GUILTY Australia - Lisa Harnum, 30, killed in 15-story fall, Sydney, 30 July 2011 #4

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-...enced-to-18-years-for-fiancees-murder/5251168

Simon Gittany sentenced to at least 18 years for fiancée Lisa Harnum's murder
By court reporters Jamelle Wells and Karl Hoerr
Updated 30 minutes ago

It is reported that Justice McCallum stated:

"Every single character witness is either ignorant of or blinkered to the fact that Mr Gittany is capable of the extreme violence he exhibited towards the policeman.

"The starkest illustration of that blinkered approach comes from Mr Gittany's current girlfriend, Ms Rachelle Louise."

Solid reporting in this article IMO.
 
Next: go after the brother for tampering with evidence ie stealing the hard drive from the ceiling.
 
Heard the news on the radio coming home .... woo hoooooooooooo!!!!

I heard that someone from his family called out something about "with god's will he won't serve any of that" and some other person in the public gallery called out "now to throw you off a balcony".

Going back to read the pages of your fabulous tweets now. :loveyou:
 
TK8895 said:
Next: go after the brother for tampering with evidence ie stealing the hard drive from the ceiling.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. I was going to comment on that same factor: this family appear to have aided the murderer by ensuring that the computer hard drive went missing.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/simon-git...s-for-killing-lisa-harnum-20140211-32dqy.html

"...When police arrived at the murder scene on the corner of Liverpool and Elizabeth streets, they found a torn-up note in the woman's jeans pocket with the words "there are surveillance cameras inside and outside the house" scrawled in her distinctive handwriting.
This was a reference to the near-constant surveillance Gittany kept his girlfriend under, including monitoring her text messages through a program he had secretly installed on her phone and a bristle of CCTV cameras monitoring the apartment..."

To assist with covering up a murder by removing evidence to enable the murderer to "get away with it" seems anti-social as well. Sickening. Appears this murderer could do no wrong! They'll gang up against the system.

Think Justice McCallum judged this well IMHO.
 
Now that SG has gone away the attention will turn to the 2nd instalment of the Sunday Night story. If the promo is to be believed then we are in for some doubt to be cast on the sentence just handed down. I suspect the 2 areas they will concentrate on are the ability of SG to physically throw LH off the balcony and also the absence of fingerprints.

I have read large slabs of the judgement but was looking for some more knowledgeable people to answer some of the questions;

1) Could SG physically throw LH off the balcony? As I understand it LH was 1.78cm and 50kg but not sure about SG? In the photos he looks a bit less than LH, maybe 168cm?? We know from the photos that he could lift her weight but could he actually get it over the 1.15m high balcony? This is the line being run by RL but I have tried to test it myself around the house and formed a view that it could be done but with a bit of effort (not taking into account SG was a gym junkie also). I cannot see anywhere in the judgement where this issue was raised. It does not even appear to have been raised as a possible defence, which perhaps shows what they thought of RL opinion. Does anyone with a greater knowledge of the case know if this was even an issue or whether it was accepted by both sides that he physically could perform the act??

2) The lack of LH fingerprints on the railing which would appear to have been an excellent surface on which prints would have been left (glass). The line is run that the lack of fingerprints does not mean that the balustrade wasn't touched by LH...which I guess is obviously true as nothing is 100% certain. However, I have tried to hurdle a 1.15m high railing (with the other side being at 1.5m) and there is no way that you wouldn't have your hands all over the glass. It is almost impossible for someone who is not trying to leave prints. For someone who is trying to escape over the railing and not kill themselves, they would hang to the railing like glue. There was no comment in the judgement about the "likelihood" of leaving prints, just that it is possible not to....however I would have presumed that given the circumstances it was highly likely that prints would have been left, but not sure what the % chance would have been? Surely it must have been very high considering that SG prints were also found.......does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
 
SouthAussie said:
Heard the news on the radio coming home .... woo hoooooooooooo!!!!

I heard that someone from his family called out something about "with god's will he won't serve any of that" and some other person in the public gallery called out "now to throw you off a balcony".

Going back to read the pages of your fabulous tweets now. :loveyou:
Click to expand...



http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/simon-git...s-for-killing-lisa-harnum-20140211-32dqy.html

Simon Gittany jailed for 18 years for killing Lisa Harnum
February 11, 2014 - 1:31PM by Emma Partridge, Paul Bibby

"...After Justice Judy McCallum handed down the sentence in the NSW Supreme Court today, one of Gittany's sisters stood up and declared: "In the name of Jesus Christ, he won't be doing any of that time." She was removed from the courtroom.
A woman in the public balcony shouted as Gittany was being taken down: "Off the balcony you go!..."
 
jimbob said:
1) Could SG physically throw LH off the balcony? (Snip)

2) The lack of LH fingerprints on the railing which would appear to have been an excellent surface on which prints would have been left (glass)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Welcome!!!

In regards to the first question - there is a photo out there of SG throwing lisa over his shoulders with apparent ease. It wasn't a thing explored in detail at trial - but I don't really see it being a possible avenue of appeal either. He was physically significantly larger and stronger than she was.

Without inadvertently giving any assistance to what I perceive as a futile avenue of appeal, I will note that an unconscious body is exceptionally difficult to lift and move. Granted, most of my patients are closer to double Lisa's weight, but with no muscle tone at all, it's not the easiest task. Someone lightly sedated will still conform to your motions, but trying to get a sitting chest X-ray on a properly comatose patient is.... One of the things you need a nurses morbid sense of humour for.

With that said though, it is well documented that feats of extreme physical power are possible under emotional strain.

Which is why the action of unloading as opposed to being "thrown" seems chillingly accurate. And fits with the palm print and the push away motion.

All in all, I don't think the defence will try the "he couldn't lift her" angle, considering the widely circulated photograph of him doing just that.


2) fingerprint stuff is from paragraph 421 onwards in the judgement. It was concluded that the absence of any prints of Lisa's meant that she couldn't have done what was postulated by the defence - either in the leap or in climbing over in an attempt to escape (a possibility we did all consider too, which doesn't diminish SG's culpability in any way). This is also referenced in 495.


There were so many damning pieces of evidence classified as here say of circumstantial that Justice McCallum had to disregard for her findings. I don't think that anything that was included provides grounds for appeal. Same with the sentence - there is nothing "manifestly excessive" about it.
 
sleepinoz said:
Emma Partridge ‏@em_partridge 2m

Justice McCallum: Simon #Gittany and his girlfriend Rachelle Louise conducted their relationship in the public eye


TEN News Sydney ‏@TenNewsSydney 3m

#Gittany sentencing: Justice McCallum - suspects the similarity on Rachelle Louise's & Lisa Harnum's appearance is all they have in common.
Expand
Click to expand...

:judge: :slap: :clap:
 
jimbob said:
Now that SG has gone away the attention will turn to the 2nd instalment of the Sunday Night story. If the promo is to be believed then we are in for some doubt to be cast on the sentence just handed down...... does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

edited by me.

2 things.. the promo isn't to be believed, AND any doubt cast on the sentence by this program is irrelevant.
 
Mrs G Norris said:
18-26 .. well, not bad. Reactive depression eh? Feeling sorry for himself in there then.
Click to expand...

And GBC may just have tried this one on at his trial this year. He might want to think again. Sympathy gets you nowhere when you are accused of murder.

BreakingNews said:
Gerard Baden-Clay. Are you listening to this??? OW are you listening also???
Click to expand...

:floorlaugh:

Oh GBC, there there. He must be seeing his defence options slipping away. At least GBC is only a little bit hurt...
 
icu nurse said:
So in all seriousness - where the hell is RL?

If she is truly sequestered away somewhere by channel 7 (as the journalists rumors stated) - just how much money would you need to be paid to be away from your "innocent" partner on the most trying of days?

It would need to be a schapelle sized payment one would think.

She doesn't do her own PR any favours through today's no-show.

I know I shouldn't be curious. That it shouldn't even be a blip on the radar. But it's so thoroughly out of character (that is, to shy away from the spotlight) that it has me rather intrigued.

Will she still be in the same outfit as last week? Are channel 7 holding her hostage in a luxury hotel?
Click to expand...

Maybe she'll do a reality tv show where she lives like SG for the term of his sentence - you know, because she loves him so much :jail:
 
sleepinoz said:
Joan is also restricted, and paid. Good to know.

Deal with Seven silences Harnum's mother

Ms Harnum's mother, Joan, said she was ‘‘regrettably'' not able to express how she felt about Gittany's sentence because she had signed a television deal with Channel Seven.

She told Fairfax Media said she was unable to speak to any media after she has signed a contract forbidding her to talk for another seven to 10 days.

Channel Seven's Sunday Night has secured exclusive interviews with the Harnum family and Gittany's lover, meaning no one has spoken since the sentence was handed down.

Even Gittany's family remained silent as they walked from the Supreme Court complex at 11.40am.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/simon-git...lisa-harnum-20140211-32dqy.html#ixzz2syHPFfwe
Click to expand...

Where is Ch7 getting their money from!!!!! All these payments to criminals and their associates. Poor judgement, poor ethics, and poor financial management IMO.
 
Sleepinoz & icu_nurse....thankyou!!!...fantastic job with all the dancing tweets :)

In my opinion Justice Lucy McCallum absolutely nailed it with this....

Gittany sentencing: Justice McCallum - there is no prospect of rehabilitation in this case.
 
Strangeworld said:
Where is Ch7 getting their money from!!!!! All these payments to criminals and their associates. Poor judgement, poor ethics, and poor financial management IMO.
Click to expand...

Advertisers

Ideally, taking note of who is advertising with Channel 7 then boycotting those companies would put an end to this scourge of cheque book journalism. However, my experience of things is that it doesn't work. I complained to Optus for them advertising with the Kyle and Jacqui O show. It didn't last.
 
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