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CORONERS COURT OF
NEW SOUTH WALES
Inquest: Inquest into the death of Michelle Loraine BRIGHT
Hearing dates: 23 February to 6 March 2009
Date of findings: 6 March 2009
Place of findings: Gulgong
Findings of: Deputy State Coroner M. MacPherson
Findings: I find that Michelle Loraine BRIGHT died on 27 February 1999 as a result of a homicide but the actual cause of death the evidence adduced does not enable me to say.
Recommendations: I recommend that the Police Commissioner offer a $500,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of a person in relation to Michelle’s death
File number: 417/99
Representation: Peter Hamill SC counsel assisting instructed by Robert Ranken and Kirsten Edwards of the Crown Solicitors Office; Geoffrey Nicholson QC instructed by William Whitby solicitor appearing for Benjamin Howard by leave; Rod Foord of counsel instructed by Terry Venn Solicitor of Flynn Venn; appearing for Mark Hawkins by leave and Mr. Dalzell of counsel appearing for Phillip McLennan by leave.
ROLE OF CORONER
1 My role as Coroner is to establish, if possible, the identity, the date of death, the place of death and the manner and cause of death. The formal finding will be recorded at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
2 An Inquest is an inquiry. It is not a criminal or civil trial in which two opposing parties engage in legal combat. It is not the role of the Coroner to attribute fault or make findings in relation to negligence or breach of duty of care. In fact a Coroner is prohibited from indicating in his/her formal findings that any known person has committed an offence.
3 There is no doubt that a Coroners role has been clearly identified as being one that places a responsibility on the Coroner to protect the interests of the deceased, however, concepts of justice are limited to the responsibility the Coroner has to ensure that the evidence is examined with a view of determining whether any person has committed an indictable offence in relation to the death. It is not the role of the Coroner to determine whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence in relation to the death, but to examine the evidence and then apply the law as set out in Section 19 of the Coroners Act, 1980.
4 I say this for the benefit of the family of Michelle and members of the public who may not be familiar with the role of a Coroner or the nature of a Coronial Inquest.
FINDINGS
5 At about 3.30pm on 2 March 1999 the body of Michelle Loraine Bright a 17-year-old schoolgirl was discovered laying face down in long grass beside Barney’s Reef Road Gulgong. Since that day a black cloud has been hanging over the township of Gulgong and will continue to do so because sadly there is insufficient evidence to satisfy a jury that any known person has committed an indictable offence in relation to the death of Michelle. As a result I will only make limited findings.
6 There is no doubt that the body that was found on the 2 March 1999 was that of Michelle. There were a number of items of clothing similar to the clothes she was wearing the previous evening, her hand bag was found nearby with personal items belonging to her inside and finally DNA evidence from the body was consistent with Michelle’s Guthrie card.
7 This does not mean that the investigation into Michelle’s death is now finalised. As Detective Inspector Payne said in answer to a question from Counsel Assisting, Peter Hamill SC, the investigation will continue. In fact I intend to forward the comprehensive brief of evidence that has been complied by Inspector Payne and Sgt. Whiteside and transcripts of the oral evidence given, to the Cold Case Division of the Homicide Squad.
8 Further, whilst the person responsible for Michelle’s death is unknown, that person should know that Police still have forensic material available for testing when science has advanced to the stage that a complete profile can be obtained and the results from that testing can be compared to the DNA that has been provided by the various individuals during the investigation.
9 The advance in DNA profiling could provide an answer within months, or years, we just do not know.
MANNER AND CAUSE OF DEATH
10 It must be clear from my opening comments that I am satisfied that Michelle was murdered by an unknown person.
11 I have arrived at that conclusion as a result of a combination of the evidence of Doctor Paul Botterill, the Forensic Pathologist who conducted the post mortem examination of the body, and Detective Inspector David Payne.
12 Doctor Botterill said to the Inquest that the reason he found that the direct cause of death was, “HOMICIDAL VIOLENCE OF UNDERTERMINED AETIOLOGY” (See Exhibit 1) was because of the injuries he observed coupled with the state the body was found in, particularly the state of Michelle’s bra with a piece that was missing and found near her body that had clearly been both cut and torn. He told the Inquest that it was difficult to determine the cause of death because of the state of decomposition.
13 Doctor Botterill said that it was possible that the actual mechanism of death was either suffocation where a person would place a hand over the mouth and nose of a victim or strangulation with a broad ligature, such as a scarf. Both those methods, he said, would be difficult to determine even where there was no decomposition.
14 Detective Inspector David Payne was asked why he believed Michelle died at or near the place her body was found. He said the grass around where she was found was flattened. There was further flattened grass leading out from this area where Michelle’s jacket and handbag were found. Also a search found a button from Michelle’s jacket and a five-cent piece from her handbag. Finally there was vomit, which fitted Michelle’s profile.
15 Finally, the evidence from her former boyfriend Ross MacDonald, when asked by counsel assisting if he could assist the Inquest he said that there was no way that Michelle would walk home at night by herself and that she must have known her attacker because if it was not someone she knew she would have ‘fought like hell.’
16 A number of other theories were suggested as possibilities, which could not be characterised as a homicide, however little, or no evidence was produced to support those theories.
17 I am therefore satisfied that the manner of death was homicide even though the actual mechanism cannot be determined.
THE INVESTIGATION
18 This Inquest, some ten years after Michelle’s death traced her movements on the Friday night 26/2/99 and the early hours of Saturday 27/2/99 when she was last seen in Herbert Street. As it sometimes happens in small communities the rumours into who was responsible for Michelle’s death were many and continue today.
19 Unfortunately it meant that the Police investigating the teenager’s death were forced to run down every rumour and therefore wasted time and resources in doing so. One rumour in particular in relation to a yellow Holden car being seen near where Michelle’s body was eventually found, took a lot of Police resources. The witness who gave that evidence at Court for the first time told the Inquest that the vehicle was a Mitsubishi and brown in colour.
PERSONALITIES
20 Detective Inspector David Payne and Detective Sergeant Cameron Whiteside have both invested a great deal of time and effort into this investigation and the preparation of the brief of evidence. I said during the Inquest that their efforts have not gone unnoticed and should be recognized and I intend to write to the Local Area Commander and inform him of their dedication and professionalism.
21 I would like to thank my counsel assisting, Peter Hamill SC, and his considerable courtroom skills were there for all to see and admire ably assisted by Kirsten Edwards and Rob Ranken of the Crown Solicitors Office and one could not hope for a better team.
22 Don Mahoney of the Mudgee Guardian has attended every day of this Inquest. He has thoroughly and responsibly reported the evidence given in this very difficult Inquest and his efforts should be acknowledged. We know that reports such as his can lead to further relevant information being given to investigating police.
23 I have left mentioning the family of Michelle until last. Michelle’s family who have attended every day and listened intently to the evidence as it has been presented would have impressed any observer.
24 I am amazed at the quiet dignity and strength of character displayed Michelle’s mother Loraine as she was reminded daily of the sad circumstances of Michelle’s death.
25 What an impressive lady. Lorraine spoke on behalf of the family and friends of Michelle. She told us what sort of a person Michelle was. She told us that she had learnt things about her daughter that she had not previously known. She told us about Michelle’s dreams and aspirations and that her attitude to studying had changed that year. She told us what it meant not to have Michelle anymore. I was personally moved by her presentation.
FORMAL FINDING
26 I find that Michelle Loraine Bright died at Gulgong on 27 February 1999 from homicidal violence however the evidence does not allow me to determine the cause of her death.
27 I extend the courts sympathies and mine to the relatives of Michelle.
RECOMMENDATIONS
28 I endorse the recommendations made by Magistrate Culver in relation to the death of Rachael Childs which involved the unsolved homicide of a young person and further recommend that the Police Commissioner offer a reward of $500,000 for information leading to the conviction of a person for Michelle’s death. I do this on the basis that a reward had been offered in 2000 of $100,000 without any results.
M.MacPherson
Deputy State Coroner
6 March 2009
GULGONG.
