New father ... Mark Wilhelm, the chief suspect in the case of cruise ship passenger Dianne Brimble, has started a new life.
Mark Wilhelm a key suspect in Brimble case
He now lives in Mildura, with new baby
Works in local winery
THE chief suspect in the death of Dianne Brimble has started a family in the sleepy Victorian town of Mildura.
New father Mark Wilhelm, who learned this week that he will likely be charged with Mrs Brimble`s manslaughter, now works in a winery and goes about his business like any suburban dad.
He has built a new life with partner Karen and their first child.
Wilhelm left his home town of Adelaide at the height of the shocking revelations in the Dianne Brimble inquest, in which Wilhelm emerged as a key player.
Mrs Brimble, 42, died from an overdose of the date-rape drug fantasy in Wilhelm`s cabin on their first night on board the P&O cruise ship Pacific Sky in September 2002.
But in the past few days, Wilhelm`s old and new lives have collided. In the same week that his partner brought their baby home from hospital and he celebrated his 36th birthday, Wilhelm learned the NSW DPP recommended he be charged with Mrs Brimble`s manslaughter and supplying her with the toxic drug that killed her.
The DPP has also recommended that two of his mates from cabin D182 - Ryan Kuchel and Letterio "Leo" Silvestri - face a charge of perverting the course of justice.
Kuchel is working in commercial real estate in the tax-free haven of Dubai. Silvestri, who remains in Adelaide, has sold his tanning business and is director of OEL Consulting. He is described as an entertainment agent and employer and had registered the business name Raunchy Promotions in South Australia.
Like most young couples, Karen was waiting for Wilhelm as he arrived home at 3.30pm on Wednesday this week from his job at the giant Lindemans Karadoc Winery.
The qualified fitter and turner works as a $60,000-a-year maintenance supervisor in charge of one of the winery`s eight bottling lines.
Looking bloated, he appears to have lost the buffed bodybuilder physique he sported in the infamous photograph of him wearing nothing but a life preserver that was taken during the tragic 2002 cruise.
Neither Mark nor his partner had any comment to make on the charges, Karen said.
"Get off this property or I`ll let the dog out," she said, as their german shepherd dog, Rafter, barked at her side.
Neighbours of the rundown rented house in Mildura that the couple has called home for over a year said they kept very much to themselves, hiding behind permanently closed timber blinds.
But a few are aware of Wilhelm`s past. "We thought he had been arrested already," said one.
