Adrian Bayley Pleads Guilty to Rape – Not Guilty to Murdering Jill Meagher

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Yoshi

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Jill Meagher

Adrian Bayley admitted raping and strangling Jill Meagher in a Melbourne laneway, but has pleaded not guilty to her murder. The 41 year old will stand trial in the Victorian Supreme Court after the Deputy Chief Magistrate found there was enough evidence for a jury to convict him. Bayley pleaded guilty to one count of rape in the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday and not guilty to murder and another two charges of rape.

UPDATE 5TH MAY 2013

Adrian Bayley arriving at court 5th May 2013

ADRIAN Bayley has arrived at the Supreme Court for a hearing over the death of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher, where he is expected to plead guilty to charges of murder. More to come…

Bayley, 41, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on March 12 to one count of raping Ms Meagher.

He pleaded not guilty to her murder and two of three counts of rape.

Bayley was set to stand trial over the murder in a Brunswick laneway in September – a year after the crime that shocked the nation.

Last moments of Jill Meagher’s life

by: Paul Anderson – From: Herald Sun
March 13, 2013 8:59AM

THE man accused of murdering Jill Meagher ran out of petrol after burying the Irish-born ABC employee in a shallow grave, according to court documents.

A police summary of the case against Adrian Bayley, tendered in court, was released to the media after Bayley’s committal hearing yesterday.According to the summary, on the night of September 21 last year, while Ms Meagher was out celebrating with friends in Brunswick, Bayley was arguing with his girlfriend at Swanston St’s Lounge Bar.

The pipeline layer, 41, was arguing with her about “jealousy and possessiveness”. His girlfriend left and returned to their home in Coburg.

“The accused (Bayley) attempted to contact his girlfriend by phone; however, she refused to answer or return text messages and phone calls,” the summary stated.

Bayley left the Lounge Bar at 12.25am and caught a taxi home. There, he changed into a blue hoodie jumper, the summary said.It was about 1am when Ms Meagher, 29, left the Brunswick Green Hotel with a friend and walked to the Etiquette Bar.

Her friend left soon after, twice offering Ms Meagher a ride in a taxi. But she declined, deciding to walk the short distance home.

On her way, outside Chemist Warehouse, she asked a group of three people for a cigarette and had a “short friendly conversation” with the trio.

She then continued on her way along Sydney Rd, towards Hope St. Bayley was in the area by that stage, and saw Ms Meagher walking alone.

“(Bayley) has run up from behind Ms Meagher before slowing to a walk as he approached her.” The Police summary said

Bayley would later tell police: “I was just walking ahead of her and we’d already interacted on Sydney Rd and that’s when she rang her brother. She was actually telling me about her father.”

Ms Meagher called her brother, Michael McKeon, at 1.35am to talk about their sick father.

Mr McKeon said he would call her back in a minute or two. He would try, but his sister’s phone would ring out several times.

Ms Meagher’s husband, Tom, knew his wife was out for drinks with workmates.

At 1.37am, he sent her a text message from their home: “Are you okay?”

The Chief Crown prosecutor, Gavin Silbert, SC, told the court it was 1.38am when Bayley “accosted” Ms Meagher and “proceeded to drag her into a laneway on Hope St between Oven St and Sydney Rd, where he has raped and strangled her”.

Bayley later told detectives: “I actually apologised. I can’t imagine how she felt but I know how I felt. All I thought was, ‘What have I done?’ “

Mr Silbert told the court: “(Bayley) has left the body of the deceased in the laneway and returned to his home address, where he has collected a shovel and his white Holden Astra.”

At 1.47am, an extremely worried Tom Meagher sent his wife another text.

“Answer me, I’m really worried,” it read.

He sent another at 2.07am: “Please pick up.”

The court heard Bayley returned to the laneway at 4.22am and put Ms Meagher’s body into the boot of the car.

He drove to Blackhill Rd, Gisborne South, where he buried Ms Meagher by the side of the road.

“I cried, man, and I dug a hole . . . I didn’t cry for me,” Bayley told detectives.

Tom Meagher, meanwhile, had searched the Brunswick streets in vain.

Adrian Bayley as he was taken into custody in the back of a police car. Picture: Stephen Harman

“I kept trying to ring her but there was no answer,” he said in his police statement.

Bayley was driving home from Gisborne when his car ran out of petrol near the Calder Highway.

He managed to wave down motorist Dayle Watkins, who drove him to a nearby service station.

There, about 6am, he filled a jerry can with petrol.

Mr Watkins then drove Bayley back to his vehicle.

On September 27, after investigating the crime scene and gathering evidence, including CCTV footage and phone records, homicide detectives arrested Bayley.

“After investigators informed (Bayley) of the evidence implicating him, he made admissions,” the police summary stated.

“(Bayley) stated that it was due to the argument that he had had earlier in the night with his girlfriend, that (Bayley) had an angry and aggressive demeanour which he transferred onto the deceased.”

Yesterday, Bayley pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and two counts of rape.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of rape.

EDITED RECORD OF INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN ERNEST BAYLEY TENDERED TO COURT

Adrian Ernest Bayley

BAYLEY: You know what? I hope I never get out, because you know why I hope that, because then no one else ever has to be hurt because someone hurts me. I don’t deal with – with hurt very well. You know it wasn’t really my intention to hurt her, you know that? When we conversed, I swear to you man – I swear to I’d – I’d just – I spoke to her and she looked – she looked distraught. Does that make sense?

DETECTIVE:Yeah it does.

BAYLEY:She didn’t look happy.

DETECTIVE:Yeah it does.

BAYLEY:And I spoke to – I spoke to hear, you now and said, look, I’ll just – I’ll – I’ll help you, you know. That’s what I said to her and she was like fu… anyway it doesn’t matter. She flipped me off and that made me angry, because I was trying to do a nice thing. You know that?

DETECTIVE: Yeah yeah.

BAYLEY: She looked distraught.

BAYLEY:She looked distraught, you know. She looked like she was lost … always try to do the right thing some – you know, most of the time and I didn’t take well to her response, you know. I just don’t wanna go through it in detail. That – I can’t.

DETECTIVE: What happened to Jill?

BAYLEY:They should have the death penalty for people like me.

DETECTIVE:I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen.

BAYLEY:No well – that’s what I hope.

DETECTIVE:So you said she fobbed you off and you got angry. Tell me what happened then?

BAYLEY:Oh I just got pissed off and I actually walked off and she followed. I actually walked in front of her and she followed.

DETECTIVE:Yep.

BAYLEY:And it just got worse.

DETECTIVE:Tell me what happened.

BAYLEY:(Starts to cry) … like a big sissy man.

BAYLEY:I wanna do the right thing. It’s not fair on any of this to – it’s not fair of any of this stuff to have happened, let alone her family and stuff too.

DETECTIVE: Yeah.

BAYLEY:Not knowing.

DETECTIVE:Would you be willing to come with me and show me?

BAYLEY:I’ll try. I’ll do my best man.

DETECTIVE:I appreciate that.

BAYLEY:I’m not sure how to get there.

BAYLEY:I know what I’m saying to you. It’s not fair for this to have happened, and it’s not fair on her family and its not fair on them not knowing. It’s not fair.

DETECTIVE:Um. I understand why you don’t want to go into the detail. I understand that totally. Um how – how did she die?

BAYLEY: (Starts to cry). I strangled her.

DETECTIVE:Sorry?

BAYLEY: (Continues to cry). What have I done? What have I done man?

DETECTIVE:And where did that happen?

BAYLEY:On Hope Street.

DETECTIVE:How did she come to get in the laneway?

BAYLEY:we – we walked past it.

DETECTIVE:yeah

BAYLEY:That far down Hope St. I didn’t take her from the street, or – you know?

DETECTIVE: Yeah and then?

BAYLEY:And we were just talking you know? We weren’t – there was no argument, there was no – it was just talking. And then um …

DETECTIVE:Alright.

BAYLEY:I was just walking ahead of her and we’d already interacted on Sydney Rd, and that’s when she rang her brother. She was actually telling me about her father.

DETECTIVE:Right

BAYLEY:You know? And I was just – I was trying to be nice and – she kept going from being nice to nasty, to nice, to – you know what I mean?

DETECTIVE:Yep.

BAYLEY:And it just sort of ended up in the alley. I cant remember yeah, you know what I mean, 100 per cent, like how it ended up. We were just sort of – we were standing there.

DETECTIVE: Um how did you – how did you strangle her?

BAYLEY:With my hands.

DETECTIVE:With your hands. And once that had happened, what did you do?

(interview interrupted by knock at door, then resumes)

BAYLEY:I didn’t run.

DETECTIVE:You didn’t run?

BAYLEY:(starts to cry) That’s not it man. I actually apologised.

DETECTIVE:To her?

BAYLEY:But I didn’t run. I didn’t – didn’t know what to do. It’s a horrible feeling man.

DETECTIVE: Yeah.

BAYLEY:I can’t imagine how – how she felt, but I know how I felt. It’s not nice man, its not nice. And all I thought was what have I done? That’s all I thought. That was the thought in my head, what have I done after I said sorry. I didn’t know what else to say, man. I don’t know what else to say.

DETECTIVE:And what happened to her belongings?

BAYLEY:The phone I smashed. Just the other stuff I threw.

DETECTIVE:You walk to the side, you get the shovel. Tell me what you do.

BAYLEY:I cried man, and I dug a hole.

DETECTIVE:Yeah

BAYLEY: I cried man, And I didn’t cry for me, you need to understand that. I didn’t cry for me, just like I’m not crying for me now.

Jill Meagher

TIMELINE

Saturday September 22, 2012

1.30am: Jill Meagher leaves Bar Etiquette in Sydney Rd, Brunswick, in Melbourne’s inner-north to walk home. CCTV from the Dutchess Boutique captures both Ms Meagher and Adrian Bayley walking past.
1.38am: Mr Bayley allegedly grabs Ms Meagher and drags her into a nearby laneway off Hope St.
1.40am – 1.45am: Neighbours hear a woman yelling from laneway. After a few minutes the yelling stops.
2am: Tom Meagher tries calling his wife’s mobile phone.
4am: Mr Meagher leaves his home in Lux Way – not far from the scene – to go and look for his wife.
4.22am: It is alleged that having gone home to Coburg in Melbourne’s northern suburbs for a shovel, Mr Bayley returns in his white Holden Astra.
4.26am: Car allegedly drives off with Ms Meagher’s body in the boot.
6am: After continuing to call his wife’s phone all night without luck, Mr Meagher reports her missing.

Sunday September 23

12.30pm: A Facebook page is set up in the hope somebody saw Ms Meagher.
3.15pm: Police release public call for information about Ms Meagher’s disappearance.

Monday September 24

6.30am: Ms Meagher’s handbag found in lane off Hope St. Police believe it was planted the day before.
8.50am: Homicide squad takes over the case.
1.45pm: Forensic officers recover evidence from the lane way. Detectives interview Mr Meagher.

Tuesday September 25

12.30pm: Forensic police search the Meagher home and take away their car and bags of items for testing.
3.55pm: Police release footage from the Dutchess Boutique of Ms Meagher and a man in a blue hoodie.
6.15pm: Police return to the Meagher home and search again.

Thursday September 27

2.30pm: Mr Bayley arrested in Coburg.
3.58pm: Police interview with Mr Bayley begins.
10pm: Interview suspended while police travel to a site allegedly nominated by Mr Bayley.

Friday September 28

3am: Mr Bayley remanded at an out-of-sessions hearing after being charged with murder.
4am: Ms Meagher’s body is taken away by coronial staff after being recovered from a shallow grave at the side of Black Hill Rd in Gisborne South, north of Melbourne.

Max Sica found Not Guilty of child’s rape and abuse

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Yoshi

This case is one I have not been following since it went to trial, but I see it reported this morning that Sica has been found Not Guilty of the 21 sex offences that date back from 2004. Report from Courier Mail below…

Interesting that it has been reported that “Sica has become the latest in a growing long line of infamous criminals to win judge only trials – including notorious pedophiles Dennis Ferguson and Roy Schloss.”

While Judge only trials are rare and difficult to obtain, if a trend develops such as has been suggested, I would be surprised if there are not many more defendant’s in the future who try to argue for a judge only trial.

Convicted triple murderer Max Sica found not guilty of child’s rape, abuse

by: Tony Keim
From: The Courier-Mail
March 08, 2013 10:22AM

CONVICTED triple murderer Massimo “Max” Sica has been found not guilty of raping and repeatedly abusing a young girl over a four year period.

Sica – who is already serving a record 35-years in jail for the 2003 murder of the Singh siblings – is the latest in a growing list of reviled convicted criminals – including infamous pedophiles Dennis Ferguson and Roy Schloss – to be a acquitted after a rare judge only trial.

Brisbane District Court judge Michael Shanahan delivered the verdict to a stunned packed court – including Sica’s parents Carlo and Anna and his siblings – on Friday morning.

Judge Shanahan deliberated almost two weeks before handing down his verdict 21 sex offences – including child rape.

Sica received three life terms of imprisonment – an”d ordered to serve a minimum of 35-years – for the savage murder of the Singh siblings Neelma, 24, Kunal, 18, and Sidhi, 12.

Judge Shanahan, in his written 50-page decision, said medical evidence revealed the girl physically showed all the hallmarks of being a virgin and could not have been subjected to the sexual attack alleged.

“There is one fact … which causes me significant concern,” he said.

“Considering the medical evidence I cannot be satisfied beyond a seasonable doubt that the penetrative (sexual) acts occurred as described by the (girl).”

Judge Shanahan also commented on the girl’s “credibility”, saying her evidence raised a “number of issues of concern.”

“I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that any of the counts have been proved … (and) verdicts of not guilty are entered to each of the counts.”

Sica, who stood ramrod straight in the dock of Court 31 for the verdict, breathed out deeply and smiled as he heard Judge Shanahan’s decision.

Outside court, Sica’s jubilant brother, Claudio, said: “Justice has finally been served, but not fully.”

“There was no other verdict that could have been given.”

Sica has become the latest in a growing long line of infamous criminals to win judge only trials – including notorious pedophiles Dennis Ferguson and Roy Schloss.

Sica was granted the judge-only trial after his lawyers convinced the court Sica’s notoriety would make it almost impossible to find and impartial panel of jurors anywhere in Queensland.

Sica early last month pleaded not guilty to 21 sex offences, including two counts of rape and one of maintaining a sexual relationship with the child between November 15, 2004 and September 10, 2008.

Then aged 35 to 39, he was also charged with nine counts each of unlawful carnal knowledge and indecent dealing of a child under 16.

The court had been told Sica allegedly had sex with the child, then aged between nine and 13, more than 100 times during the four-year period.

In July, a Brisbane Supreme Court jury found Sica guilty of the 2003 murder of the Singh siblings.

He was sentenced to three life terms, with a record minimum non-parole period of 35-years.

Sica has appealed those verdicts, with a two day hearing scheduled to start in the Court of Appeal in Brisbane on May 27.

Vicki Arnold and Julie-Anne Leahy – Murder at Cherry Tree Creek

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Yoshi

The 1991 deaths of Vicki Arnold (27) and her best-friend Julie-Anne Leahy (26) at Cherry Tree Creek in Far North Queensland have captivated the attention of the State and the nation for over 21 years and even spawned the writing of a book over the mystery.

Coroner’s inquests held in 1992 and 1999 found that Ms. Arnold bashed her best friend with a rock, slit her throat and shot her twice before turning the gun on herself – firing a shot though her thigh and two shots through her own head in an apparent murder-suicide.

From the beginning however there were many who questioned the “official” version of events and in a stunning development on 1 March 2013, following a third inquest, State Coroner Mr. Michael Barnes ordered Ms. Leahy’s husband, Alan, stand trial on two counts of murder. Mr. Leahy maintains his innocence, but for the family of Ms. Arnold and in particular her 87 year-old mother Vida, the findings of the Coroner mark a step in their 21 year fight to clear Vicki’s name…

With an arrest warrant for Alan Leahy’s pending, here’s hoping that despite any inadequacies in the initial Police investigation, something that more closely resembles the truth will finally be revealed and confirmed in Court.

More details of the case can be found below courtesy of the Courier Mail and the following links:

Coroners Findings – 1 March 2013

Murder at Cherry Tree Creek – 60 Minutes

Third Party to Murder: The Sequel

Husband Alan Leahy ordered to stand trial for murder of wife Julie-Anne and friend Vicki Arnold 21 years ago

by: Kate Kyriacou, Peter Michael
From: The Courier Mail
March 02, 2013 12:00AM

FOR 21 years, Vicki Arnold’s family has been told the mild-mannered chartered accountant bashed her best friend with a rock, slit her throat and shot her twice before turning the gun on herself – firing two shots through her own head in an apparent murder-suicide.

She did this, according to a police investigation and two coronial inquests, despite having no motive and no history of depression or any other mental health issues.

Yesterday, State Coroner Michael Barnes tore holes in the findings of police and the previous inquests – declaring it was more likely Ms Arnold, 27, and her best friend Julie-Anne Leahy, 26, were murdered.

In an extraordinary hearing before a packed courtroom, Mr Barnes ordered Mrs Leahy’s husband Alan stand trial on two counts of murder.

A warrant was issued for his arrest and he is expected to be extradited from Western Australia to face court in Queensland.

Mr Leahy yesterday told The Courier-Mail he would maintain his innocence.

THE husband of a woman found shot dead with her best friend in 1991 will face trial for the deaths after a third Coronial inquest in the case.

ARREST ORDERED: Vicki Arnold’s vehicle at the crime scene. Picture: Aaron Francis

“Of course I will fight the charges,” he said.

The bodies of the women were found inside the Leahy family 4WD in remote bushland near Cairns in August 1991 – two weeks after they failed to return from a late-night fishing trip.

“Those involved in the early stages of the investigation failed to gather, lost or corrupted evidence that may have established the truth of what happened at Cherry Tree Creek on the night of July 26, 1991,” Mr Barnes said.

“They then set about squeezing what evidence was left into an explanation that required no further action.”

He said two coronial inquests went along with the police opinion that the women’s deaths were an open-shut murder-suicide.

Vicki Arnold at work in her Hall Chadwick Office

SLOW JUSTICE: Vicki Arnold’s family at her graveside August 14, 1991. Picture: Aaron Francis

The court heard Mrs Leahy’s husband told police the women had left home after midnight to go fishing and never returned.

Mr Barnes said it was telling that Mr Leahy spent that night in bed with his wife’s 16-year-old sister Vanessa.

“Alan Leahy spent considerable time in his wife’s sister’s bed on the night the two women disappeared,” he said.

“A possible interpretation for what would seem cavalier behaviour is that he knew his wife would not be returning.”

Mr Barnes also found:

While Ms Arnold had bought the gun that was used to shoot the women, the most likely scenario was that she had done so for someone else. Mr Barnes said she knew nothing about guns, yet insisted on buying a .22 rifle while giving various explanations as to why she needed it.
Ms Arnold had neither the equipment or the know-how to saw down a rifle. Mr Leahy did and lied about owning a vice, which would have been used to shorten the barrel.
Ms Arnold had no motive, appeared content the night she disappeared and had apparently embarked on a midnight fishing trip despite having made work appointments for 6am the following day.
It was unlikely Ms Arnold had shot herself in the back of the head after first shooting herself in the thigh and chin.
Trajectory examinations found one bullet was likely fired from the back seat.
The sawn-off barrel from the gun, a hacksaw and instruction manual were placed inside a pillow slip from the Leahy house and left in Ms Arnold’s driveway two weeks after her body was found. Mr Barnes said “only someone who had themselves been involved in the deaths had a motive to do that”.

SHOT DEAD: Best friends Vicki Arnold and Julie-Anne Leahy

He said while Ms Arnold did not appear to have a motive, Mr Leahy did.

The court heard Mr Leahy had been having an affair with his sister-in-law, had mounting debts and stood to gain $120,000 from his wife’s life insurance. He also lied about owning true crime magazines – one depicting a murder made to look like a murder-suicide. The court heard the day before the women disappeared, Mrs Leahy had asked her younger sister to stay home from school – a request the teenager was convinced meant Mrs Leahy wanted to confront her about the affair.

Mr Barnes ordered Mr Leahy to stand trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court in Cairns, giving him 14 days to surrender to police.

The women’s relatives in court – and others viewing the hearing live in Cairns – cried and applauded as Mr Barnes delivered his finding.

Mrs Leahy’s brother Peter Martin punched the air.

LONG BLAMED: Vicki Arnold at work in her Hall Chadwick office. Picture: Aaron Francis

“I’m on top of the world,” he said. “(The decision) takes Vicki straight out of the picture – as it should have been from word go. We can wake up tomorrow morning and have a smile on our face.”

In Cairns, Ms Arnold’s wheelchair-bound mother Vida sobbed as Mr Leahy was ordered to stand trial.

“I’ve waited nearly 22 years for this result,” she said. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep over the years. Who knows if I’ll get any sleep tonight.” She thanked Mr Barnes, her lawyer Philip Bovey and State MP Curtis Pitt for correcting a “miscarriage of justice”.

———-

THE EVIDENCE

The crime scene

Mrs Leahy’s throat was slashed, her body held upright in the driver’s seat by a seat belt wrapped around her neck. She had been bashed with a rock and shot twice in the head. Ms Arnold’s body was slumped on the passenger-side floor with bullet wounds to her thigh, jaw and behind the right ear, her hand resting on the stock of a sawn-off rifle with a shell in the breech.

State Coroner Michael Barnes said he doubted the gun would have come to rest in such a manner.

The assumption

Within four hours, police declared the incident a murder-suicide. The crime scene was cleared and the 4WD towed to Yungaburra, where it was stored inappropriately and the elements tainted any forensic evidence.

The gun

The gun’s barrel and the hacksaw used to cut it down were discovered in Ms Arnold’s garage two weeks after the women were found dead. Two police officers, Bill Hendrikse and Sgt Bernie Wilce, swore in the witness box the pillow case containing the parts was not there during an initial search of the unit. Ms Arnold’s former neighbour, Pamela Fox, said she found the gun parts in the garage the day after she saw someone running from the home during the night.

The magazines

Mr Leahy gave police a series of murder-themed magazines after the women’s deaths. He told officers Ms Arnold borrowed them from the Leahy household. But he told the inquest he did not remember the magazines belonging to the family – despite most of them having the name “Leahy” scrawled on the inside cover.

The sister

During the hearing Mrs Leahy’s teenage sister, Vanessa, gave evidence that she was in a sexual relationship with Mr Leahy and was terrified her sister would find out.

———-

MURDER MYSTERY AT CHERRY TREE CREEK

How the events unfolded

July 26, 1991: Julie-Anne Leahy, 26, and Vicki Arnold, 27, are reported missing after Mrs Leahy’s husband, Alan, says they failed to return from a fishing trip to Lake Tinaroo.

August 9, 1991: Trailbike riders find the women’s bodies about 5pm in the the Leahy family’s Nissan Patrol, about 15km out of Atherton on a bush track. Despite the bizarre scene, police rule their deaths a murder-suicide and the vehicle and bodies are hastily removed.

July 30, 1992: First inquest into the women’s deaths begins at Atherton Coroner’s Court. After hearing the evidence, Coroner Hamilton Spicer supports the murder-suicide theory.

July, 1997: Police Minister Russell Cooper announces a reopening of the controversial case, appointing former senior investigators Carl Mengler and Frank O’Gorman. A week later, convicted murderer Gregory De Jong tells detectives that notorious drug dealer Christopher Dunlea, whom De Jong confessed to shooting in 1994, admitted to him that he killed the pair.

May, 1998: The Mengler and O’Gorman report is highly critical of the original police investigation.

April 19, 1999: A second inquest into the women’s deaths begins. The Coroner’s Court hears of Ms Leahy’s younger sister Vanessa’s affair with her husband. A forensic expert tells the court it would be highly unlikely a person would shoot themself in the head twice.

February 21, 2000: Coroner Gary Casey rules again in favour of the murder-suicide theory. The Arnold and Leahy families are stunned.

September, 2005: Former Far North detective Bill Hendrikse, one of the first officers at the scene, claims a senior police officer refused to order an investigation into the suspected double murder because of overtime costs.

July, 2008: Homicide detectives investigate whether the women were killed because they knew too much about a bungled bank robbery after a witness comes forward with fresh evidence.

October 23, 2010: Attorney-general Cameron Dick announces a third inquest will be held after lobbying from Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt – Bill Hendrikse’s nephew.

November 14, 2011: Third inquest begins before State Coroner Michael Barnes and hears evidence shedding doubt on the adequacy of the initial police investigation, and some expert witnesses say they lean more towards a double-murder scenario.

March 1, 2013: Mr Barnes hands down his findings and commits Alan Leahy to stand trial for murder.