Australia Australia - Two Female Backpackers attacked at Salt Creek, SA, 9 Feb 2016

[PrimeSuspect]

Good morning everyone. The court coverage is all over the place because I just discovered that XX of the Brazilian started yesterday.

Kim Robertson @KimRobertson_9 · 18h18 hours ago
Accused man's lawyer suggests to Brazilian woman she took her own bikini off at the campsite. She denies it #SaltCreek @9NewsAdel

Kim Robertson @KimRobertson_9 · 18h18 hours ago
Lawyer: "I suggest to you at some stage you lost your temper with (accused man) and you ran off into the sand dunes" @9NewsAdel

Kim Robertson @KimRobertson_9 · 18h18 hours ago
Lawyer: "I suggest he didn't push you to the ground and punch you. I suggest there was no knife & nothing like this happened" @9NewsAdel

Kim Robertson‏ @KimRobertson_9 · 18h18 hours ago
Lawyer: "He did not start licking you and kissing you like you've described." @9NewsAdel #SaltCreek

The first thing that immediately jumps out is that none of the above can be corroborated. He cut her bikini bottom off. Why would she cut them off when she could simply untie the sides. The Brazilian was hospitalised. Is the defence going to suggest that she injured herself too and then ran onto the roadside, hysterical, because it would be good theatre. Just sickening.

https://twitter.com/KimRobertson_9?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Just reading this raised my blood pressure, the gall of this defence lawyer! I know he has a job to do but his suggestions are over the top and not reality based. His whole defence is 'good theatre', putting on a 'show'! The Brazilian lost her temper?!!
What the girls went through was a hellish nightmare and they SURVIVED! Now, to be insulted by this barrister is typical, he's throwing out absurd scenarios and hope one sticks. How low can they stoop, obviously pretty low! JMO

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 10m10 minutes ago
The German says she went to sleep and was woken, 1hr later, by the Brazilian's screams. She found her naked on her back, accused over her.

German: "She was naked. I thought 's--t, we are all alone on the beach, there's no one'."

German: "Then I got pretty angry and I took a few steps in their direction and shouted at him & said 'get away from her, leave her alone'."

German: "He came in my direction & said something strange to me, 'I just wanted to try her'. I didn't know what what was supposed to mean."

German says the Brazilian yelled "run away, run away, he's dangerous, you've got to get away".

The German ran for the car and her small bag, where she kept all her important possessions. Says the accused followed.

German: "I said 'stay there, I just want to get my bag' & he was like 'yeah, yeah, get your f--king bag'."

German: "My back was turned to him, I tried to grab my bag, then he came from behind and I got a pretty hard smash on the back of my head."

German: "It was like on a boat, it felt like I was drunk when I got a hard smash."

German: "I thought 'that's it, that's the end' and I saw myself already buried in the sand.

German: "I was thinking of my parents, that they would never see me again."

 

[JudgeJudi]

A few tweets from

Kim Robertson @KimRobertson_9 · 18m18 minutes ago
German: "But then I got angry, I shouted at (accused man), "Get away from her, leave her alone" @9NewsAdel #SaltCreek

German: "He let her go & came in my direction. He said something like, "I just wanted to try her"." #SaltCreek @9NewsAdel

Brazilian woman screamed at German to run away, warning her man was dangerous. German woman tried to grab her bag but was hit over head

Through tears, German describes thinking of her parents as she thought she was going to die @9NewsAdel #SaltCreek


This poor, poor girl. Just having to relive this nightmare must be horrendous.

On the subject of hammer vs. mallet - Small tents as shown in the pics are usually sold with a wooden mallet and are lightweight compared to a hammer. Small dents are caused to the head of the mallet when hammering in the tent pegs. This is so it won't damage the tent peg. A hammer on the other hand is heavy, has a small metal striking head and would easily smash a person's head.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 4s
German says she was wobbly and feared she would fall unconscious, but did not. She ran to, and freed, the Brazilian.

German: "Something was dripping in my left eye and I wiped it away and I saw it was blood."

Before freeing the Brazilian, German says she fought with the accused over the hammer and may have hit him in the head as well.

German: "We were both pretty distressed and we were thinking about how to get away. It was only about that - how to get away.”

German: "I ran to the left... I thought 'okay, he cannot follow us, we are in the dunes, we're safe, it's too hilly'.”

German: "But then he went into the dunes with the car... he was coming toward me."

 

[MsAnais]

Thank you, thank you, thank you Judge Judi!! All of your posting is just SO appreciated :loveyou:

And the defence's argument is just appalling....dangerously close to 'blame the victim' in rape cases :facepalm:

It's a preposterous argument that he's presenting imo. Clutching at straws.

(As if RH innocently went for a stroll to look for kangaroos with a knife, some rope and a hammer secreted away in his clothing.....yep, sure......:gaah

 

[MsAnais]

It's just so chilling reading the women's testimony. Terrifying.

They are amazing women to have survived.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 23s
German: "I was thinking 'I have to run away' but I was also thinking that 'I'm not fast enough'. I tried to run as fast as I could.

"The car was coming, closer and closer. I thought 's--t, what am I going to do, where can I run?'."

German says shd had nowhere to hide. "There was nothing, no trees, only tiny bushes. There was nothing - only sand."

"He got closer and closer. He bumped into me, my back, with the bullbar. I pretty much flew away."

"I didn't feel any pain so I knew I had to get up immediately and start running away again."

German says she had no orientation, "running away was my only thought", as accused chased her in his car. She lost a shoe.

"He chased me and he bumped into me again a couple of times. I always flew and I always got up again."

German believes the accused wanted to drive "pretty fast" at her, based on sound of 4WD's engine, but the sand slowed him down.

German remembers being hit with the car 3 or 4 times. One time she fell and it drove over her, wheels to either side of her body.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 40s
"I thought 'I cannot run away anymore, I have to do something'," so she faced the car and, as it drove at her, jumped on its bonnet.

[OMG, this girl is so brave. In my wildest dreams I can’t imagine doing this]

German says she held on to an antennae at first and then climbed onto the roof, while the accused kept driving over the dunes.

German: "I felt pretty weak but also full of adrenaline, so I could feel no pain. He shouted at me 'get off my f--king roof' 10 times."

German says she "demanded" to be taken back to the track and the roadhouse. "I was shouting, I was pretty angry as well."

German says the accused got out and tried to attack her with the hammer again. She responded by "trying to kick in his face".

She says they also fought over the shovel on the roof of the 4WD but neither could get it, as it was screwed down.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 13s
German says the man drove off over the dunes again as she clung to the roof, still bleeding. "It felt like a rodeo."

German says the accused "calmed down", became "nervous", when the 4WD bogged. Asked her for the shovel, she was suspicious.

Agreeing to give him the shovel was "some sort of strategy", she says, to keep him calm and get back to help.

German "was pretending he had not done anything bad to me" to talk accused down, keep him calm, and survive.

She demanded he throw away his hammers and knife. He agreed, gave her a blanket because she was cold and wet with blood.

German says the man felt it "ridiculous" she was on the roof, refused to go any further unless she got down. "He was definite about it."

She agreed - so long as the passenger door stayed open. Before she sat down, he covered seat with a blanket.

"He offered me some kind of Panadol but I refused. I was suspicious, I thought it might be some kind of drug he wants to give me."

 

[MsAnais]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 13s
German says the man drove off over the dunes again as she clung to the roof, still bleeding. "It felt like a rodeo."

German says the accused "calmed down", became "nervous", when the 4WD bogged. Asked her for the shovel, she was suspicious.

Agreeing to give him the shovel was "some sort of strategy", she says, to keep him calm and get back to help.

German "was pretending he had not done anything bad to me" to talk accused down, keep him calm, and survive.

She demanded he throw away his hammers and knife. He agreed, gave her a blanket because she was cold and wet with blood.

German says the man felt it "ridiculous" she was on the roof, refused to go any further unless she got down. "He was definite about it."

She agreed - so long as the passenger door stayed open. Before she sat down, he covered seat with a blanket.

"He offered me some kind of Panadol but I refused. I was suspicious, I thought it might be some kind of drug he wants to give me."

BBM

She is amazing to have been so level-headed under the circumstances.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 2m
Driving back to #SaltCreek's entrance, they saw fishermen. German says accused told her "be quiet, don't say a word".

She ignored him and screamed for help. He drove past them at speed, turned back into the dunes and stopped as if "confused".

German wanted an ambulance, and for the fishermen to take her to it. She says accused insisted he would do that.

German: "I said 'I cannot trust you, you tried to kill me'. He said 'I owe it to you'. I said 'do you feel guilty?' and he said 'yes'."

German says the accused asked, in her own language, that she stay with him. She left, taking her and the Brazilian's possessions.

German says she walked toward the fishermen but they moved slowly, "like they did not want to come toward me for some reason".

German: "They were shouting something toward me like 'run, run, what are you doing?'. They seemed to be very scared."

She says the fishermen were "in shock when they saw me". DPP has alleged that was because she was covered head to toe in blood.

German says she was grateful to get her hat back from SA Police. The slogan on it reads: "Stay Strong".

The #SaltCreek trial resumes at 2.15pm. Check out our coverage now on @theTiser

 

[JudgeJudi]

When we have breaks I’ll try and include a few tweets from Kim Robertson that are in addition to those of Sean Fewster.

Kim Robertson‏Verified account @KimRobertson_9 1h1 hour ago
German: "One time I didn't stand up quick enough, so he drove over me. I could see the (bottom) of the car" @9NewsAdel

German woman was at this stage bleeding profusely: "I felt pretty weak but also full of adrenalin so I couldn't feel any pain." @9NewsAdel

German: "I was bleeding the whole time. It was dripping on the roof the whole time."

"He threw away a knife and two hammers. One after the other. He threw them a long way away into the bushes somewhere. So they were gone."

German woman said she grabbed both backpacks & ran but couldn't carry them so left them in the sand before running to group of fishermen.

 

[tlorik]

I would suggest the defense counsel listen to the playback and realize how ridiculous he sounds.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[JudgeJudi]

I hear what you’re saying but you have to remember that the defendant has the right to a fair trial, and that includes being represented by counsel. IMO he would have advised his client to plead guilty. If he did, he would probably have his sentenced reduced somewhat. It’s soooooo obvious that his counsel believes his client is guilty. He has nothing to work with at all to support his client’s plea of not guilty. I’ve never heard of such a short XX in my entire life and this will be the reason why. There simply is no defence.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 15m
Defence counsel Bill Boucaut SC has begun cross-examining the German alleged victim.

Nothing further since this tweet. Would love to know what's going on.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 15m
German concedes she was concerned when the Brazilian changed into a bikini upon their arrival at #SaltCreek.

"I had already started to worry on the beach because (the accused) did not talk a lot to us and he was acting strange."

"(The Brazilian) changed into the bikini and I got concerned."

"I thought that it's not a good idea to walk around in a bikini with an older man."

Boucaut asks if the German saw the Brazilian "walking around without any clothes on" before she went to sleep.

German: "No, she was still wearing her bikini."

[The blame the victim game starts. It sounds like he's suggesting she was asking for it.]

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 4s
Boucaut: "I suggest to you he never hit you with a hammer - or anything, for that matter." German: "That's wrong."

German says she was hit with a "very specific"-looking carpenter's hammer that was silver with a wooden handle.

Shown evidence photos of a blue-handled carpenter's hammer and a mallet, she says neither of them was used in the attack.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 1m
Boucaut suggests the attack never happened. Suggests Brazilian ran off, German wanted accused to "drive off" to look for her.

German: "No, I disagree. No. It was not like that."

Boucaut suggests German got in the car and joined the accused in looking for the Brazilian but could not find her. German: "No, I disagree."

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 49s
Boucaut suggests being driven over "just didn't happen". German offers to find the spot it occurred on the evidence photos.

Boucaut suggests German asked to climb onto the roof to look for Brazilian. "No," she replies. "I disagree."

German: "He drove pretty roughly, like a madman, through all the bushes even though it would destroy his car. It was quite wild."

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 23s
Boucaut: "I suggest to you that you were on the roof of the car, he was driving over the sand dunes & you were looking for the Brazilian."

Boucaut: "Up to that stage, you had no injuries at all."

Boucaut: "At some stage, he went over a sand dune, came to an abrupt halt and you flew off the roof."

[This implies that she sustained her injuries after being thrown from the roof of the 4WD. Dripping in blood, she then climbed back onto the roof because blood is found there. This is beyond preposterous.]

German: "I disagree." Further disagrees she fell off the roof at any stage and hurt herself that way.

Boucaut asks how German could possibly have taken the hammer from the accused, even briefly, and struck him.

German: "I was full of adrenaline. I did not want to die."