where she later died.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Samer had any involvement in the explosion or fire.Â
Samer appealed against the conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which Judge Herbert upheld after finding the charge had not been proven.
‘Mr Samer has no history of being convicted of any offence of violence or any domestic offences,’ Judge Herbert said.Â
Samer had been ‘heavily intoxicated on that day’ and the incident with the wine bottle was ‘said to be out of character for him.’Â
His barrister Pierre de Dassel said his client had been the one who called police and claimed it was he who had been assaulted by Ms Rosenberg, with whom he had a ‘complicated relationship’.Â
Judge Herbert removed the fine for intimidation and quashed the community corrections order because it would be ‘meaningless’ as Samer was now living in Queensland.Â
‘He was a person of prior good character – he had no offences of this nature,’ she said.Â
Gavin Samer was the last person known to see model turned escort Revelle Balmain alive. Asked if he knew he was still the main suspect in her murder, he said: ‘I’m well aware of the situation.’Â He is pictured playing a poker machine after a court appearance
Revelle Balmain was a model, dancer and escort who was going to quit prostitution after her appointment with Gavin Samer at his home in Sydney’s south-eastern suburbs. There is a $250,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Revelle Balmain’s killer or killers
Mr de Dassel said Samer had been pursued by the media due a series of unfortunate unrelated events including being associated with two women ‘who met a bad end’.
Samer had been ‘traumatised by being named as a person of interest when he had nothing to do with the disappearance of the prostitute’, Mr de Dassel said.Â
There was no suggestion Samer had been involved in any way in Ms Rosenberg’s death, and Judge Herbert noted the inquest into Ms Balmain’s disappearance found ‘no plausible motive’ for him to have murdered her.
The sometime chef was not the only person of interest named at that inquest but he has told Daily Mail Australia he knows police consider him the main suspect in her disappearance.Â
Samer, who listened to Wednesday’s decision from Queensland, has been unable to escape the notoriety attached to his appearance at the coronial inquiry into Ms Balmain’s presumed murder.Â
He says he is not a violent person and believes he has been unfairly targeted by police, who he accuses of harassing him.Â
Samer, who lives in Queensland, was in Gold Coast University Hospital earlier this year being treated for a mental illness but is now understood to be in better health. He is pictured near his previous home in Tasmania, where he lived for at least 15 years
The keen surfer was 26 when he hired Ms Balmain to come to his home at Kingsford, in Sydney’s south-east, for several hours of sex 26 years ago.
Ms Balmain has not been seen since that appointment and Samer was named at a 1998 coronial inquest as the main person of interest in her suspected murder.
Samer subsequently spent at least 15 years living as a recluse in Tasmania but resurfaced in Sydney in 2018 to plead guilty to old theft charges.Â
I’m not worried about getting arrested over the Revelle thing. I’ve done nothing wrong. I hired a hooker, that’s the only thing I did. Big deal.
After that court appearance Samer told Daily Mail Australia he believed he was still the main suspect in Ms Balmain’s murder but insisted he had not harmed her.Â
‘I’m one of the softest, nicest blokes on the planet,’ he said when asked about the events of November 5, 1994. ‘I’m mellow. I’m totally anti-violence.’Â
While Samer told Daily Mail Australia he did not kill Ms Balmain, he knew he would continue to be linked to the crime.Â
‘I’m not worried about getting arrested over the Revelle thing,’ he said. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong. I hired a hooker, that’s the only thing I did. Big deal.’
Samer was to be the blonde, blue-eyed escort’s final client before she intended getting out of prostitution and was the last person known to have seen her alive.
Samer had paid for sex with Ms Balmain on the Saturday she went missing, while his de facto partner Michelle Oswald-Sealy was away from their Kingsford home for the weekend
Ms Balmain’s body has never been found. In 2008Â the NSW Government announced a reward for information that led to the conviction of Ms Balmain’s killer or killers would be increased to $250,000.
Samer had paid for sex with Ms Balmain on the Saturday she went missing, while his de facto partner Michelle Oswald-Sealy was away from their Kingsford home for the weekend.
Gavin Samer (pictured) is now living in Queensland. He is pictured in 1994
After their appointment, Samer claimed he drove Ms Balmain from his house on McNair Avenue to the nearby Red Tomato Inn about 7pm, but no witnesses came forward to say they saw him or her that night.Â
During the inquest, the possibility that two of Ms Balmain’s former employers, Select Companions and VIP Escorts, or their associates could have been involved in her disappearance was investigated.
Also considered was a submission from a group of three men about drug-fuelled parties they claimed to have had with Ms Balmain. The submission was later ruled ‘unreliable’.
Deputy State Coroner John Abernethy eliminated a theory that Ms Balmain had staged her own disappearance, saying there was ‘absolutely no evidence’ to support it.
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In his May 1999 findings Mr Abernethy ruled Revelle Balmain died on or about November 5, 1994 in New South Wales at the hands of a person or persons unknown.
‘Not only is she dead, but I am firmly of the opinion that her disappearance involves her homicide,’ he said.
‘While Mr Samer certainly had the opportunity to kill Ms Balmain, and rightly in my view is the main person of interest to police, there is no plausible motive proved.’Â
Investigations into Ms Balmain’s disappearance are continuing under Strike Force Aramac.Â
Detectives urge anyone with information about Revelle Balmain’s disappearance and suspected murder to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
WHAT THE CORONER WAS TOLD ABOUT GAVIN OWEN SAMER
Coroner John Abernethy did not recommend charges be laid against Gavin Samer
Evidence given at the coronial inquest into Revelle Balmain’s disappearance revealed in the first crucial hours after she was reported missing police did not search Gavin Samer’s house with a specialist forensics team.
They also did not search his car until nine days later or ask him to hand over the clothes he was wearing on November 5, 1994.
Deputy State Coroner John Abernethy questioned the officer originally in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Graeme John Mulherin, about the early investigation.
Detective Sergeant Mulherin had been stationed at Rose Bay police station on November 6, the day after Ms Balmain’s disappearance.
He told the coroner what inquiries police made of Mr Samer.Â
Mr Abernethy: ‘As part of the search of his home did you search the clothing that he may have been wearing on the day of 5 November?’
Detective Sergeant Mulherin: ‘No, I did not.’
Mr Abernethy: ‘Did you ask him what clothing he was wearing, what type of clothing he was wearing on that day and specifically the type of clothing he was wearing immediately before he saw Revelle Balmain and after he left, as he claims, his residence with her?’
Detective Sergeant Mulherin: ‘No I did not, no.’
The detective had not asked for Mr Samer’s washed clothing because he thought anything that he needed ‘wouldn’t have been there’.
Mr Abernethy: ‘In terms of blood?’
Detective Sergeant Mulherin: ‘Yes.’
Mr Abernethy asked if, with hindsight, it might have been a good idea to examine Mr Samer’s clothing for damage.Â
‘Certainly a priority in fact that was a very intense day for us, it was my first day at Rose Bay,’ Detective Sergeant Mulherin said.Â
‘I walked straight into this investigation, we were flat out all day as I say, we’ve obviously overlooked that, overlooked the viewing of any clothing for damage.’
As Mr Samer had told police he got the scratches on his body while surfing that Saturday morning, officers asked for and obtained his wetsuits.
‘I needed to know if those injuries could be caused and/or an injury be caused through a wetsuit,’ Detective Sergeant Mulherin said.
Police were also looking for Mr Samer’s cheque book because he had said he wrote a cheque for Ms Balmain but it was missing.
Officers visited Mr Samer’s house three times – the first time without a warrant and the third time with a warrant to search the property.
The most extensive search happened on November 8, three days after Ms Balmain went missing.
When police came to search the house they did not call in assistance from specialist physical evidence officers. Instead, Detective Sergeant Mulherin relied on his eyesight to look for ‘blood, scuff marks, hair adhered to the wall, anything.’
He told Mr Abernethy he was ‘physically pulling things apart to have a look to try and, first of all, find the cheque book.’
‘Why didn’t you call in the crime scene unit, physical evidence people?,’ Mr Abernethy asked.
‘It was an oversight at that time of the inquiry,’ Detective Sergeant Mulherin said.
‘In hindsight I’d do a lot of things differently, that would be one of them, certainly.’
Detective Sergeant Mulherin then confirmed Mr Samer’s car – in which he allegedly drove Ms Balmain to the Red Tomato Inn – was not checked until November 13, eight days after she disappeared.
‘You have to understand, at that stage… we didn’t have a body and we weren’t certain she was dead at that stage,’ Detective Sergeant Mulherin said.
