Post by Chips on Jan 14, 2009 8:41:03 GMT 9.5
'Sexual slave' to face kill trial
Chris Johnston | January 14, 2009
A YOUNG woman accused of murdering her stepfather did it to free herself from a life of horrendous sexual slavery, a court heard yesterday.
'Sexual slave' to face kill trial
Chris Johnston | January 14, 2009
A YOUNG woman accused of murdering her stepfather did it to free herself from a life of horrendous sexual slavery, a court heard yesterday.
The woman, from Mooroopna, near Shepparton, has been ordered to stand trial for murder after two days of sometimes harrowing evidence about the years of sexual abuse that preceded the gruesome killing of her stepfather.
The woman, who is out on bail, has entered a plea of not guilty.
The pre-trial committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates Court heard that her stepfather sexually abused her ? sometimes daily ? from when she was 14 for four years. Almost 10,000 images of sexual intercourse and sex acts, taken by the man on a digital camera, were found by police on discs and memory sticks after her arrest.
The court heard the woman shot her stepfather, 34, in the back of the head with his shotgun after he forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex in his Mooroopna shed in March last year. The court heard the two had sexual intercourse inside the house an hour earlier.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Gray, of the homicide squad, said the woman had told police "she would not have to do it again if he was not there".
The next morning, according to a police interview, she cut off his arms, legs and head with a hand-saw. She then buried the torso in the garden, put the limbs and head in white plastic rubbish bags and took them to a camping ground 16 kilometres away. She threw the limbs down two long-drop toilets and hid the head in the bush.
She told police she had to do what her stepfather had ordered when he was alive because "I was his". Asked what would have happened if she had not shot him, she said: "I probably would have killed myself ? 'cos I couldn't live the way I was."
The Age understands that prominent barrister Robert Richter, QC, will defend the woman free of charge at her trial, partly because of the case's possible relevance to Victoria's new defensive homicide laws. The laws, legal experts said, could increase her chances of being acquitted on the grounds that she was defending herself.
Her lawyer, Peter Chadwick, said in court yesterday she suffered "continual, entrenched and ongoing" sexual abuse and "consistent" threats to her life over the four years. There was "no doubt" about the seriousness of the abuse because it was "videoed and photographed and was clear for all to see".
The photographs depicted oral and vaginal sex, the court heard. One showed the girl bound to a chair with cable ties.
During the committal hearing, the court heard that several people strongly suspected the teenager's relationship with her stepfather was sexual. Her mother ? who was living in the Mooroopna house with the pair but working night shifts at the SPC Ardmona cannery ? accused him of "f---ing" her daughter but he dismissed it.
Two former schoolfriends of the woman from Mooroopna Secondary College said they had spoken with a teacher and a school counsellor about their suspicions, but to their knowledge no action was taken.
With the committal of the woman yesterday to stand trial, it may be more than a year before her case comes before the Supreme Court.
A number of legal defences are available to her, despite the former defence of provocation no longer existing in Victoria.
The provocation defence was often used by men to explain violent conduct after their partners taunted them, or were said to have been unfaithful.
The defence was banned in Victoria in 2005, but remains a factor for a judge to take into account when sentencing.
Queen's counsel David Grace said yesterday self-defence had been run successfully in murder trials on behalf of people who killed after suffering long-term abuse. In those cases, juries apparently accepted the behaviour was self-defence because it was the only way the abusive conduct could be stopped.
The law also allows jurors to hear evidence about family violence perpetrated on an accused person to show the context in which a homicide occurred.
Under the 2005 Victorian reforms, a new offence of defensive homicide ? carrying the same maximum penalty of 20 years' jail as manslaughter ? was created. The crime would apply to offenders who believed unreasonably they needed to kill to defend themselves or another person.
An accused person could be charged with defensive homicide, and it could also be an alternative verdict to murder.
With PETER GREGORY
The woman, from Mooroopna, near Shepparton, has been ordered to stand trial for murder after two days of sometimes harrowing evidence about the years of sexual abuse that preceded the gruesome killing of her stepfather.
The woman, who is out on bail, has entered a plea of not guilty.
The pre-trial committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates Court heard that her stepfather sexually abused her ? sometimes daily ? from when she was 14 for four years. Almost 10,000 images of sexual intercourse and sex acts, taken by the man on a digital camera, were found by police on discs and memory sticks after her arrest.
The court heard the woman shot her stepfather, 34, in the back of the head with his shotgun after he forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex in his Mooroopna shed in March last year. The court heard the two had sexual intercourse inside the house an hour earlier.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Gray, of the homicide squad, said the woman had told police "she would not have to do it again if he was not there".
The next morning, according to a police interview, she cut off his arms, legs and head with a hand-saw. She then buried the torso in the garden, put the limbs and head in white plastic rubbish bags and took them to a camping ground 16 kilometres away. She threw the limbs down two long-drop toilets and hid the head in the bush.
She told police she had to do what her stepfather had ordered when he was alive because "I was his". Asked what would have happened if she had not shot him, she said: "I probably would have killed myself ? 'cos I couldn't live the way I was."
The Age understands that prominent barrister Robert Richter, QC, will defend the woman free of charge at her trial, partly because of the case's possible relevance to Victoria's new defensive homicide laws. The laws, legal experts said, could increase her chances of being acquitted on the grounds that she was defending herself.
Her lawyer, Peter Chadwick, said in court yesterday she suffered "continual, entrenched and ongoing" sexual abuse and "consistent" threats to her life over the four years. There was "no doubt" about the seriousness of the abuse because it was "videoed and photographed and was clear for all to see".
The photographs depicted oral and vaginal sex, the court heard. One showed the girl bound to a chair with cable ties.
During the committal hearing, the court heard that several people strongly suspected the teenager's relationship with her stepfather was sexual. Her mother ? who was living in the Mooroopna house with the pair but working night shifts at the SPC Ardmona cannery ? accused him of "f---ing" her daughter but he dismissed it.
Two former schoolfriends of the woman from Mooroopna Secondary College said they had spoken with a teacher and a school counsellor about their suspicions, but to their knowledge no action was taken.
With the committal of the woman yesterday to stand trial, it may be more than a year before her case comes before the Supreme Court.
A number of legal defences are available to her, despite the former defence of provocation no longer existing in Victoria.
The provocation defence was often used by men to explain violent conduct after their partners taunted them, or were said to have been unfaithful.
The defence was banned in Victoria in 2005, but remains a factor for a judge to take into account when sentencing.
Queen's counsel David Grace said yesterday self-defence had been run successfully in murder trials on behalf of people who killed after suffering long-term abuse. In those cases, juries apparently accepted the behaviour was self-defence because it was the only way the abusive conduct could be stopped.
The law also allows jurors to hear evidence about family violence perpetrated on an accused person to show the context in which a homicide occurred.
Under the 2005 Victorian reforms, a new offence of defensive homicide ? carrying the same maximum penalty of 20 years' jail as manslaughter ? was created. The crime would apply to offenders who believed unreasonably they needed to kill to defend themselves or another person.
An accused person could be charged with defensive homicide, and it could also be an alternative verdict to murder.
With PETER GREGORY
Chris Johnston | January 14, 2009
A YOUNG woman accused of murdering her stepfather did it to free herself from a life of horrendous sexual slavery, a court heard yesterday.
'Sexual slave' to face kill trial
Chris Johnston | January 14, 2009
A YOUNG woman accused of murdering her stepfather did it to free herself from a life of horrendous sexual slavery, a court heard yesterday.
The woman, from Mooroopna, near Shepparton, has been ordered to stand trial for murder after two days of sometimes harrowing evidence about the years of sexual abuse that preceded the gruesome killing of her stepfather.
The woman, who is out on bail, has entered a plea of not guilty.
The pre-trial committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates Court heard that her stepfather sexually abused her ? sometimes daily ? from when she was 14 for four years. Almost 10,000 images of sexual intercourse and sex acts, taken by the man on a digital camera, were found by police on discs and memory sticks after her arrest.
The court heard the woman shot her stepfather, 34, in the back of the head with his shotgun after he forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex in his Mooroopna shed in March last year. The court heard the two had sexual intercourse inside the house an hour earlier.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Gray, of the homicide squad, said the woman had told police "she would not have to do it again if he was not there".
The next morning, according to a police interview, she cut off his arms, legs and head with a hand-saw. She then buried the torso in the garden, put the limbs and head in white plastic rubbish bags and took them to a camping ground 16 kilometres away. She threw the limbs down two long-drop toilets and hid the head in the bush.
She told police she had to do what her stepfather had ordered when he was alive because "I was his". Asked what would have happened if she had not shot him, she said: "I probably would have killed myself ? 'cos I couldn't live the way I was."
The Age understands that prominent barrister Robert Richter, QC, will defend the woman free of charge at her trial, partly because of the case's possible relevance to Victoria's new defensive homicide laws. The laws, legal experts said, could increase her chances of being acquitted on the grounds that she was defending herself.
Her lawyer, Peter Chadwick, said in court yesterday she suffered "continual, entrenched and ongoing" sexual abuse and "consistent" threats to her life over the four years. There was "no doubt" about the seriousness of the abuse because it was "videoed and photographed and was clear for all to see".
The photographs depicted oral and vaginal sex, the court heard. One showed the girl bound to a chair with cable ties.
During the committal hearing, the court heard that several people strongly suspected the teenager's relationship with her stepfather was sexual. Her mother ? who was living in the Mooroopna house with the pair but working night shifts at the SPC Ardmona cannery ? accused him of "f---ing" her daughter but he dismissed it.
Two former schoolfriends of the woman from Mooroopna Secondary College said they had spoken with a teacher and a school counsellor about their suspicions, but to their knowledge no action was taken.
With the committal of the woman yesterday to stand trial, it may be more than a year before her case comes before the Supreme Court.
A number of legal defences are available to her, despite the former defence of provocation no longer existing in Victoria.
The provocation defence was often used by men to explain violent conduct after their partners taunted them, or were said to have been unfaithful.
The defence was banned in Victoria in 2005, but remains a factor for a judge to take into account when sentencing.
Queen's counsel David Grace said yesterday self-defence had been run successfully in murder trials on behalf of people who killed after suffering long-term abuse. In those cases, juries apparently accepted the behaviour was self-defence because it was the only way the abusive conduct could be stopped.
The law also allows jurors to hear evidence about family violence perpetrated on an accused person to show the context in which a homicide occurred.
Under the 2005 Victorian reforms, a new offence of defensive homicide ? carrying the same maximum penalty of 20 years' jail as manslaughter ? was created. The crime would apply to offenders who believed unreasonably they needed to kill to defend themselves or another person.
An accused person could be charged with defensive homicide, and it could also be an alternative verdict to murder.
With PETER GREGORY
The woman, from Mooroopna, near Shepparton, has been ordered to stand trial for murder after two days of sometimes harrowing evidence about the years of sexual abuse that preceded the gruesome killing of her stepfather.
The woman, who is out on bail, has entered a plea of not guilty.
The pre-trial committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates Court heard that her stepfather sexually abused her ? sometimes daily ? from when she was 14 for four years. Almost 10,000 images of sexual intercourse and sex acts, taken by the man on a digital camera, were found by police on discs and memory sticks after her arrest.
The court heard the woman shot her stepfather, 34, in the back of the head with his shotgun after he forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex in his Mooroopna shed in March last year. The court heard the two had sexual intercourse inside the house an hour earlier.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Gray, of the homicide squad, said the woman had told police "she would not have to do it again if he was not there".
The next morning, according to a police interview, she cut off his arms, legs and head with a hand-saw. She then buried the torso in the garden, put the limbs and head in white plastic rubbish bags and took them to a camping ground 16 kilometres away. She threw the limbs down two long-drop toilets and hid the head in the bush.
She told police she had to do what her stepfather had ordered when he was alive because "I was his". Asked what would have happened if she had not shot him, she said: "I probably would have killed myself ? 'cos I couldn't live the way I was."
The Age understands that prominent barrister Robert Richter, QC, will defend the woman free of charge at her trial, partly because of the case's possible relevance to Victoria's new defensive homicide laws. The laws, legal experts said, could increase her chances of being acquitted on the grounds that she was defending herself.
Her lawyer, Peter Chadwick, said in court yesterday she suffered "continual, entrenched and ongoing" sexual abuse and "consistent" threats to her life over the four years. There was "no doubt" about the seriousness of the abuse because it was "videoed and photographed and was clear for all to see".
The photographs depicted oral and vaginal sex, the court heard. One showed the girl bound to a chair with cable ties.
During the committal hearing, the court heard that several people strongly suspected the teenager's relationship with her stepfather was sexual. Her mother ? who was living in the Mooroopna house with the pair but working night shifts at the SPC Ardmona cannery ? accused him of "f---ing" her daughter but he dismissed it.
Two former schoolfriends of the woman from Mooroopna Secondary College said they had spoken with a teacher and a school counsellor about their suspicions, but to their knowledge no action was taken.
With the committal of the woman yesterday to stand trial, it may be more than a year before her case comes before the Supreme Court.
A number of legal defences are available to her, despite the former defence of provocation no longer existing in Victoria.
The provocation defence was often used by men to explain violent conduct after their partners taunted them, or were said to have been unfaithful.
The defence was banned in Victoria in 2005, but remains a factor for a judge to take into account when sentencing.
Queen's counsel David Grace said yesterday self-defence had been run successfully in murder trials on behalf of people who killed after suffering long-term abuse. In those cases, juries apparently accepted the behaviour was self-defence because it was the only way the abusive conduct could be stopped.
The law also allows jurors to hear evidence about family violence perpetrated on an accused person to show the context in which a homicide occurred.
Under the 2005 Victorian reforms, a new offence of defensive homicide ? carrying the same maximum penalty of 20 years' jail as manslaughter ? was created. The crime would apply to offenders who believed unreasonably they needed to kill to defend themselves or another person.
An accused person could be charged with defensive homicide, and it could also be an alternative verdict to murder.
With PETER GREGORY
