Current The Murder of Shandee Blackburn - McKay *New investigative podcast by Hedley Thomas
- Thread starter Kurve
- Start date
-
- Tags
- justice murder unsolved murder
- Tagged users None
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Season 2 of the Shandee's Story podcasts is called Shandee's Legacy.
The first Episode (90 minutes long) of Shandee's legacy was published this morning.
The link to has just been posted at the The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland thread in this forum
Seeing as how there is crossover between the Shandee Blackburn case itself and The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland,
below is the link to Season 2, Episode 1 podcast.
Today's 'Blame Game' podcast open's with a harrowing recount of Shandee Blackburn's death, and the whole Shandee case, subsequent trial of her alleged killer, and Shandee's inquest, which was recently reopened.
omny.fm
The first Episode (90 minutes long) of Shandee's legacy was published this morning.
The link to has just been posted at the The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland thread in this forum
Seeing as how there is crossover between the Shandee Blackburn case itself and The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland,
below is the link to Season 2, Episode 1 podcast.
Today's 'Blame Game' podcast open's with a harrowing recount of Shandee Blackburn's death, and the whole Shandee case, subsequent trial of her alleged killer, and Shandee's inquest, which was recently reopened.
Shandee's Legacy Episode 1: Blame Game - Shandee's Story
Following the shocking revelations of bungling, secrecy and misconduct within Queensland’s DNA lab exposed in journalist Hedley Thomas’ podcast Shandee’s Story, a major royal commission-style inquiry into the fiasco gets underway in a Brisbane court, headed by retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC...
omny.fm
Kurve
Moderator
- Dec 27, 2016
- 31,366
- 65,027
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Thread starter
- Moderator
- #53
This could be interesting especially given the profile of true crime podcasts in Australia.
The man formerly charged and acquitted with the murder of North Queensland woman Shandee Blackburn is taking legal action against her sister and others involved in a true crime podcast about the death.
www.abc.net.au
The man formerly charged and acquitted with the murder of North Queensland woman Shandee Blackburn is taking legal action against her sister and others involved in a true crime podcast about the death.
Man at centre of true crime podcast about Shandee Blackburn's murder launches legal action
The former boyfriend of murdered woman Shandee Blackburn launches legal action against her sister and others involved in a true crime podcast about the death.
The impression I got from the podcast was the Australian was going to assist with the legal action. I was assuming that meant either the same defence as one action or her defence was being paid for.This could be interesting especially given the profile of true crime podcasts in Australia.
The man formerly charged and acquitted with the murder of North Queensland woman Shandee Blackburn is taking legal action against her sister and others involved in a true crime podcast about the death.
Man at centre of true crime podcast about Shandee Blackburn's murder launches legal action
The former boyfriend of murdered woman Shandee Blackburn launches legal action against her sister and others involved in a true crime podcast about the death.
One thing I got from the podcast was that cases older than 2018 may still be examined by the Commission but they weren't related to the increase in DNA quotas to get tested. This is a separate issue of the quality of testing not the rules for testing.Season 2 of the Shandee's Story podcasts is called Shandee's Legacy.
The first Episode (90 minutes long) of Shandee's legacy was published this morning.
The link to has just been posted at the The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland thread in this forum
Seeing as how there is crossover between the Shandee Blackburn case itself and The Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland,
below is the link to Season 2, Episode 1 podcast.
Today's 'Blame Game' podcast open's with a harrowing recount of Shandee Blackburn's death, and the whole Shandee case, subsequent trial of her alleged killer, and Shandee's inquest, which was recently reopened.
Shandee's Legacy Episode 1: Blame Game - Shandee's Story
Following the shocking revelations of bungling, secrecy and misconduct within Queensland’s DNA lab exposed in journalist Hedley Thomas’ podcast Shandee’s Story, a major royal commission-style inquiry into the fiasco gets underway in a Brisbane court, headed by retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC...
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
The impression I got, was just that Shandee's sister was only going to get free legal advice from the lawyers representing Hedley Thomas and his employer media organisation. Advice only. No legal representation.
.
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Here's a 10 days ago media article on Peros' assault charges, that were scheduled to go to trial starting today.
WA eCourt listings show it was listed for the Magistrates Central Law Courts at 501 Hay Street Perth at 10am today.
9:52PM OCTOBER 14, 2022
John Peros, the man found by a coroner responsible for the death of his former girlfriend, Shandee Blackburn, has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm over a separate incident in the West Australian mining town of Newman.
Mr Peros was not required to appear beside his lawyer in the Central Law Courts in Perth on Friday when the prosecution made applications for four witnesses in his coming assault trial to appear by video link. The prosecution asked for one to be given the status of special witness, meaning they will give evidence from another room.
Mr Peros, through his lawyer, did not object to either of these applications. His trial on a single charge of assault occasioning bodily harm is due to begin on October 24.
He is alleged to have committed the assault in Newman, 1180km northeast of Perth, on June 9, 2020.'
WA eCourt listings show it was listed for the Magistrates Central Law Courts at 501 Hay Street Perth at 10am today.
'Shandee suspect John Peros faces assault charge
By PAIGE TAYLOR
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF9:52PM OCTOBER 14, 2022
John Peros, the man found by a coroner responsible for the death of his former girlfriend, Shandee Blackburn, has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm over a separate incident in the West Australian mining town of Newman.
Mr Peros was not required to appear beside his lawyer in the Central Law Courts in Perth on Friday when the prosecution made applications for four witnesses in his coming assault trial to appear by video link. The prosecution asked for one to be given the status of special witness, meaning they will give evidence from another room.
Mr Peros, through his lawyer, did not object to either of these applications. His trial on a single charge of assault occasioning bodily harm is due to begin on October 24.
He is alleged to have committed the assault in Newman, 1180km northeast of Perth, on June 9, 2020.'
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Some details reported tonight from John Peros's WA trial Day 1.
'John Peros, former boyfriend of Shandee Blackburn, on trial for mine site assault'
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF
OCTOBER 24, 2022'
'The man found by a coroner to be responsible for the stabbing death of his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn told a male work colleague “all police officers should be stabbed and shot” then beat him as he screamed for help, a Perth court has heard.
John Peros is on trial in the Perth Magistrates Court for assault occasioning bodily harm over an incident at a Pilbara mine site in June 2020, two months before coroner David O’Connell found Mr Peros killed Blackburn in the central Queensland town of Mackay in 2013.
Mr Peros had been found not guilty of Blackburn’s murder by a Supreme Court jury in 2017, and maintained his innocence throughout the 2020 inquest.
“Miss Blackburn died due to injuries sustained during an incident involving violence with Mr John Peros, who used a bladed instrument,” Mr O’Connell found in August 2020. “The assault was a very deliberate and targeted assault.“
Mr Peros was working for BHP at its Area C operation outside the West Australian town of Newman when he is alleged to have repeatedly punched and kicked contract fitter Alexander Gell in the face and head as Mr Gell held his arms up to try to protect himself and yelled for him to stop.
Mr Gell told the court that Mr Peros was standing next to him at work on June 8, 2020, as he began watching a news video on his phone showing police being attacked in a Black Lives Matter protest. “I said I thought it was harsh and it was wrong and he said ‘All police officers should be stabbed and shot and everything else’,” Mr Gell told the court.
Giving evidence from a remote location by video link, Mr Gell said he told Mr Peros he had friends and family in the service and asked him “How would you like it if they were your friends and family in that situation”. He said Mr Peros replied: “Don’t threaten my family.” Mr Gell said he called Mr Peros a moron and left.
He said the next day, as they worked on a broken excavator together, Mr Peros kept looking at him and when Mr Gell asked him what his problem was, he attacked. The prosecution alleges that when Mr Gell went to ground, Mr Peros continued the attack “resulting in significant injuries to the facial area and the loss of a tooth or bridge”. One of two men who ran to the scene, mine worker Robert Pasco, said Mr Gell’s face was covered in blood.
On Monday, Mr Peros’s then supervisor, Troy Verden, said he ran to the scene because he heard a man screaming. It was hard to describe the sound but it was a man in distress, he said.
“Alex was yelling ‘Help me he’s going to kill me’,” Mr Verden told the court.
“John was punching Alex ... I saw four of five punches.”
Mr Verden said Mr Peros was holding the back of Mr Gell’s shirt as he delivered the punches.
Mr Verden said he ran towards the pair and stood between them.
He said as he took Mr Gell away, Mr Gell yelled to Mr Peros: “I didn’t do anything, you f..king psycho.”
He said Mr Peros calmed down and said “I am in trouble, aren’t I?” which Mr Verden believed was a reference to his employment.
“I replied yes, yes, you are,” Mr Verden said.
Mr Peros’s lawyer, Craig Eberhardt KC, referred to the incident as a fight and asked Mr Gell if he had hit Mr Peros with a spanner before he was punched. Mr Gell denied this.
Mr Gell also denied that he had told Mr Peros: “Your family should die.” In his police statement, Mr Pasco said Mr Gell had told him he had said those words to Mr Peros.
The trial continues'
'John Peros, former boyfriend of Shandee Blackburn, on trial for mine site assault'
PAIGE TAYLOR
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF
OCTOBER 24, 2022'
'The man found by a coroner to be responsible for the stabbing death of his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn told a male work colleague “all police officers should be stabbed and shot” then beat him as he screamed for help, a Perth court has heard.
John Peros is on trial in the Perth Magistrates Court for assault occasioning bodily harm over an incident at a Pilbara mine site in June 2020, two months before coroner David O’Connell found Mr Peros killed Blackburn in the central Queensland town of Mackay in 2013.
Mr Peros had been found not guilty of Blackburn’s murder by a Supreme Court jury in 2017, and maintained his innocence throughout the 2020 inquest.
“Miss Blackburn died due to injuries sustained during an incident involving violence with Mr John Peros, who used a bladed instrument,” Mr O’Connell found in August 2020. “The assault was a very deliberate and targeted assault.“
Mr Peros was working for BHP at its Area C operation outside the West Australian town of Newman when he is alleged to have repeatedly punched and kicked contract fitter Alexander Gell in the face and head as Mr Gell held his arms up to try to protect himself and yelled for him to stop.
Mr Gell told the court that Mr Peros was standing next to him at work on June 8, 2020, as he began watching a news video on his phone showing police being attacked in a Black Lives Matter protest. “I said I thought it was harsh and it was wrong and he said ‘All police officers should be stabbed and shot and everything else’,” Mr Gell told the court.
Giving evidence from a remote location by video link, Mr Gell said he told Mr Peros he had friends and family in the service and asked him “How would you like it if they were your friends and family in that situation”. He said Mr Peros replied: “Don’t threaten my family.” Mr Gell said he called Mr Peros a moron and left.
He said the next day, as they worked on a broken excavator together, Mr Peros kept looking at him and when Mr Gell asked him what his problem was, he attacked. The prosecution alleges that when Mr Gell went to ground, Mr Peros continued the attack “resulting in significant injuries to the facial area and the loss of a tooth or bridge”. One of two men who ran to the scene, mine worker Robert Pasco, said Mr Gell’s face was covered in blood.
On Monday, Mr Peros’s then supervisor, Troy Verden, said he ran to the scene because he heard a man screaming. It was hard to describe the sound but it was a man in distress, he said.
“Alex was yelling ‘Help me he’s going to kill me’,” Mr Verden told the court.
“John was punching Alex ... I saw four of five punches.”
Mr Verden said Mr Peros was holding the back of Mr Gell’s shirt as he delivered the punches.
Mr Verden said he ran towards the pair and stood between them.
He said as he took Mr Gell away, Mr Gell yelled to Mr Peros: “I didn’t do anything, you f..king psycho.”
He said Mr Peros calmed down and said “I am in trouble, aren’t I?” which Mr Verden believed was a reference to his employment.
“I replied yes, yes, you are,” Mr Verden said.
Mr Peros’s lawyer, Craig Eberhardt KC, referred to the incident as a fight and asked Mr Gell if he had hit Mr Peros with a spanner before he was punched. Mr Gell denied this.
Mr Gell also denied that he had told Mr Peros: “Your family should die.” In his police statement, Mr Pasco said Mr Gell had told him he had said those words to Mr Peros.
The trial continues'
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
The 2 day Magistrate only trial (no jury) has completed.
Peros's fate will be known on 9 December.
Peros used the same lawyer that successfully defended him 5 years ago in the Shandee Blackburn murder trial.
BHP must have been pretty desperate to have employed Peros. (I'm assuming that HR and his workmates knew all about Peros's history.)
10:20PM OCTOBER 25, 2022
The British tradesman who accused John Peros of viciously beating him on a Pilbara mine site was trying to save his job and his work visa after provoking a fight and throwing the first punch, Mr Peros’ lawyer told a Perth court.
Industrial mechanic Mr Peros, 40, faced trial in the Central Law Courts in Perth on Monday and Tuesday for an allegedly unlawful attack on a work colleague on June 9, 2020, two months before a coroner found he stabbed his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn to death in 2013.
A jury found Mr Peros not guilty of killing Blackburn in 2017 and Mr Peros has maintained his innocence. Blackburn’s death is the subject of The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story.
In his assault trial on Tuesday, Mr Peros acknowledged he repeatedly punched contract fitter Alexander Gell, including in the face, but said it was a fight Mr Gell started by striking him in the head as he worked on an excavator.
Mr Gell denies he hit Mr Peros at any stage, saying he put his hands over his face to protect himself once the attack started, tried to push Mr Peros away and tried to escape down a narrow passageway. A supervisor who heard screaming said he found Mr Peros punching Mr Gell as the latter used his hands to try to protect himself. Troy Verden said Mr Gell was yelling “Please help, he’s going to kill me”.
Mr Peros lost his job over the incident after his then employer, BHP, carried out an investigation that included a recorded interview with Mr Verden.
During Mr Peros’s evidence on Tuesday, the court heard that in the moments after Mr Verden rushed towards him and Mr Gell to stand between them, ending the violence, Mr Peros looked at Mr Gell. The prosecutor, Senior Constable Shane White, asked Mr Peros: “What did you see?”
Mr Peros: “An ugly face.”
Constable White: “Ugly as in damaged?”
Mr Peros: “Yeah. Definitely not kissing material at that point.”
Mr Peros was represented in the magistrate’s court in Perth by Craig Eberhardt KC, the lawyer who successfully defended him when he was on trial for murder five years ago.
Mr Peros told the court on Tuesday that he and Mr Gell had a fight in which they both landed blows on each other.
The court heard Mr Peros sustained a cut above one eyebrow and a bruise on his left elbow.
Emergency department doctor Joseph Odeke earlier read from hospital notes that showed Mr Gell’s injuries included a fractured nose, black right eye, bruise on the back of his head and a cut to his left eyebrow.
Dr Odeke descried these injuries as minor to moderate, adding they were injuries that would have required some excessive force.
Mr Eberhardt told the court Mr Gell was an unreliable witness in part because he had denied provoking Mr Peros by telling him “I hope your family dies”.
He pointed to the evidence of Mr Verden, who said Mr Gell had told him he said that to Mr Peros.
Mr Eberhardt also argued that Mr Gell was motivated to portray himself as the victim of an attack rather than the instigator of a fight because that would save his job.
Had Mr Gell been found to have provoked Mr Peros then willingly participated in a fight, he would not only have lost his employment but the work visa that allowed him to stay in Australia.
The court heard the pair had disagreed a day before the incident when Mr Gell watched a video on his phone of Black Lives Matters protesters attacking police and remarked that it was wrong.
In his evidence, Mr Gell said Mr Peros had replied: “All police officers should be stabbed and shot”. Mr Gell then called him a moron.
In his evidence, Mr Peros denied those were his words. “I said words to the effect, what did I say ... I hope the police die for taking another man’s life,” he said.
Mr Eberhardt presented magistrate Andrew Maughan with a written copy of his closing submissions and in his closing remarks he read out High Court references and a quote from German philosopher Nietzsche
Mr Maughan has reserved his decision until December 9.
Peros's fate will be known on 9 December.
Peros used the same lawyer that successfully defended him 5 years ago in the Shandee Blackburn murder trial.
BHP must have been pretty desperate to have employed Peros. (I'm assuming that HR and his workmates knew all about Peros's history.)
John Peros assault accuser ‘threw first punch’
PAIGE TAYLOR
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF10:20PM OCTOBER 25, 2022
The British tradesman who accused John Peros of viciously beating him on a Pilbara mine site was trying to save his job and his work visa after provoking a fight and throwing the first punch, Mr Peros’ lawyer told a Perth court.
Industrial mechanic Mr Peros, 40, faced trial in the Central Law Courts in Perth on Monday and Tuesday for an allegedly unlawful attack on a work colleague on June 9, 2020, two months before a coroner found he stabbed his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn to death in 2013.
A jury found Mr Peros not guilty of killing Blackburn in 2017 and Mr Peros has maintained his innocence. Blackburn’s death is the subject of The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story.
In his assault trial on Tuesday, Mr Peros acknowledged he repeatedly punched contract fitter Alexander Gell, including in the face, but said it was a fight Mr Gell started by striking him in the head as he worked on an excavator.
Mr Gell denies he hit Mr Peros at any stage, saying he put his hands over his face to protect himself once the attack started, tried to push Mr Peros away and tried to escape down a narrow passageway. A supervisor who heard screaming said he found Mr Peros punching Mr Gell as the latter used his hands to try to protect himself. Troy Verden said Mr Gell was yelling “Please help, he’s going to kill me”.
Mr Peros lost his job over the incident after his then employer, BHP, carried out an investigation that included a recorded interview with Mr Verden.
During Mr Peros’s evidence on Tuesday, the court heard that in the moments after Mr Verden rushed towards him and Mr Gell to stand between them, ending the violence, Mr Peros looked at Mr Gell. The prosecutor, Senior Constable Shane White, asked Mr Peros: “What did you see?”
Mr Peros: “An ugly face.”
Constable White: “Ugly as in damaged?”
Mr Peros: “Yeah. Definitely not kissing material at that point.”
Mr Peros was represented in the magistrate’s court in Perth by Craig Eberhardt KC, the lawyer who successfully defended him when he was on trial for murder five years ago.
Mr Peros told the court on Tuesday that he and Mr Gell had a fight in which they both landed blows on each other.
The court heard Mr Peros sustained a cut above one eyebrow and a bruise on his left elbow.
Emergency department doctor Joseph Odeke earlier read from hospital notes that showed Mr Gell’s injuries included a fractured nose, black right eye, bruise on the back of his head and a cut to his left eyebrow.
Dr Odeke descried these injuries as minor to moderate, adding they were injuries that would have required some excessive force.
Mr Eberhardt told the court Mr Gell was an unreliable witness in part because he had denied provoking Mr Peros by telling him “I hope your family dies”.
He pointed to the evidence of Mr Verden, who said Mr Gell had told him he said that to Mr Peros.
Mr Eberhardt also argued that Mr Gell was motivated to portray himself as the victim of an attack rather than the instigator of a fight because that would save his job.
Had Mr Gell been found to have provoked Mr Peros then willingly participated in a fight, he would not only have lost his employment but the work visa that allowed him to stay in Australia.
The court heard the pair had disagreed a day before the incident when Mr Gell watched a video on his phone of Black Lives Matters protesters attacking police and remarked that it was wrong.
In his evidence, Mr Gell said Mr Peros had replied: “All police officers should be stabbed and shot”. Mr Gell then called him a moron.
In his evidence, Mr Peros denied those were his words. “I said words to the effect, what did I say ... I hope the police die for taking another man’s life,” he said.
Mr Eberhardt presented magistrate Andrew Maughan with a written copy of his closing submissions and in his closing remarks he read out High Court references and a quote from German philosopher Nietzsche
Mr Maughan has reserved his decision until December 9.
Police blood sample process at time of Shandee Blackburn's death 'may not be best practice', inquiry hears
An inquiry into Queensland's state-run forensics lab is told a process used to collect blood samples at the time of Shandee Blackburn's death "may not be best practice", and that staff were under "significant pressure" around the speed of testing.
www.abc.net.au
Double posting this. As well as the lab being under pressure for quick results. The Inquiry seems to put possible blame on the police way of collecting blood samples using a wetting agent of 70% alcohol. The may be partially to blame for Shandee's lack of DNA. The samples may have been unreliable before reaching the lab.
Inquiry told process to collect blood samples 'may not be best practice'
Counsel Assisting Laura Reece today told the inquiry that at the time of Ms Blackburn's death, police used a wetting agent that contained 70 per cent alcohol to collect blood samples, which "may not be best practice".Queensland's damning DNA inquiry resumes
After revelations of a so-called "bin-gate", to allegations of a toxic work environment, the inquiry into Queensland's forensic DNA lab kicks=off again today. Here's what we've heard so far.Read more
Walter Sofronoff KC, who is conducting the inquiry, responded that it could be concluded that swabs submitted by police could have been unreliable before arriving at the lab.
"It's not possible to conclude that the offender's DNA was not on Ms Blackburn's body or clothing, and it's not possible to conclude that Ms Blackburn's DNA was not present in the car of the person who had been suspected of the killing," he said.
"It was not correct to say that there was no DNA, it would have been correct to say that having regard to the methods employed, it was not possible to say whether or not there was any DNA in relevant places."
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
There's a new episode of the Shandee's Story podcast out tonight off the back of this week's inquiry hearing.
Last edited:
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Here it is
Shandee's Legacy Episode 7: Freedom Day - Shandee's Story
It’s the final week of public hearings in the explosive inquiry into a broken DNA lab and we’re all here because of one person -- Shandee Blackburn. The vicious and unprovoked murder of the defenceless 23-year-old walking home from work is front-and-centre as three independent experts give their...
omny.fm
Here it is
Shandee's Legacy Episode 7: Freedom Day - Shandee's Story
It’s the final week of public hearings in the explosive inquiry into a broken DNA lab and we’re all here because of one person -- Shandee Blackburn. The vicious and unprovoked murder of the defenceless 23-year-old walking home from work is front-and-centre as three independent experts give their...
The DNA fiasco is potentially more newsworthy than the murder.
The clothes Shandee Blackburn was murdered in must undergo new DNA testing in a last-ditch bid to find traces of her killer, two of the world’s leading experts say.
Former FBI forensic scientist Dr Bruce Budowle and New Zealand’s Johanna Veth have recommended in a report to a public inquiry that new samples should be taken from Ms Blackburn’s shirt, in addition to the retesting of samples previously collected in the case.
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Another couple of great moments in the lab's history. Expectation that the police knew everything about the science of DNA. They didn't have much hope for justice for Shandee. Hopefully it is not too late.
"The lab discovered the problem first, but did not inform the police."
"Senior lab officers told police they didn't need to test the new system and it was implemented in 2010."
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
New podcast episode out tonight.
...
“I just was so angry when I heard that summing up. It really, really shook me,” Ms Chaseling has told a new episode of the investigative podcast series Shandee’s Legacy.
...
“The bizarre thing to me was that summary at the end was in two distinct sections. The first one was saying that without any doubt at all there was a problem and everything that had been said by Kirsty was vindicated,” Ms Chaseling said.
“They admitted there was a big problem. And in the next section, they completely tried to vindicate anybody of it. That was what absolutely staggered me.”
...
It was “ridiculous” to suggest using words like flawed as a scientist would be inappropriate, she said. “This situation is made even worse by its impact on society. The justice system has been lied to. Criminal cases have not been solved. The public has lost faith in the forensic reporting in Queensland and maybe elsewhere.
...'
omny.fm
'Shandee Blackburn murder: Anger over inquiry lawyer’s ‘bizarre’ submissions
EXCLUSIVE''By DAVID MURRAY and HEDLEY THOMAS
6:19PM NOVEMBER 12, 2023...
“I just was so angry when I heard that summing up. It really, really shook me,” Ms Chaseling has told a new episode of the investigative podcast series Shandee’s Legacy.
...
“The bizarre thing to me was that summary at the end was in two distinct sections. The first one was saying that without any doubt at all there was a problem and everything that had been said by Kirsty was vindicated,” Ms Chaseling said.
“They admitted there was a big problem. And in the next section, they completely tried to vindicate anybody of it. That was what absolutely staggered me.”
...
It was “ridiculous” to suggest using words like flawed as a scientist would be inappropriate, she said. “This situation is made even worse by its impact on society. The justice system has been lied to. Criminal cases have not been solved. The public has lost faith in the forensic reporting in Queensland and maybe elsewhere.
...'
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 13: Science Speak - Shandee's Story
Public hearings in a second inquiry into the lab and the disastrous Project 13 have concluded. Closing submissions have been delivered. And still questions are left unanswered. Why was the automated process unleashed on precious crime-scene samples? Who wrote the mysterious and damning Project...
omny.fm
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Man acquitted of stabbing former girlfriend sues over true crime podcast
John Peros, who was acquitted of the 2013 murder of his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn, claims he was defamed by an award-winning journalist and the slain woman's sister.
www.abc.net.au
...
This week Queensland Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth made two rulings relating to the defamation case.
In one he denied an application by the defendants to have the matter dismissed because it was filed in Western Australia and did not contain a "concerns notice", which was legally required in Queensland for a defamation claim.
He also ordered that a hearing be held for Mr Peros to provide details about his reputation prior to the airing of the podcast and associated newspaper coverage.
This included whether he was reputed to have killed Shandee Blackburn as well as any other reputation he had before it was published.
Whether the podcast meets the legal threshold to have caused "serious harm" will be heard by Justice Applegarth on July 29.
That hearing is expected to take three days.
...
Justice Applegarth said if the case went to trial it would last several weeks and that the defendants would seek to rely on defences of truth and public interest.
...'
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Defamation case dismissed/lost.
Peros probably soon to launch a gofundme in an attempt to cover his likely >$500k legal bills (including everyone elses legal bills)
All Peros did with the defamation case (apart from damage to the victims/defendants), was soak up scarce legal/justice resources, and likely further severely damage his reputation, employability, bankrupt himself.
'Shandee Blackburn defamation claim: Judge rules podcast episode did not seriously harm accused killer John Peros
...
Mr Peros’s defamation action was dismissed in Queensland’s Supreme Court on Tuesday after judge Peter Applegarth found the former champion amateur boxer had failed to prove he suffered serious harm to his reputation.
Justice Applegarth said that “unsurprisingly, the coroner’s finding that the plaintiff (Mr Peros) violently killed Ms Blackburn was widely reported … Those publications have remained online since their first publication”.
He added the mandatory serious harm element in the defamation case required proof of actual harm to reputation.
“The many publications that reported the coroner’s findings, either as a news report or in the context of later reports into the death of Shandee Blackburn, were apt to injure the reputation of the plaintiff among readers and listeners in general.
They would be given to understand that the plaintiff had been found by the coroner to have violently killed Ms Blackburn.”
Mr Peros sued Shandee’s sister, Shannah Blackburn, along with Nationwide News as publishers of The Australian and journalist Hedley Thomas over episode 13 of the podcast.
Significantly, Justice Applegarth found the coroner’s findings were admissible in the defamation case.
Extensive earlier media reporting on the coroner’s findings and prior episodes of the podcast were also allowed into the proceedings, with the judge rejecting attempts from Mr Peros’s legal team to keep them out.
By the time the episode at the centre of the case aired, listeners to the podcast’s first 12 episodes would have already reached the view Mr Peros was the killer, despite a jury acquitting him of the murder, Justice Applegarth said.
“The plaintiff has not discharged his burden of proof that episode 13 caused serious harm to his reputation. The appropriate order is that the proceeding is dismissed,” he said.
The judge ordered Mr Peros to pay the defendants’ costs, with his total legal bill for both sides expected to be well in excess of half a million dollars.
Sky News Australia promo for the documentary, Shandee's Story: The Search for Justice.
Shannah Blackburn has spoken of the distress the proceedings caused her and welcomed the findings. “It’s a relief. A little win, one of the first we’ve ever had in a court of law,” she said.
A hearing was held in July to determine if Mr Peros suffered serious harm to his reputation from the episode, aired more than a year after a coroner declared he savagely stabbed Shandee, 23, to death in Mackay on Queensland’s central coast in 2013.
If Mr Peros had met the serious harm threshold the case would have continued to a blockbuster trial that was expected to effectively be a murder trial, revolving around whether he did in fact kill her.
Justice Applegarth delivered his findings at 2pm in one of his last actions before retiring.
...
Justice Applegarth said that at the request of parties to the case, he listened to the first dozen episodes of the podcast. A major theme was flawed DNA analysis, he said.
“Dr Kirsty Wright became something of the hero of the podcast by her exposing systemic flaws in the approach undertaken by the government laboratory in testing samples.
“Those episodes exposed extraordinary shortcomings in the analysis of DNA evidence. Listeners to the podcast (I) came to understand, with the benefit of Dr Wright’s analysis and Mr Thomas’ explanations, that the DNA tests were unable to find DNA from the blood samples taken from the crime scene. Another extraordinary matter was that DNA testing did not find any of the plaintiff’s DNA in the cabin of the Toyota HiLux vehicle that he used for many months and did not clean.”
Explaining the difference between the jury’s verdict and the coroner’s findings, the podcast’s first 12 episodes were “critical of various aspects of the prosecution case”. The episodes outlined the prosecution’s failure to “call evidence that was available to it from potential witnesses and from text messages that would have placed the relationship between the plaintiff and Ms Blackburn in a very different light”, he said.
“Episodes 1 to 12 left listeners with the strong impression that the prosecution at the trial was outgunned, outmanoeuvred and outplayed by the superior forensic skills of defence counsel and defence solicitors.
“While parts of some episodes included content that was favourable to the plaintiff … overall episodes 1 to 12 depicted the plaintiff as a deeply troubled individual whose dislike of Shandee Blackburn continued long after the relationship ended.”
Listeners were also “likely to be highly influenced by what was said about the CCTV images of a vehicle that matched the plaintiff’s and which was in the vicinity of where she was killed at about the time she was killed”, he said.'
Peros probably soon to launch a gofundme in an attempt to cover his likely >$500k legal bills (including everyone elses legal bills)
All Peros did with the defamation case (apart from damage to the victims/defendants), was soak up scarce legal/justice resources, and likely further severely damage his reputation, employability, bankrupt himself.
'Shandee Blackburn defamation claim: Judge rules podcast episode did not seriously harm accused killer John Peros
...
Mr Peros’s defamation action was dismissed in Queensland’s Supreme Court on Tuesday after judge Peter Applegarth found the former champion amateur boxer had failed to prove he suffered serious harm to his reputation.
Justice Applegarth said that “unsurprisingly, the coroner’s finding that the plaintiff (Mr Peros) violently killed Ms Blackburn was widely reported … Those publications have remained online since their first publication”.
He added the mandatory serious harm element in the defamation case required proof of actual harm to reputation.
“The many publications that reported the coroner’s findings, either as a news report or in the context of later reports into the death of Shandee Blackburn, were apt to injure the reputation of the plaintiff among readers and listeners in general.
They would be given to understand that the plaintiff had been found by the coroner to have violently killed Ms Blackburn.”
Mr Peros sued Shandee’s sister, Shannah Blackburn, along with Nationwide News as publishers of The Australian and journalist Hedley Thomas over episode 13 of the podcast.
Significantly, Justice Applegarth found the coroner’s findings were admissible in the defamation case.
Extensive earlier media reporting on the coroner’s findings and prior episodes of the podcast were also allowed into the proceedings, with the judge rejecting attempts from Mr Peros’s legal team to keep them out.
By the time the episode at the centre of the case aired, listeners to the podcast’s first 12 episodes would have already reached the view Mr Peros was the killer, despite a jury acquitting him of the murder, Justice Applegarth said.
“The plaintiff has not discharged his burden of proof that episode 13 caused serious harm to his reputation. The appropriate order is that the proceeding is dismissed,” he said.
The judge ordered Mr Peros to pay the defendants’ costs, with his total legal bill for both sides expected to be well in excess of half a million dollars.
Sky News Australia promo for the documentary, Shandee's Story: The Search for Justice.
Shannah Blackburn has spoken of the distress the proceedings caused her and welcomed the findings. “It’s a relief. A little win, one of the first we’ve ever had in a court of law,” she said.
A hearing was held in July to determine if Mr Peros suffered serious harm to his reputation from the episode, aired more than a year after a coroner declared he savagely stabbed Shandee, 23, to death in Mackay on Queensland’s central coast in 2013.
If Mr Peros had met the serious harm threshold the case would have continued to a blockbuster trial that was expected to effectively be a murder trial, revolving around whether he did in fact kill her.
Justice Applegarth delivered his findings at 2pm in one of his last actions before retiring.
...
Justice Applegarth said that at the request of parties to the case, he listened to the first dozen episodes of the podcast. A major theme was flawed DNA analysis, he said.
“Dr Kirsty Wright became something of the hero of the podcast by her exposing systemic flaws in the approach undertaken by the government laboratory in testing samples.
“Those episodes exposed extraordinary shortcomings in the analysis of DNA evidence. Listeners to the podcast (I) came to understand, with the benefit of Dr Wright’s analysis and Mr Thomas’ explanations, that the DNA tests were unable to find DNA from the blood samples taken from the crime scene. Another extraordinary matter was that DNA testing did not find any of the plaintiff’s DNA in the cabin of the Toyota HiLux vehicle that he used for many months and did not clean.”
Explaining the difference between the jury’s verdict and the coroner’s findings, the podcast’s first 12 episodes were “critical of various aspects of the prosecution case”. The episodes outlined the prosecution’s failure to “call evidence that was available to it from potential witnesses and from text messages that would have placed the relationship between the plaintiff and Ms Blackburn in a very different light”, he said.
“Episodes 1 to 12 left listeners with the strong impression that the prosecution at the trial was outgunned, outmanoeuvred and outplayed by the superior forensic skills of defence counsel and defence solicitors.
“While parts of some episodes included content that was favourable to the plaintiff … overall episodes 1 to 12 depicted the plaintiff as a deeply troubled individual whose dislike of Shandee Blackburn continued long after the relationship ended.”
Listeners were also “likely to be highly influenced by what was said about the CCTV images of a vehicle that matched the plaintiff’s and which was in the vicinity of where she was killed at about the time she was killed”, he said.'
Dogs_R_Us
Space Traveller
More on the above
BEYOND THE RELIEF, A TRAVESTY CONTINUES
BEYOND THE RELIEF, A TRAVESTY CONTINUES
todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
From The Front: John Peros defamation case dismissed - Shandee's Story
In this episode of our daily news podcast, a QLD Supreme Court judge dismisses the defamation action brought against The Australian by the man acquitted of killing Shandee Blackburn. Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website...
omny.fm
BFew
K9
- Mar 5, 2017
- 18,103
- 44,372
- AFL Club
- West Coast
In this article today, Hedley Thomas mentions that the separate defamation case against Shandee’s mum is still not resolved.More on the above
BEYOND THE RELIEF, A TRAVESTY CONTINUES
BEYOND THE RELIEF, A TRAVESTY CONTINUEStodayspaper.theaustralian.com.au
Mostly based on the Coroners inquiry report in the OP of this thread and media coverage of it thereafter, just about everyone reading this BF thread on the Shandee case, would have also very likely already concluded in their own minds, that Peros was the perpetrator. Well before the 11/11/2023 Ep13 of Hedley’s podcast series on the case. (Linked in post #68 of this short thread).
‘For Shandee’s mother, Vicki Blackburn, who is being separately sued for defamation by John Peros, justice is still an elusive mirage.’
