Australia - Allison Baden-Clay, 43, Brisbane QLD, 19 April 2012 - #12

[Watsonian Institute]

In a earlier thread, someone (perhaps factfinda?) mentioned a media law expert's take on the publication of details of cases such as this in both professional media and forums like this one. From memory, I think it was in the context of a longer discussion regarding defamation.

I have been thinking about this and wonder if the media's handling of the reporting of this investigation could also have anything to do with the fallout from the Finkelstein Report earlier this year. Not as a direct result, but as a broader approach to the way they handle news. Given the media has been *very* straight in their reporting of this case, I wondered whether, other than their usual practices of being accurate and needing to keep their contacts intact, perhaps there was also some discussion in media management about the ramifications of looser reporting, since the ink hasn't really dried on the Finkelstein Report.

I'm not suggesting individual reporters are gun-shy or quaking in their boots on the tail of this report (far from it), but that, overall, the media might be considering their approach in stories such as this. I find it fascinating that no one in the media has done the bolt yet.

Not quoting myself ; just posting a link to the report for those who might be interested. http://www.dbcde.gov.au/digital_economy/independent_media_inquiry
You also might be interested in the media's reaction to it (which I'm pondering, as per my post above).

Here is News Ltd: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/med...ias-great-divide/story-e6frg996-1226295437607

Here is Fairfax: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/finkelstein-gets-a-bad-press-20120313-1uyac.html

Would love to know what others might think in relation to this particular case.

 

[dork_whisperer]

I just read on another forum where they are naming a pregnant "mistress" connected with GBC.
A social page is also making unsubstantiated remarks.
Can someone please educate me about the defamation actions that can possibly come from forums like this? I have no idea how to find that information for myself.

If it's true, that would rate as a final straw to break a camel's back... Certainly might send a woman storming off into the night, phone in hand to spill the dirty baden-clay beans.

As my wise nanna would say "if one woman isn't enough, a hundred isn't too many" so I wouldn't be at all surprised. Makes one wonder now who and what on earth the spray painted "SHE'S....." on the footpath was referring to.

The police would have to query what that was about and who dun it...surely?

 

[Schmickthespy]

Well, if NBC IS an accomplice and EBC knows this, that just might explain that infamous KISS that got (almost) everyone on this forum so worked up! "I still love you darlin, no matter what you done - and, by god, no-one's gonna take you away from me - no-ne!"

I was thinking that there had to an ulterior motive to the very public kiss but not sure what......

 

[linette]

If it's true, that would rate as a final straw to break a camel's back... Certainly might send a woman storming off into the night, phone in hand to spill the dirty baden-clay beans.

As my wise nanna would say "if one woman isn't enough, a hundred isn't too many" so I wouldn't be at all surprised. Makes one wonder now who and what on earth the spray painted "SHE'S....." on the footpath was referring to.

The police would have to query what that was about and who dun it...surely?

What was that about the SHE'S being spraypainted? What footpath? I have totally missed that.

 

[marlywings]

If it's true, that would rate as a final straw to break a camel's back... Certainly might send a woman storming off into the night, phone in hand to spill the dirty baden-clay beans.

As my wise nanna would say "if one woman isn't enough, a hundred isn't too many" so I wouldn't be at all surprised. Makes one wonder now who and what on earth the spray painted "SHE'S....." on the footpath was referring to.

The police would have to query what that was about and who dun it...surely?

The "SHE" was brought up some time back on here...most were of the opinion that it's the daughter's first initials.

 

[marlywings]

What was that about the SHE'S? I have totally missed that.

In one of the photos of the Baden Clay's cars...there's an imprint in the cement/driveway/path which says "SHE"

 

[dork_whisperer]

There is no Department of Public Prosecutions in Qld. We have an Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions which is colloquially referred to as 'the DPP'. This is to distinguish it from a typical public sector department which conducts its business acording to government policy. The decision to prosecute needs to be independent from the whims of government. The Director prosecutes matters on behalf of the Crown, not government.

There will be a significantly large body of evidence in this matter which is unlikely to be made public any time soon. Some will almost certainly have been alluded to on the forum. Some things alluded to by local people would be very prejudicial to potential criminal defendants but not yet of adequate probative value to make public. Evidence can be excluded in court on the grounds that it is highly prejudicial but of low probative value. Sometimes police need to look for other sources of information to confirm or support existing evidence to establish that the existing evidence is probative.

I stand corrected about the "DPP". The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions it is.

The average peer (jury member) has no idea how much *IS* withheld from them because the truth is deemed too prejudicial. Australia has a Criminal Justice System = Justice for the Criminal. The victim is now just another item of evidence, those that love her just another witness in one-sided cross examination.

Stinks it does. PFFFFFT.

 

[Barram5]

If it's true, that would rate as a final straw to break a camel's back... Certainly might send a woman storming off into the night, phone in hand to spill the dirty baden-clay beans.

As my wise nanna would say "if one woman isn't enough, a hundred isn't too many" so I wouldn't be at all surprised. Makes one wonder now who and what on earth the spray painted "SHE'S....." on the footpath was referring to.

The police would have to query what that was about and who dun it...surely?

It was noted in earlier threads that it was the children's initials on the driveway and it is quite common

 

[marlywings]

Car photo with "SHE" in the cement...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...over-family-cars/story-e6freoof-1226338105411

The daughter's names are ...<modsnip>

 

[Karo]

If it's true, that would rate as a final straw to break a camel's back... Certainly might send a woman storming off into the night, phone in hand to spill the dirty baden-clay beans.

As my wise nanna would say "if one woman isn't enough, a hundred isn't too many" so I wouldn't be at all surprised. Makes one wonder now who and what on earth the spray painted "SHE'S....." on the footpath was referring to.

The police would have to query what that was about and who dun it...surely?

The S H E is the girl's initials, little girls drawing chalk marks on their footpath to define their home, maybe a birthday party?

 

[Karo]

I confidently say that as my patio is covered in children's initials written in chalk.

 

[Happymedium]

To keep things correct Allison left the hairdressers at 7pm

Hairdressers - left at 7pm
Met GBC for dinner afterwards.
Makes sense to me.
But...the clothing she was wearing doesn't fit in.
I doubt she would've worn those 'walking' clothes out to dinner.

 

[Happymedium]

I just read on another forum where they are naming a pregnant "mistress" connected with GBC.
A social page is also making unsubstantiated remarks.
Can someone please educate me about the defamation actions that can possibly come from forums like this? I have no idea how to find that information for myself.

I was sent a defamation notice for writing something in my status on the well known 'book' site...those who commented also were sent defamation notices.
The persons name wasn't even mentioned!!
It cost me $2000 in legal fees...UGH!

 

[Kimster]

I was sent a defamation notice for writing something in my status on the well known 'book' site...those who commented also were sent defamation notices.
The persons name wasn't even mentioned!!
It cost me $2000 in legal fees...UGH!

Thanks for your input. If you guys want to continue this discussion, post in the chit chat room. Cheers!

 

[Karo]

removed by me, sorry did not see Kimsters post before I did it.

 

[linette]

Hairdressers - left at 7pm
Met GBC for dinner afterwards.
Makes sense to me.
But...the clothing she was wearing doesn't fit in.
I doubt she would've worn those 'walking' clothes out to dinner.

May have got changed as soon as she walked through the door. That's what I'd do. haha

 

[Fuskier]

While we are all waiting for the slow wheels of justice...

I thought I'd post a few close up pics of the area where Allison was found again. I've been having a closer look and I think it's very possible someone could pull off the road into the bushes there and not be seen by passing cars. Not many cars would be going along Mt Crosby road in the middle of the night at any rate.

Did she float down that creek in the heavy rain? Or was it more likely (easier for the perp) that she was left where she was found..? Hopefully the autopsy will answer that. Whether we (us yearning for answers) will ever be privvy to the results is another question. If the person responsible pleads guilty, I doubt we will hear much at all unless the facts are released someday by Allison's family.

So we wait.

Once the police get their evidence together, the brief is handed over to the DPP. The DPP (dept of public prosecutions) ultimately decide what the criminal charge/s are based on what the cops give them. Only when the DPP are satisfied, will police get the go ahead to make an arrest. Not until then will the cops know what to charge him/her/them with.

Might be a long wait!!

DORK WHISPERER: That was a truly constructive post on this murder scene. Thank you. It is helpful to actually see these pictures and gain a more realistic view of the site involved. Plenty of places for a car to be concealed there. It shows how isolated the area is where they dumped Allison's body. How disrespectful to her to discard her like that. It also shows how close that creek is to the Brisbane river. Just as well she was found. Really appreciate your post.

HAWKINS: Thank you for another helpful and constructive contribution to this forum.

 

[SoSad]

Going out to a casual Thurs. night "let's get something to eat it's too late to cook" dinner with a partner you're clearly not in love with after a hairdresser's appointment hardly warrants wearing anything more flash than what she had on.

This would particularly be the case if she was simply there for her regular cut & colour (a woman of her age & based on her photos clearly had a regular colour) as you never wear anything that you don't want to get dribbles of stray colour on no matter how well the cape is applied. Furthermore, I do not believe she would've been the type to get her hair washed, styled, blowdried & "set" just for a little Pathways conference, or for any outing for that matter, she was more than capable of "doing" her own hair based on her history of having to pay so much attention to it in work/recreation and, even more so if money was as tight as is alleged.

So, regular cut, colour touch-up of grey roots, out for a casual dinner with the bloke you wish you weren't lumbered with due to his infidelities - why go to any trouble?

 

[spratsmum]

The longer this goes on the less inclined I am to believe that GBC is the murderer. This website has bought up so many credible alternatives that they have started me thinking, but most telling for me is the time it is taking to charge anyone and the lack of news from the QPS.

The autopsy results must be back by now, yet nothing has been released to the public, making me think that there is something in those results which will lead to or trap the murderer. Also those on this site who think he is guilty can point to many reasons why, if we can do that, then the police surely have more evidence and much more to go on then we do, so if it seems so easy for us, why have the police not acted.

It has been said before and will be said again, there is either a vital piece of information that is being withheld from the public or the police are stumped on some evidence and it makes them question there findings.

Can someone ask an ex detective friend where we should be looking or what we are missing. I am certain there is something that we are dismissing too easily.

thanks for the postings about NBC, I wonder if the number plate was a gift to him from his grandchildren?

 

[Indromum]

THANK YOU HELOISE!!
If you look at the OP results for Queensland Schools, some of the State High schools are right up there. I was comparing schools a couple of years ago and a school (I won't name) had half the facilities of a State School, was ranked almost 40 on the OP school list. YET the uniform was pretty, porsches and bmw's dropped the kids off and all the little girls did ballet (whether they liked it or not). My guess is ballet is good for deportment purposes, poise etc.. In other words snobbery. In my opinion, in Brisbane, private schools are very much a status thing. I do think Status was important to Allison and Gerard.

Really unimportant in the scheme of things IMO