Current The Murder of Shandee Blackburn - McKay *New investigative podcast by Hedley Thomas

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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.

 
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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.

 

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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.

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.
 
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.

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.
 
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.
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.
 
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.
It wasn't really clear. There could be a conflict if they both had the same lawyer anyway. It could cost her a lot defending it then :(.
 
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.

'Shandee suspect John Peros faces assault charge

By PAIGE TAYLOR

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF
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.'
 
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'
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'
 
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.)

John Peros assault accuser ‘threw first punch’

PAIGE TAYLOR

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, WA BUREAU CHIEF
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.
 

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."
 

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There's a new episode of the Shandee's Story podcast out tonight off the back of this week's inquiry hearing.
Here it is

 
Here it is


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.
 
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.

Not just a complete failure "Fiasco".

A QLD Justice system catastrophe.

Screenshot 2022-11-26 at 7.33.04 am.png
 
Not just a complete failure "Fiasco".

A QLD Justice system catastrophe.

View attachment 1561206
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."
 
New podcast episode out tonight.

'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.
...'



 

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