Herman Rockefeller's mistress' call to wife exposed him

Publish date: 2024-06-19
A phone call from the long-time mistress of Melbourne businessman Herman Rockefeller (pictured) to his wife helped unravel the 51-year-old's secret life and led police to his killers

A phone call from the long-time mistress of Melbourne businessman Herman Rockefeller (pictured) to his wife helped unravel the 51-year-old's secret life and led police to his killers

A phone call from the long-time mistress of murdered millionaire Herman Rockefeller to his wife just days after he disappeared helped unravel his secret life and eventually led police to his killers.

After watching Vicky Rockefeller plead for her 51-year-old businessman husband to return home after he suddenly vanished in January 2010, the Melbourne man's mistress decided she had to reveal the 27-year-long affair.

'Hello Vicky, you don't know me but I'm calling you about Herman,' she began the conversation, The Courier Mail has reported.

'I'm calling you because Herman called me on the night he disappeared. I want you to know that I know Herman very well.'

The revealing chat, which will be featured on Channel Nine's crime show 'Murder Calls,' is one of several phone calls that exposed Mr Rockefeller's propensity for sex trysts and the swinger's scene - shattering his image as devoted church and family man.

It also eventually led to the arrest and confession of Mr Rockefeller's killers Mario Schembri, 57, and Bernadette Denny, 41, according to the Courier Mail.

After watching Vicky Rockefeller (pictured) plead for her millionaire husband to return home after he suddenly vanished in January 2010, Mr Rockefeller's mistress decided to call and reveal the 27-year-long affair

After watching Vicky Rockefeller (pictured) plead for her millionaire husband to return home after he suddenly vanished in January 2010, Mr Rockefeller's mistress decided to call and reveal the 27-year-long affair

Mr Rockefeller told his wife he was flying home from to Melbourne around 10.30pm on January 21, 2010, but had landed an hour earlier and drove to Schembri and Denny's home in Hadfield to have sex.

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The couple had previously answered Mr Rockefeller's ad in a swingers' magazine, but Schembri would later tell a court their second meeting ended in a fight, during which he punched Mr Rockefeller, causing him to fall and hit his head.

Schembri then dismembered Mr Rockefeller using a chainsaw before burning his remains in a 44 gallon drum in a friend's yard, a court heard, The Herald Sun reported last year. 

Mr Rockefeller told his wife he was flying home from to Melbourne around 10.30pm on January 21, 2010, but had landed an hour earlier and drove Mario Schembri and Bernadette Denny's home in Hadfield (pictured) to have sex

Mr Rockefeller told his wife he was flying home from to Melbourne around 10.30pm on January 21, 2010, but had landed an hour earlier and drove Mario Schembri and Bernadette Denny's home in Hadfield (pictured) to have sex

Schembri (right) and Denny (left) pleaded guilty to manslaughter eight months after Mr Rockefeller's death and were sentenced to nine years and seven years in prison, respectively

Schembri and Denny pleaded guilty to manslaughter eight months after Mr Rockefeller's death and were sentenced to nine years and seven years in prison, respectively.

During the hearing, the Herald Sun reported that a woman identified herself to the publication as Mr Rockefeller's mistress of more than 20 years and said she 'was the love of his life.'

'We had a bond together no one could break apart,' she said.

The woman, who is believed to have received a portion of Mr Rockefeller's $14 million fortune, said she was not involved in the swinging scene but had her suspicions about her long-time lover. 

Schembri dismembered Mr Rockefeller using a chainsaw before burning his remains in a 44 gallon drum in a friend's yard (police are seen searching for evidence) 

Schembri dismembered Mr Rockefeller using a chainsaw before burning his remains in a 44 gallon drum in a friend's yard (police are seen searching for evidence) 

 

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