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Apr. 12th, 2006
I expect to see CSI recycle this story
Apr. 12th, 2006 01:30 pmAs most Australians would know, we recently concluded an interesting trial. Back in 2001, two British tourists (Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees) were driving from Alice Springs to Darwin when, by Lees' account, they stopped for a stranger. Falconio went to the back of their vehicle (campervan IIRC) with the stranger, Lees heard a gunshot, and then the stranger kidnapped her at gunpoint. She eventually managed to escape, despite her wrists being bound, and get help. Falconio's body was never found, but there was enough blood at the scene of the kidnapping to make it pretty clear that he was dead.
Many people doubted Lees' story, for various reasons. Nevertheless, quite some time later, Bradley John Murdoch - a truck driver and known drug runner - was arrested for Falconio's murder. The trial was somewhat controversial; much of the evidence against Murdoch was forensic, and after the Lindy Chamberlain fiasco the public is often somewhat sceptical about forensic evidence.
One of the points against Murdoch was that some of his blood was found on Lees' T-shirt. His defence team had an explanation for that: it had already been established during the committal that Lees and Falconio had stopped at a Red Rooster in Alice Springs, and according to the defence team Murdoch had stopped there earlier to buy a BBQ chicken for the drive. Maybe he'd cut himself, and blood had transferred to the door & thence to Lees.
The jury didn't buy it, and Murdoch was convicted last December. He's now appealing the conviction, but the Bulletin has just dug up an interesting fact that the prosecution hadn't been aware of: Murdoch is allergic to chicken.
Just as well the jury convicted, eh?
Many people doubted Lees' story, for various reasons. Nevertheless, quite some time later, Bradley John Murdoch - a truck driver and known drug runner - was arrested for Falconio's murder. The trial was somewhat controversial; much of the evidence against Murdoch was forensic, and after the Lindy Chamberlain fiasco the public is often somewhat sceptical about forensic evidence.
One of the points against Murdoch was that some of his blood was found on Lees' T-shirt. His defence team had an explanation for that: it had already been established during the committal that Lees and Falconio had stopped at a Red Rooster in Alice Springs, and according to the defence team Murdoch had stopped there earlier to buy a BBQ chicken for the drive. Maybe he'd cut himself, and blood had transferred to the door & thence to Lees.
The jury didn't buy it, and Murdoch was convicted last December. He's now appealing the conviction, but the Bulletin has just dug up an interesting fact that the prosecution hadn't been aware of: Murdoch is allergic to chicken.
Just as well the jury convicted, eh?
Dog-Or update
Apr. 12th, 2006 02:10 pmI know, fourth post for the day, but I realised I hadn't updated on the dog in quite a while.
He's pretty much completely healed over where the surgery was; he looks very odd without the ear, but it doesn't seem to be causing him any distress now. (It got infected earlier, and he was not very happy for a while, poor thing.) He's had the cone off for the last couple of days, which means he can scratch to his little doggy heart's content and use the doggy door again. So no more leaving the back door open and getting bugs inside, or closing it and having to clean up puddles on the floor - although he's always very good about picking somewhere tiled that can easily be mopped. He gets the last of his antibiotics tomorrow, and not a moment too soon; the poor beast rolls on his back and shows me his tummy every time I approach pill in hand.
We had him shaved last weekend, which made him look a bit less freakish - before that he had long hair on most of his body, short where the vet had shaved him for surgery. Now it's even all over again. The old scars on his side still show; between those and the ear, he's starting to look like a doggy version of Chopper Read, although more lovable. I'm glad to see him on the mend.
Had some disappointing but not particularly unexpected family-related news, which I'll have to mull over a while.
He's pretty much completely healed over where the surgery was; he looks very odd without the ear, but it doesn't seem to be causing him any distress now. (It got infected earlier, and he was not very happy for a while, poor thing.) He's had the cone off for the last couple of days, which means he can scratch to his little doggy heart's content and use the doggy door again. So no more leaving the back door open and getting bugs inside, or closing it and having to clean up puddles on the floor - although he's always very good about picking somewhere tiled that can easily be mopped. He gets the last of his antibiotics tomorrow, and not a moment too soon; the poor beast rolls on his back and shows me his tummy every time I approach pill in hand.
We had him shaved last weekend, which made him look a bit less freakish - before that he had long hair on most of his body, short where the vet had shaved him for surgery. Now it's even all over again. The old scars on his side still show; between those and the ear, he's starting to look like a doggy version of Chopper Read, although more lovable. I'm glad to see him on the mend.
Had some disappointing but not particularly unexpected family-related news, which I'll have to mull over a while.