No Murder Weapon, No Body, No Place or Time of Death

NT: Joanne Lees ought to be the main suspect in this show trial. There is no body and no weapon to be found and Joanne Lees had a clear and present motive. She knew him, she travelled with him, she was unfaithful to him and she said that she was the last person to see him on the night she was stoned out of her head. So where does Bradley James Murdoch fit in?

Simple, police decided she was the victim and went about making sure someone else did it when all accounts should point to Joanne Lees who was unfaithful to her boyfriend Peter Falconio and stoned off her head on the night she said she had been attacked.

JOANNE Lees would identify Bradley James Murdoch or anyone else who was profiled to fit the crime. She has a very good reason to do so otherwise she would look very guilty indeed.

The 32-year-old wept as she told a jury she believed she would die after her attacker bound her and forced her into his vehicle on a lonely stretch of the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory in 2001.

No one else was there and this is her story believe it or not. She was quite capable of inventing an attacker and binding her own hands to make it look like there had been an attack but there was and adventure a misadventure. Tears can be manipulated and manufactured. She was entwined in the relationship maybe Peter would not let her out?

If you asked a killer who has no remorse whether someone else did the killing what answer do you think you're going to get?

During a dramatic day of evidence, prosecutor Rex Wild, QC, asked Ms Lees if she got a good view of the man as he held a western-style silver revolver to her head.

[The weapon that can't be found.]

"Yes," she replied.

"Do you see that man here today?" asked Mr Wild, the Northern Territory's Director of Public Prosecutions.

"Yes, I'm looking at him now," she replied in a loud voice, staring directly to where Murdoch sat in the dock of the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

[But she'd never seen him before the trial? And wasn't prompted.]

Murdoch looked back and shook his head.

Ms Lees responded by nodding vigorously.

[Intimating that she was guilty but had no other choice.]

She also appeared to mouth some words as she nodded back at Murdoch, but they were not audible.

[Sorry...I am Sorry...Please forgive me...?]

Ms Lees was giving testimony on the second day of the trial into the alleged murder of her boyfriend, Mr Falconio, who has not been seen since that night in July 2001.

Lees, who was stoned out of her brain on dope and who'd had a recent affair had a better motive for the killing and could easily have committed the crime herself. So why wasn't she the main suspect?

Bradley Murdoch, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murder, and to the unlawful assault and deprivation of liberty of Ms Lees.

Lees has accused Bradley John Murdoch of Peter Falconio death but until the alleged strong DNA evidence appeared late in the police investigation there was probably no case at all.

DNA results that just happened to appear now place Bradley John Murdoch at the crime scene and no doubt have helped the police case against the accused.

Back in April 2005, Murdoch's defence team was furious at the new DNA evidence. Claiming his client had been ambushed by the prosecution, Ian Baker, QC, made an application to have the hearing stopped and the trial date, put back to allow his side to have its own DNA tests done on the cable ties.

Commenting on the new development, the judge, Brian Martin, told the Northern Territory Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Tony Elliot: "The evidence you propose to lead, if accepted by the jury, would inevitably place the accused not only at the scene, but having used the ties used to tie up Miss Lees. It is critical." ?

Dr Whitaker's world-first DNA testing technique [?] has allegedly identified fragments of DNA belonging to Murdoch at the crime scene?

But earlier results of tests on mixed DNA on the gearstick and steering wheel were so poor that they were inadmissible in court. [?]

Ms Lees, who said she still bore scars from that night, said a man pulled up beside the couple as they drove their Kombi north from Alice Springs.

But she's the only witness to that and she was also quite capable of making it appear that she had been tied up and grazed.

If it were the case that she was bound then it would have been highly unlikely that she would have survived to tell the story.

Of course a murderer is not capable of making up a story to make it look like she suffered a misadventure by binding here own hands and leaving marks for all to see?

When he signaled for the couple to pull over, Ms Lees said she urged Mr Falconio not to stop.

[Sure, where in the middle of nowhere in the dark and she intimates they should stop? A street wise pom? Bullshit!]

She said, he did stop, however, and went to the back of the vehicle to talk to the man about sparks he had seen coming from the exhaust.

"Cheers mate, thanks for stopping," she heard Mr Falconio telling the man.

As she was revving the engine for Mr Falconio, she said she heard a bang which sounded like a car backfiring.

Apparantly it wasn't until the stranger appeared at her car window with a silver revolver that she realised the sound may have been a gunshot.

[Maybe it was the Lone Ranger?]

Ms Lees said she struggled as the gunman bound her hands behind her back, forced her from the Kombi and tried unsuccessfully to tie her legs with tape as he straddled her on the ground.

So he managed to bind her hands but he could not manage to bind her feet, the easy part?

He did not rape her or shoot her in the head but apparently he had no trouble with Peter Falconio?

"He punched me in the right temple, it stunned me," she said.

"I was then screaming for Pete to come and help me."

She said the man led her towards his vehicle and tried unsuccessfully to put tape around her mouth.

She also managed to shake off a canvas sack he put over her head.

He pushed her into the passenger's side of his vehicle and then into its rear tray area.

"I asked him why he was doing this, did he want money, did he want to rape me," Ms Lees said.

"He came back and told me to shut up or he would shoot me."

Asked today what was going through her mind during the attack, Ms Lees wept and said:" I felt alone.

And that just about sums it up because she was alone and has to prove otherwise, surely?

"I kept shouting for Pete. I thought I was going to die."

But the man who had her tied up couldn't find her? Or manage to bind her legs, rape her or even shoot her? But he managed to take care of Peter. Maybe he was gay? Or just plain clumsy?

Then the man moved away from his vehicle and she seized the moment to escape, she said, shuffling her legs over the rear of an unsecured canopy onto the ground with her hands still bound behind her back.

[And he could not see her in the middle of nowhere? Neither could he hear her?]

"Then I just ran," Ms Lees whispered, recounting how she curled up and hid under bushes.

Ms Lees said she heard the crunch of the man's footsteps as she hid.

"I didn't speak - I was trying not to breathe even," she said.

She heard the man drive a vehicle away, and later again heard the crunch of gravel and the man dragging something.

"I thought it could be Pete," she said.

The court has heard Ms Lees hid under the bush for five hours, before running out onto the road, still bound, and flagged down a passing road train.

[And the man ran away with the bone!]

The trial continues.

By Amanda Mortein 19 October 05

Related:

Falconio suspect to be extradited

It was only after Murdoch was arrested in SA on sex charges that police, citing DNA evidence, alleged he was linked to the Falconio case.

To avoid further delays in having the murder case heard, Mr Prescott dismissed charges against Murdoch regarding firearms offences that were currently before the Adelaide court.

Bradley John Murdoch will face a court in Darwin tomorrow, charged for the first time over the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio.

An Adelaide magistrate today ordered Murdoch, 45, to be extradited to the Northern Territory where he will be formally charged with murdering Mr Falconio and attempting to abduct Mr Falconio's girlfriend, Joanne Lees.

Murdoch's extradition follows his acquittal earlier this week on unrelated sex charges and his immediate rearrest.

Handcuffed and flanked by prison officers and Adelaide Magistrates Court staff, Murdoch showed no expression as Chief Magistrate Kelvyn Prescott dismissed arguments that his arrest was unlawful.

Related Links:

Unfaithful Lees admits taking drugs, court told
AUSTRALIA: NT: Key witness Joanne lees, has testified in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to smoking Marijuana on the night her boyfriend Peter Falconio went missing.

Murdoch: Ambushed by Prosecution
AUSTRALIA: NT-Through the smell of an oily rag - A FORENSIC expert alledgedly has produced vital evidence ahead of the Peter Falconio murder trial linking his alleged killer to the camper van driven by the dead man and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees?

Day set aside for Falconio forensic evidence
More than a day has been set aside in the case of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio to hear evidence from a Northern Territory forensic scientist. Yesterday the Darwin Magistrates Court heard from mechanics and friends of the defendant Bradley John Murdoch.

Mr Bradley Murdoch to go on trial next year!
The alleged man is not the alleged Falconio killer in my book. He's alleged to have committed a crime but the Faloconio mystery remains a secret to be unlocked by time itself and more interestingly may never be unlocked at all.

Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Ch/9 News? Or Ch/9's Department of Public Prosecutions?
Bradley Murdoch committal, lawyer calls for fair hearing
The lawyer of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio has spoken to the media in Darwin.

Peter Beattie nominated as Australian of the year: Howard
Bradley Murdoch the man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio who has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court.

Tourist dollar drives set-up for crime
The man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court. Bradley John Murdoch, 45, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of indecent assault after an alleged incident in South Australia's Riverland in August last year.

Supreme Court rejects Nine appeal
CHANNEL Nine lost a Supreme Court appeal today to have a suppression order on details of the case of missing backpacker Peter Falconio lifted. The Full Bench of the NT Supreme Court today ruled Magistrate Alasdair McGregor had the power to make the order banning from publication some details of the case.

Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Innocent until proven guilty? Not in Australia's outback!
There is no way that Bradley John Murdoch can get a fair trial in the Northern Territory. The entire jury pool is already contaminated, the general public have accepted the verdict of the Northern Territory News and the NT Police State has turned on the cone of silence. Maybe some of the reporters might want to ask Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wilde QC just how he is going to secure a conviction when a body has not been found. Surely the NT bureaucracy learnt from the Lindy Chamberlain case that it is not a good idea to jail someone for murder when you haven't got a body. Maybe they have the same people working on the case. The NT Police forensic team certainly do.

Taken "A Dingo Took My Baby!"
They were the words that Lindy Chamberlain had screamed out into the blackness of the cold night in a camping ground close to Ayers Rock, Central Australia, on the night of August 17, when she discovered that her nearly ten-week-old baby, Azaria had been taken by a dingo.

Man Says He Shot Dingo That Snatched Baby SYDNEY, Australia (July 5) - A distraught mother's scream 24 years ago that a dingo snatched her baby from a camp site near Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback ignited one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. An elderly man's claim that he retrieved the infant's bloodied body from the jaws of the wild dog has revived the case and - if true - could finally lead to the discovery of Azaria Chamberlain's body.

Australia to see the light on tourism
A total of $120 million has been earmarked for the campaign's international marketing, which tops up the Australian Tourist Commission's annual budget of $90 million. The inbound and domestic tourism industry contributes $70 billion to the economy and employs 500,000.

Ten reports $76.9 million profit
The Ten television network has reported a full-year profit of $76.9 million. Even if it were down by half on the previous year they're still greedy self-interested people who care little about the real damage done, not just in Australia but the world. That profit is obviously on top of wages and expenses yet they're still greedy enough to turn the news upside down to suit the Howard government's investment in advertising.

DNA Links:

The ABC for good or evil?
He had a suspect that he wanted to find guilty based on the chances of a spouse killing a spouse which were greater in anycase, at least more likely than that of a stranger.

First Grabs To Control Our DNA
A small company in Australia has been subjected to gross denials of rights after DNA database technology was stolen from it's company. This one year saga has spawned them to form a new approach to projects of importance to all people.

Worries over DNA and racial profiling
UK: Black men are four times more likely than White men to be on the national DNA database and there is growing concern about racial profiling in criminal investigations.

Lab's Errors Force Review of 150 Virginia DNA Cases
US: WASHINGTON, - A sharply critical independent audit found that Virginia's nationally recognized central crime laboratory had botched DNA tests in a leading capital murder case. The findings prompted Gov. Mark Warner to order a review of the lab's handling of testing in 150 other cases as well.

Witch-hunt targets scientists
QLD: SCIENTISTS at the John Tonge Centre are being threatened with jail in the wake of a government hunt for the source of leaks highlighting serious problems in the forensic laboratories.

Fresh swipe at DNA labs
Scientist Kris Bentley, whose departure yesterday follows that of forensic biologist Deanna Belzer after concerns about "inaccurate" DNA results and unvalidated equipment, issued a scathing resignation letter leaked to The Courier-Mail.

DNA leads 'CSI' cold-case squad to first arrest?
Frozen case? I don't really know what to say about them until they come up with their case. They say it involves DNA evidence but that's the only stuff we know.

Criminal's DNA filed under relative's name
The New South Wales Opposition is calling for an investigation into claims that police have entered DNA data for serious offenders under incorrect names.

DNA fingerprinting 'no longer foolproof'...
The genetic profiles held by police for criminal investigations are not sophisticated enough to prevent false identifications, according to the father of DNA fingerprinting.

THE BUTLER DIDN'T DO IT!
PROFESSOR BARRY BOETTCHER: Now, there should be a law enacted within Queensland so that when cases come up like this they can be brought to attention and if an appropriate authority such as a judge of your Supreme Court considers that it merits further inquiry, an inquiry be ordered.

'Rape' officer clears his name
UK: A former policeman has been cleared of rape after protesting his innocence for 15 years. Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that Brian Kelly, 47, had suffered a miscarriage of justice over crucial DNA evidence.

New unit investigates unsolved deaths?
A new police unit has been established to investigate more than 360 unsolved deaths in New South Wales, with many of the deaths dating back more than 30 years.

Prisoner's bid for review denied
Prisoner Roger Cheney has lost a Supreme Court action to have a judicial review of his 1993 convictions an 30-year jail sentence. Justice Shaw said he was concerned about the prisoner's claim that DNA evidence held by the police could prove his innocence. Although Cheney had requested the results of the DNA tests, he had been denied access to the forensic analysis.

QLD Prisoners DNA Bid THE curious case of Queensland's "cat lady" murder is set to test the state's legal authorities again, with the man convicted of the killing asking the Attorney-General to take the unprecedented step of releasing blood samples for DNA retesting.

Database clears up crimes?
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said at the launch of a Sydney conference of international forensic experts meeting to mark 100 years of fingerprinting in NSW. He said the collection of DNA from prisoners and suspects in NSW during the past two years had led to more than 5,400 matches on the forensic database.

A Question of Innocence
Katrina Bolton: The promise of DNA freeing the innocent as well as convicting the guilty has been repeated by politicians across Australia, usually while DNA laws are being expanded. The promise was made as a national DNA database, ‘Crimtrac’ was created, and it was made as NSW introduced legislation giving unprecedented powers to take DNA samples from prisoners, by force if necessary.

Weak Carr Government suspends Innocence Panel
It's a callous disregard for justice! The panel takes applications from convicted prisoners for DNA evidence to be analysed a move that may help in a future court appeal.

JUST BEAT IT! Govt lauds crime-solving technology?
The New South Wales Government says advances in crime solving technology are helping the progress of hundreds of police investigations.

DNA testing causes debate in murder case
The use of voluntary DNA testing in the investigation of a murder case in New South Wales has been applauded by victim support groups who are ill informed about the process said Justice Action's spokesperson Gregory Kable.

Abolition of double jeopardy law a political stunt: NSW Opp
Why draconian laws? What about the re-trial by media that goes along with it? Twice shy?

ARE YOU INNOCENT?
The NSW government has finally appointed somebody (Justice John Nader) to head up its Innocence Panel and has produced leaflets and forms for people convicted of serious crimes (eg murder) to apply for DNA testing if they believe it may help prove their innocence. You can get the info by phoning 1300 881 717 or writing to the panel at GPO Box 45 Sydney NSW 2001.

Is the Westminster System flawed?
Most people would say Lady Di got the boot and NSW has so much trouble getting the Innocence Panel moving. I said hey, what's going on!

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder Mass DNA testing of prisoners has led to the first NSW case of a person being charged with a previously unsolved murder as a result of a controversial gene-matching data bank. The Herald reported 25 Nov 02 "a DNA saliva swab led to the charging of a former prisoner with the bashing murder of a woman. Police had been unable to find any witnesses or suspects following the murder in Sydney's inner city two years ago. Detectives had admitted they faced a tough job finding the killer."

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20
Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

DNA yours or mine?
Now they have isolated two genes that they say tells you if you're more likely to be depressed. What does that mean? It could mean that you should stay in jail because you are more likely than not to continue your offending behaviour according to a Department of Corrective Services Forensic Psychiatrist.

DNA = Do Not Assume - DNA Controversies!
The national DNA database of all known offenders proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair could mean that innocent people will be accused of crimes they did not commit.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

DNA - A Shadow of Doubt
One case points to misinterpretation of evidence that helped put a man behind bars. The other shows just how easy it is to plant falsely incriminating DNA evidence. As our forensic techniques become ever more sensitive, so the possibility of abuse continues to grow.

Unfaithful Lees admits taking drugs, court told

AUSTRALIA: NT: Key witness Joanne lees, has testified in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to smoking Marijuana on the night her boyfriend Peter Falconio went missing.

Yesterday she told the court how unfaithful she was to her boyfriend and that she'd even had an affair. But for some reason Lees wasn't a suspect in her own boyfriends killing?

Show trial

Lees has accused Bradley John Murdoch of Peter Falconio death but until the alleged strong DNA evidence appeared late in the police investigation there was probably no case at all.

DNA results that just happened to appear now place Bradley John Murdoch at the crime scene and no doubt have helped the police case against the accused.

Murdoch: Ambushed by Prosecution

DNA 'links accused to Falconio camper' ?

AUSTRALIA: NT-Through the smell of an oily rag - A FORENSIC expert allegedly has produced vital evidence ahead of the Peter Falconio murder trial linking his alleged killer to the camper van driven by the dead man and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees?

Surprising!

Dr Jonathan Whitaker, a British DNA expert, told a pre-trial hearing that a new testing technique had identified fragments of DNA belonging to the accused, Bradley John Murdoch, at the crime scene. It is the first time that the damning DNA evidence has been heard, because previous orthodox forensic tests by Northern Territory officers had proved inconclusive?

Crown prosecutor Rex Wild QC said DNA obtained from a blood stain on Ms Lees's t-shirt, Mr Falconio's former girlfriend, matched that of the accused Bradley John Murdoch.

But he never said the police had planted it and of course that has to be one of the leads to be followed up by the defense in the tourist industry show trial between Corporate Australia, Joanne Lees, and Bradley John Murdoch.

This means a lot for the tourist industry and the corporate giants have their hands dirty already. Ch/9 stalled the committal hearing early in the case so they could argue that court material should be heard in public and not in camera.

Stalled Falconio Committal to resume

Channel Nine have no rights whatsoever to delay the case of a person accused and in custody. Mr Bradley Murdoch should seek damages after the committal against Ch/9 to prevent further interference by corporate media giants who no doubt have a conflict of interest making news instead of reporting news and also having a corporate interest in tourism and $$$$$$$

Wild told the court that Murdoch's DNA was also identified on the gearstick of Mr Falconio's kombi van and on the hand ties that were allegedly used to bind Ms Lees on the night her boyfriend went missing.

Again no mention that the evidence could easily have been planted by police late in the investigation to help solve their case.

Forty-seven-year-old Bradley John Murdoch has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Peter Falconio and the assault and deprivation of liberty of Joanne Lees.

The court heard that Bradley Murdoch had a haircut and shave within a day of the British traveler's disappearance but most men have a shave everyday so how this is so suppose to be some type of evidence is bewildering and can only be seen as mind-set 'evidence' that men take personal care of themselves, surely. I mean I shave everyday.

Mr Wild said that a day after Mr Falconio went missing; Bradley Murdoch was driving through Central Australia to Broome. He said when Murdoch arrived in Broome; he had a shave and cut his hair.

But Joanne Lees who was stoned out of her brain on dope and who'd had a recent affair, had a better motive for the killing and could easily have committed the crime herself. So why wasn't she the main suspect?

Tall tale?

Mr Wild told the court that Mr Falconio and Ms Lees were traveling on a remote stretch of highway north of Alice Springs when the driver of a second car urged them to pull over.

He said Mr Falconio got out of the couple's kombi van to speak to the man. Mr Wild told the court that after hearing a loud bang, like a gun shot, Ms Lees was tied with cable ties by the man accused of murdering Mr Falconio.

She asked the man if he was going to rape her and if he had shot her boyfriend. The court heard Ms Lees was forced into the back of the man's van but managed to escape and run into bushes.

The prosecutor said she waited in the dark for about five hours until she felt safe enough to flag down a truck on the highway. The court has also heard evidence from Mr Falconio's brother and father.

The family members told the court they had not heard from Peter Falconio since the night he went missing more than four years ago.

But Joanne Lees was a more likely suspect even though she told the court she identified Bradley Murdoch as her attacker during last year's committal hearing and from a photo board.

Falconio beatup compromises NSW DNA laws
ABC 20 June 2002

The NSW government has used the recent media beatup surrounding DNA testing of 'a person of interest' in the Northern Territory Falconio murder investigation to neutralise protections contained in the NSW Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act.

The Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Amendment (Corresponding Laws) Regulation 2002 takes advantage of a deliberate loophole in Section 95 of the Act which allows DNA legislation in other jurisdictions to be declared 'corresponding laws' - thereby permitting free flow of DNA database information between law enforcement agencies.

All Australian Federal, State and Territory legislation governing forensic DNA collection, analysis and use has been declared 'corresponding law' by NSW Attorney General Bob Debus - in spite of the fact that several of them contain none of the protections of the NSW Act.

Under the Northern Territory Police Administration Act people can be forced to submit to police DNA testing for summary offences such as 'failing to cease to loiter'. Once tested their DNA profile stays on the police database forever, where it is used in attempts to link the subject to unsolved offences. Volunteers and victims of crime are also liable to have their DNA used to implicate them in unsolved crime.

The Northern Territory is also the only Australian jurisdiction where police DNA testing is carried out in a laboratory which does not meet NATA accreditation standards. Its senior forensic scientist is Joy Kuhl, who first achieved notoriety for her part in the wrongful conviction of Lindy Chamberlain.

In NSW, by contrast, only those suspected or convicted of serious offences can be forced to provide DNA. If they are found innocent, have their convictions overturned or are not charged within a year their profiles and samples must be 'destroyed' (i.e. deidentified).

However the declaration of the new regulations now means that NSW police can 'launder' tainted DNA evidence through their NT colleagues.

Even when NSW police are required by law to 'destroy' a DNA profile they can rest easy in the knowledge that a shared copy remains on the NT police database and will shortly be 'shared' back to NSW. Those not liable for forced DNA testing under NSW laws might be picked up while visiting another state and forcibly tested for 'abusive language' or 'failing to cease to loiter', with results of the test relayed back to the NSW database.

The NSW government has taken advantage of the arrest of 29 year old Michael Sorrell for the stabbing murder of Michael Furlong in Smithfield on June 3 to create an artificial atmosphere of urgency and stifle debate of the new regulations.

Sorrell is described as a 'person of interest' in the shooting and presumed murder of Peter Falconio near Alice Springs in July last year, in spite of the fact that he does not match the description of eye-witness, Joanna Lees.

NSW police received DNA recovered from the crime scene in August last year and could have compared it with Sorrell's at any time without needing to alter NSW regulations (there are no restrictions in either NSW or the NT on the use of crime scene DNA).

According to a report in the [Un] Australian, Mr Sorrell has been forcibly DNA tested over 50 times since he was picked up. He is believed to have been in Queensland when Falconio was killed but a 'misinterpreted telephone conversation between territory and NSW police' resulted in him being seen as a potential suspect.

Michael Sorrell was finally cleared of involvement in the murder of Peter Falconio on June 15, when NT police announced no match between his DNA and the murder scene. But NSW citizens have now permanently lost the few protections they previously enjoyed under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act.

By Amanda Mortein 18 October 05

Related:

Murdoch: Ambushed by Prosecution
AUSTRALIA: NT-Through the smell of an oily rag - A FORENSIC expert alledgedly has produced vital evidence ahead of the Peter Falconio murder trial linking his alleged killer to the camper van driven by the dead man and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees?

Day set aside for Falconio forensic evidence
More than a day has been set aside in the case of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio to hear evidence from a Northern Territory forensic scientist. Yesterday the Darwin Magistrates Court heard from mechanics and friends of the defendant Bradley John Murdoch.

Mr Bradley Murdoch to go on trial next year!
The alleged man is not the alleged Falconio killer in my book. He's alleged to have committed a crime but the Faloconio mystery remains a secret to be unlocked by time itself and more interestingly may never be unlocked at all.

Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Ch/9 News? Or Ch/9's Department of Public Prosecutions?
Bradley Murdoch committal, lawyer calls for fair hearing
The lawyer of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio has spoken to the media in Darwin.

Peter Beattie nominated as Australian of the year: Howard
Bradley Murdoch the man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio who has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court.

Tourist dollar drives set-up for crime
The man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court. Bradley John Murdoch, 45, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of indecent assault after an alleged incident in South Australia's Riverland in August last year.

Supreme Court rejects Nine appeal
CHANNEL Nine lost a Supreme Court appeal today to have a suppression order on details of the case of missing backpacker Peter Falconio lifted. The Full Bench of the NT Supreme Court today ruled Magistrate Alasdair McGregor had the power to make the order banning from publication some details of the case.

Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Innocent until proven guilty? Not in Australia's outback!
There is no way that Bradley John Murdoch can get a fair trial in the Northern Territory. The entire jury pool is already contaminated, the general public have accepted the verdict of the Northern Territory News and the NT Police State has turned on the cone of silence. Maybe some of the reporters might want to ask Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wilde QC just how he is going to secure a conviction when a body has not been found. Surely the NT bureaucracy learnt from the Lindy Chamberlain case that it is not a good idea to jail someone for murder when you haven't got a body. Maybe they have the same people working on the case. The NT Police forensic team certainly do.

Taken "A Dingo Took My Baby!"
They were the words that Lindy Chamberlain had screamed out into the blackness of the cold night in a camping ground close to Ayers Rock, Central Australia, on the night of August 17, when she discovered that her nearly ten-week-old baby, Azaria had been taken by a dingo.

Man Says He Shot Dingo That Snatched Baby SYDNEY, Australia (July 5) - A distraught mother's scream 24 years ago that a dingo snatched her baby from a camp site near Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback ignited one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. An elderly man's claim that he retrieved the infant's bloodied body from the jaws of the wild dog has revived the case and - if true - could finally lead to the discovery of Azaria Chamberlain's body.

Australia to see the light on tourism
A total of $120 million has been earmarked for the campaign's international marketing, which tops up the Australian Tourist Commission's annual budget of $90 million. The inbound and domestic tourism industry contributes $70 billion to the economy and employs 500,000.

Ten reports $76.9 million profit
The Ten television network has reported a full-year profit of $76.9 million. Even if it were down by half on the previous year they're still greedy self-interested people who care little about the real damage done, not just in Australia but the world. That profit is obviously on top of wages and expenses yet they're still greedy enough to turn the news upside down to suit the Howard government's investment in advertising.

DNA Links:

The ABC for good or evil?
He had a suspect that he wanted to find guilty based on the chances of a spouse killing a spouse which were greater in anycase, at least more likely than that of a stranger.

First Grabs To Control Our DNA
A small company in Australia has been subjected to gross denials of rights after DNA database technology was stolen from it's company. This one year saga has spawned them to form a new approach to projects of importance to all people.

Worries over DNA and racial profiling
UK: Black men are four times more likely than White men to be on the national DNA database and there is growing concern about racial profiling in criminal investigations.

Lab's Errors Force Review of 150 Virginia DNA Cases
US: WASHINGTON, - A sharply critical independent audit found that Virginia's nationally recognized central crime laboratory had botched DNA tests in a leading capital murder case. The findings prompted Gov. Mark Warner to order a review of the lab's handling of testing in 150 other cases as well.

Witch-hunt targets scientists
QLD: SCIENTISTS at the John Tonge Centre are being threatened with jail in the wake of a government hunt for the source of leaks highlighting serious problems in the forensic laboratories.

Fresh swipe at DNA labs
Scientist Kris Bentley, whose departure yesterday follows that of forensic biologist Deanna Belzer after concerns about "inaccurate" DNA results and unvalidated equipment, issued a scathing resignation letter leaked to The Courier-Mail.

DNA leads 'CSI' cold-case squad to first arrest?
Frozen case? I don't really know what to say about them until they come up with their case. They say it involves DNA evidence but that's the only stuff we know.

Criminal's DNA filed under relative's name
The New South Wales Opposition is calling for an investigation into claims that police have entered DNA data for serious offenders under incorrect names.

DNA fingerprinting 'no longer foolproof'...
The genetic profiles held by police for criminal investigations are not sophisticated enough to prevent false identifications, according to the father of DNA fingerprinting.

THE BUTLER DIDN'T DO IT!
PROFESSOR BARRY BOETTCHER: Now, there should be a law enacted within Queensland so that when cases come up like this they can be brought to attention and if an appropriate authority such as a judge of your Supreme Court considers that it merits further inquiry, an inquiry be ordered.

'Rape' officer clears his name
UK: A former policeman has been cleared of rape after protesting his innocence for 15 years. Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that Brian Kelly, 47, had suffered a miscarriage of justice over crucial DNA evidence.

New unit investigates unsolved deaths?
A new police unit has been established to investigate more than 360 unsolved deaths in New South Wales, with many of the deaths dating back more than 30 years.

Prisoner's bid for review denied
Prisoner Roger Cheney has lost a Supreme Court action to have a judicial review of his 1993 convictions an 30-year jail sentence. Justice Shaw said he was concerned about the prisoner's claim that DNA evidence held by the police could prove his innocence. Although Cheney had requested the results of the DNA tests, he had been denied access to the forensic analysis.

QLD Prisoners DNA Bid THE curious case of Queensland's "cat lady" murder is set to test the state's legal authorities again, with the man convicted of the killing asking the Attorney-General to take the unprecedented step of releasing blood samples for DNA retesting.

Database clears up crimes?
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said at the launch of a Sydney conference of international forensic experts meeting to mark 100 years of fingerprinting in NSW. He said the collection of DNA from prisoners and suspects in NSW during the past two years had led to more than 5,400 matches on the forensic database.

A Question of Innocence
Katrina Bolton: The promise of DNA freeing the innocent as well as convicting the guilty has been repeated by politicians across Australia, usually while DNA laws are being expanded. The promise was made as a national DNA database, ‘Crimtrac’ was created, and it was made as NSW introduced legislation giving unprecedented powers to take DNA samples from prisoners, by force if necessary.

Weak Carr Government suspends Innocence Panel
It's a callous disregard for justice! The panel takes applications from convicted prisoners for DNA evidence to be analysed a move that may help in a future court appeal.

JUST BEAT IT! Govt lauds crime-solving technology?
The New South Wales Government says advances in crime solving technology are helping the progress of hundreds of police investigations.

DNA testing causes debate in murder case
The use of voluntary DNA testing in the investigation of a murder case in New South Wales has been applauded by victim support groups who are ill informed about the process said Justice Action's spokesperson Gregory Kable.

Abolition of double jeopardy law a political stunt: NSW Opp
Why draconian laws? What about the re-trial by media that goes along with it? Twice shy?

ARE YOU INNOCENT?
The NSW government has finally appointed somebody (Justice John Nader) to head up its Innocence Panel and has produced leaflets and forms for people convicted of serious crimes (eg murder) to apply for DNA testing if they believe it may help prove their innocence. You can get the info by phoning 1300 881 717 or writing to the panel at GPO Box 45 Sydney NSW 2001.

Is the Westminster System flawed?
Most people would say Lady Di got the boot and NSW has so much trouble getting the Innocence Panel moving. I said hey, what's going on!

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder Mass DNA testing of prisoners has led to the first NSW case of a person being charged with a previously unsolved murder as a result of a controversial gene-matching data bank. The Herald reported 25 Nov 02 "a DNA saliva swab led to the charging of a former prisoner with the bashing murder of a woman. Police had been unable to find any witnesses or suspects following the murder in Sydney's inner city two years ago. Detectives had admitted they faced a tough job finding the killer."

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20
Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

DNA yours or mine?
Now they have isolated two genes that they say tells you if you're more likely to be depressed. What does that mean? It could mean that you should stay in jail because you are more likely than not to continue your offending behaviour according to a Department of Corrective Services Forensic Psychiatrist.

DNA = Do Not Assume - DNA Controversies!
The national DNA database of all known offenders proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair could mean that innocent people will be accused of crimes they did not commit.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

The battle for your DNA

DNA technology helping police solve missing persons cases?

Advances in technology are helping police solve missing person's cases in New South Wales. Police say there have been 11 cases to date where police have identified human remains from mitochondrial DNA.

But the news story posted on ABC Online 4 Aug 03 is deceptive for a couple of reasons.

GKCNN interviewed Mr Michael Strutt from the prisoners action group Justice Action,

Is there any other reason why police would want to validate DNA for a good cause? Does this validate DNA? Is this just a propaganda tool?

"Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) decomposes more slowly than nuclear DNA and can be extracted from bone fragments and hair shafts which would not yield enough nuclear DNA for reliable testing." Michael Strutt.

See more below:

New South Wales is the only state in Australia which has a mitochondrial DNA database, introduced two years ago. In launching the annual Missing Persons Week, Inspector Jeff Emery said the program was achieving results.

"We're looking to increase that type of service," Inspector Emery said. "We're considering other options with this mitochondrial DNA testing. "Can I say that it's a very rare type of testing of DNA and very limited people can do it."

MICHAEL: "Barring rare mutations, mitochondrial DNA is passed down the female line of descent unchanged. So your mtDNA is identical to that of all of your brothers and sisters, your mothers, your grandmother, your maternal aunts and uncles, etc. The upshot is that many people, often even very distant relatives, have exactly the same mitochondrial DNA."

"As surnames are not passed down the female line of descent, often people with the same mtDNA will have no idea that they are related."

"So when police say they have 'identified' human remains using mtDNA they are being less than accurate. Unless other identifying material, such as personal possessions or recorded dental work, is found with the human remains all they can say is that they came from either the missing person or a relative of the missing person. As there is no reliable data available on how mtDNA is distributed in Australia, police can't even say how likely the remains are to match the missing person."

"NSW police may have found 11 mtDNA matches between human remains and the families of missing people, but they have NOT done this using the NSW mtDNA database.

Testing of mitochondrial DNA is more expensive than usual forensic DNA testing and, to the best of my knowledge, there are still no Australian labs accredited to perform such tests.

On the rare occasions police have thought it justified using mtDNA it is because they have already found human remains, which they suspected, was from a particular person and were trying to confirm it.

They did not try to 'match' it by running it against a database for 'cold hits', but rather to family members of the missing person they had taken samples from for that specific purpose. In most cases, the samples were then sent to the FBI or US Armed Forces laboratories overseas for testing."

"The article gives the impression that NSW police have been reuniting bereaved relatives with the remains of their deceased loved ones using mtDNA to clear up missing person cases. Generally this is not true.

Police usually use mtDNA testing in difficult murder investigations. Examples include the failed attempt to match hairs found in the boot of Bruce Burrell's car to missing Sydney housewife, Kerry Whelan and the prosecution of Thomas Keir for the murder of his wife Jean after bone fragments with mtDNA matching hers were found under the Keir family home."

"As mtDNA testing is expensive and usually carried out overseas it is very hard for defendants to get independent testing done, when police claim to have linked them to a crime using mtDNA.

The FBI only performs mtDNA tests requested by other law enforcement agencies, not by suspects. Bruce Burrell was unable to obtain independent tests on the hair found in his car (which fortunately did not match Mrs Whelan anyway) and Ivan Milat has been unable to get hairs found in the hand of one of the Belangalo forest victims tested using mtDNA.

The NSW Innocence Panel has not authorised any mtDNA tests on behalf of prisoners."

"But the most pernicious aspect of the NSW police missing persons DNA database is that it is used to try to link missing persons and their family members to unsolved crimes.

So if an anxious family volunteers samples in the hope of assisting police to locate a missing daughter or identify remains recovered from the Bali bombing they may instead have one of their sons arrested in connection with an unsolved burglary." He said.

Updated 2009:

Corrupt police planting DNA evidence at crime scenes

Others have raised concerns about corrupt police planting DNA evidence at crime scenes.

Military lawyers await probe on DNA tampering

The Army's Criminal Investigation Command said nearly 500 forensic test results from all services dating back 10 years are under review after one of its examiners allegedly faked results. About 119 of those cases pertain to the Navy and Marine Corps.

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder

As long as the the prisoners DNA wasn't planted at the crime scene. It is one thing to force prisoners to hand over their DNA and another thing to exploit it.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship

Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

By Mitochondrial DNA 6 August 03

GENESES!: Do you have the two DNA mental genes? If you're tested for these genes and they're present in you, then you're mental or you're more likely than not to go mental. I guess some people will be Mental as Anything? Incidentally, if you have these genes you won't be trusted ever.

The battle for your DNA

The power of genetic research on large populations is impressive, and more will be carried out on other groups isolated by geography, cultural heritage, family lineage, and as yet unimagined categories. The value of such research is the knowledge it yields for individuals, groups and societies who can benefit from it. But knowledge can be harmful if applied carelessly, and will be worthless unless it is shared.

These Campaigns Require Your Urgent Support

The issues and problems of criminal justice and prisons in New South Wales are ever-present. They emerge or disappear with changes of government or through the efforts of the community and activists committed to reform and change.

All too often, a particular issue emerges that demands an immediate response. We are all then presented with a moment of opportunity, a time when the support of many individuals and organisations, taken together, can make the fundamental difference in the outcome.

Related:

DNA yours or mine?
Now they have isolated two genes that they say tells you if you're more likely to be depressed. What does that mean? It could mean that you should stay in jail because you are more likely than not to continue your offending behaviour according to a Department of Corrective Services Forensic Psychiatrist.

JUST BEAT IT! Govt lauds crime-solving technology?
If you can't prove where you were when the crime was committed then you'll have to prove you weren't at the crime scene. They take DNA and match it or they already have your profile DNA and match it. Now you have to prove it doesn't match the crime scene.

DNA = Do Not Assume - DNA Controversies!
The national DNA database of all known offenders proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair could mean that innocent people will be accused of crimes they did not commit.

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder As long as the the prisoners DNA wasn't planted at the crime scene. It is one thing to force prisoners to hand over their DNA and another thing to exploit it.