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Further information from the West.

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremo...ws-cloud-over-trial-start-date-ng-b881177802z

"The court was told the item was being analysed so that fibres from the piece of clothing could be compared with other fibres in evidence, and Ms Barbagallo foreshadowed a report may not be complete until mid to late June.

Justice Hall said he was concerned the new inquiries may jeopardise plans to start the nine-month trial – which has been billed as the biggest trial in WA history – on July 22."

"Defence lawyer Paul Yovich said Ms Barbagallo telephoned him about the piece of clothing on Wednesday, and received a preliminary report about the item yesterday.

He said the defence’s fibre expert estimated they would need eight to 12 weeks to consider the final report.

He said the defence fibre expert lived in the UK and may need to fly to Perth to view the item.

Asked by Justice Hall whether he had an extension of aid from Legal Aid to cover the cost, Mr Yovich “not yet” but said the organisation had been “very good about our requests”.

"Mr Edwards is due back in court on June 18 and 19 for a directions and case management hearing."
 
More from today:
Perth serial killer trial may be delayed
National
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Analysis of new evidence may delay the trial of accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards.



Analysis of "significant" new evidence could delay the trial for accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards.

At a monthly criminal case management hearing in the West Australian Supreme Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo revealed clothing had been obtained from a Telstra worker from the 1990s.


She said it was being analysed so fibres could be compared with others in evidence, but the report may not be ready until mid-to-late June.


"The potential of this evidence, we say, is quite significant," Ms Barbagallo said.




Asked whether the clothing was linked to Edwards, who worked for Telstra at the time, Ms Barbagallo said it was "utilised by technicians at that time".

But she said she had to be careful not to reveal too much to ensure she did not compromise what detectives were doing.

Edwards, 50, is charged with murdering Ciara Glennon, 27, Jane Rimmer, 23, and 18-year-old Sarah Spiers, who were all last seen in Claremont between 1996 and 1997.

He is also accused of attacking an 18-year-old woman at her Huntingdale home in 1988 and twice raping a 17-year-old girl at Karrakatta cemetery in 1995.

The nine-month trial, sitting without a jury, is scheduled to begin on July 22, but defence counsel Paul Yovich has foreshadowed that date is now unlikely.

He said his fibre expert would need about eight-to-12 weeks to review the final report.

Justice Stephen Hall has not changed the start date yet, but has flagged his concerns.

"This is going to potentially imperil the start of the trial," he said.

Ms Barbagallo said everyone working on the case was "acutely aware" of the urgency but did not want to make any errors.

She said police were continuing to pursue the case.

"The police are damned if they do and damned if they don't," she said.

Edwards is due back in court for a two-day hearing starting on June 18.

Outside court, Ms Spiers' father Don was asked if he was frustrated by the possible trial delay and said: "That's the process and that's to be accepted."


Perth serial killer trial may be delayed
 
https://thewest.com.au/news/claremo...easons-behind-judge-only-trial-ng-b881183837z

Claremont serial killings: Supreme Court Justice Michael Corboy reveals reasons behind judge-only trial
Tim ClarkeThe West Australian
Tuesday, 30 April 2019 2:11PM

Alleged Claremont Serial Killer case delays
0:27 | Sunrise

New evidence could delay the biggest trial in WA history.
could delay the beginning by months.

But whenever the trial starts, it will be not be before a jury, after a ruling made last year by Supreme Court Justice Michael Corboy.
Today, Justice Corboy released his written reasons for that decision.

And they detailed the four factors he considered before taking that step — pre-trial publicity, the length of the trial, the technical or complex nature of the expert evidence and the nature of the evidence to be adduced at trial.

That evidence, he said, was likely to include material prosecutors described as ‘particularly graphic and disturbing’.

1556606314835_GIG26I0US.1-1.jpg

Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.
“The State foreshadowed that it will seek to produce video and photographic evidence of the decomposed bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon in situ as well as visual material from their post mortem examinations,” Judge Corboy said.

“In most homicide trials, visual material of that kind is unnecessary to the case of either party.

“However, the State has identified a number of grounds upon which it contends that material of this type will be relevant to the prosecution of the charges of murder alleged against the respondent.

“It has not been necessary to review the material that the State proposes to present.

“I accept that the characterisation of the material as ‘particularly graphic and disturbing’ and ‘so upsetting to some jurors that they may be unable to objectively consider the relevance and significance of [what] these exhibits depict’ is accurate.”

Judge Corboy also said the “unprecedented” level of publicity surrounding the case, the estimated nine month trial duration, and fibre and DNA evidence of “particular complexity” all combined to make his decision.
 
https://www.watoday.com.au/national...d-not-be-heard-by-a-jury-20190430-p51ip0.html

Claremont serial killer case: Judge reveals reasons trial could not be heard by a jury
Heather McNeillApril 30, 2019 — 2.39pm
Concerns over 'graphic and disturbing' images, unprecedented publicity, and the complex nature of DNA and fibre evidence are among the reasons the accused Claremont serial killer's trial will be heard by a judge alone.

Bradley Robert Edwards, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Sarah Spiers, 18, Jane Rimmer, 23, and Ciara Glennon, 27, in 1996 and 1997.


CLAREMONT KILLER TRIAL
'How he did it': State outlines case against accused Claremont serial killer
The state was also concerned that, due to the circumstantial nature of the case against Mr Edwards, a jury may struggle to understand the complex nature of DNA and fibre evidence

<modsnip: It is a copyright violation to copy more than 10% of an article>
 
Last edited by a moderator:
'Graphic and disturbing' evidence is why jury won't rule on Claremont killings

Claremont serial killings trial won't feature a jury due to 'graphic and disturbing' evidence
By Charlotte Hamlyn
Updated 12 minutes ago

PHOTO: Bradley Edwards is accused of murdering three woman in Claremont. (Supplied: Central Crocs Football Club)
RELATED STORY: 'Significant' new evidence threatens to delay start of Claremont serial killer trial
RELATED STORY: 'Extreme' *advertiser censored*, explicit stories ruled out in case against alleged Claremont serial killer
RELATED STORY: How prosecutors will argue an awkward teen became the Claremont serial killer
The "particularly graphic and disturbing" evidence to be presented in the Claremont serial killings trial is one of the reasons why it will be heard by a judge alone, rather than a jury, a Supreme Court judge has ruled.

Key points:
  • The Claremont serial killer trial will be heard before a judge, not a jury
  • Evidence against Bradley Edwards will include videos of two decomposed bodies
  • "Unprecedented" pre-trial publicity also makes a jury trial unsuitable, the judge said


Bradley Edwards, 50, is accused of abducting and murdering 18-year-old Sarah Spiers in January 1996, 23-year-old Jane Rimmer five months later and 27-year-old Ciara Glennon in March 1997.

All three women disappeared from the popular Claremont entertainment strip in Perth's western suburbs.

Mr Edwards is also accused of sexually-motivated attacks on two other women in 1988 and 1995.

He denies all the charges against him and is due to stand trial in the Supreme Court in July.

Justice Michael Corboy last year ruled that it was "in the interests of justice" for the nine-month trial to be heard by a judge alone, saying he would deliver more detailed reasons at a later date.

PHOTO: WA Supreme Court Justice Michael Corboy ruled the Claremont serial killer trial should be heard by a judge alone. (ABC News)


Those reasons have now been published and include the length of the trial and the "extensive and pervasive" amount of pre-trial publicity.

"The events forming the Claremont series did not fade from public memory with the passage of time and they remained the subject of ongoing media and public attention and concern," Justice Corboy said in his reasons, adding that the publicity was "often speculative".

"Some preconceptions and speculations have been so widely and repeatedly disseminated through all the media forums over the many years since the Claremont series that there is a real risk that they have permeated the public consciousness in a way that cannot be adequately addressed by directions to a jury."

Graphic evidence could be 'upsetting to some jurors'
Justice Corboy also listed the nature of the evidence to be presented at the trial as one of the reasons why it was not suitable to be heard by a jury.

In particular, he referenced images of the bodies of the deceased women.

PHOTO: Bradley Edwards is accused of killing (from top) Sarah Spiers, Ciara Glennon and Jane Rimmer. (ABC News)


"The state foreshadowed that it will seek to produce video and photographic evidence of the decomposed bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon in situ, as well as visual material from their post mortem examinations," Justice Corboy said.

"I accept that the characterisation of the material as 'particularly graphic and disturbing' and 'so upsetting to some jurors that they may be unable to objectively consider the relevance and significance of [what] these exhibits depict' is accurate, having regard to the obligations owed by the prosecutor to the court in making this application."

Complexity of evidence cited
Justice Corboy's final reason was the technical or complex nature of expert evidence expected to be presented to the court.

The Claremont serial killings

Three young Perth women disappeared in the mid-1990s. Two decades later, a man faces court.


"The likely complexity of expert and forensic evidence to be presented in the trial reinforces the conclusion that the trial of charges alleged against the respondent should be by judge alone," Justice Corboy said.

At a hearing last week, the Judge presiding over the trial, Justice Stephen Hall, indicated that new evidence obtained by the prosecution in the Claremont case threatened to further delay the trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 22.
 
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/cl...idence-could-delay-trial-start-ng-b881220417z

Claremont Serial Killings: New evidence could delay trial start
Tim ClarkePerthNow
June 4, 2019 2:15PM
TOPICS
WA NewsCourts & Justice
Lawyers for alleged Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards, and the prosecutors who will accuse of him of WA’s most notorious murders, will argue later this week over whether the start of his trial should be delayed.

The trial of former Telstra technician Mr Edwards, who is accused of the murders of Ciara Glennon, Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer, had been due to start in WA’s Supreme Court in July.

But potentially important new evidence – centred around the type of clothing worn by Telstra workers around the time of the murders in the mid 90s – emerged earlier this year.

The court was told then that prosecutors planned to compare fibres from the clothing with fibres found on other materials involved in the case.


A previous pre-trial hearing was told that that testing, and a subsequent ChemCentre report, was unlikely to be complete before the end of June – which would then have to be disclosed to, and considered by, the defence team.

Justice Stephen Hall, the judge who alone will preside over the trial, said at the time he was concerned the new inquiries would threaten the start date of the scheduled nine-month trial.

Lead prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo said they were “acutely aware” of the impending trial, but said “the potential of this evidence, we say, is quite significant”.

WA’s Supreme Court revealed today that the hearing over whether the trial will have to be delayed will be held this Thursday. 06 June 2019.
 
https://postnewspapers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/08062019.pdf

Fibres linked in murder cases’

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Jane Rimmer Sarah Spiers Ciara Glennon SERIAL KILLER CASE

By BRET CHRISTIAN

Scientists investigating the Claremont serial killings found fibres “common between” two murder scenes and a rape scene, prosecutors will allege.

This link was allegedly made in May 2014, state prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

It was a part of the state’s case that emerged during a success- ful application to delay the trial of a man facing eight charges, Bradley Robert Edwards (50), a former Telstra technician.

Mr Edwards is charged with three murders that became known as the Claremont serial killings in 1996 and 1997, plus the rapes of a teenager in Karrakatta Cemetery in February 1995.

He also faces sexual assault charges from 1988.

The cause of the delay is the late emergence of evidence of some clothing that was issued to Telstra workers in the 1990s.

The trial is being delayed so that results of fibre tests on the clothing can be completed and samples given to Mr Edwards’ lawyers for possible re-testing, along with a statement from the clothing manufacturer.

The reports of Mr Edwards’ experts would then have to be returned to the prosecution for examination.

Ms Barbagallo said the “foundation document” of this evidence was a report of May 30, 2014, that isolates the fibres common between the Karrakatta rapes and the crime scenes of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon “and most latterly the Telstra work clothes”.

Sarah Spiers’ body has not been found.

Another hint of the state’s forensic case came to light when Ms Barbagallo was discuss- ing DNA found under Ciara Glennon’s fingernails.

She said investigators were trying to address a suggestion of contamination in relation to DNA found under the victim’s nails.

“They have obtained DNA from men who attended both at the bushland scene and the post mortem,” Ms Barbagallo said.

Justice Stephen Hall said it was “extremely unfortunate and regrettable” that the start of the nine-month trial needed to be delayed for four months until November 18.

Mr Edwards’ lawyer, Paul Yovich, said the delay was caused by the state coming up with new material.

The defence needed a proper opportunity to present a defence case and should not be having to deal with new material and

Paul Yovich, lawyer for Bradley Robert Edwards.

reports in the midst of a serious murder trial.

Justice Hall said the state had had 21⁄2 years to gather and col- late its evidence.

“The fact is that you are no longer at the investigation stage, we are at the prosecution stage. A line in the sand needs to be drawn,” he said.

Mr Edwards was charged in December 2016 and had been in custody since.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Justice Hall said.

Don Spiers, father of Sarah Spiers.

He issued an order that no new evidence could be put to the defence after July 30, un- less an application was made to the court and agreed to by the judge.

An exception was any new evidence that “fell out” of pre- trial interviews with witnesses, a process known as proofing.

Mr Edwards appeared in court by video link from jail. He was wearing light-rimmed glasses and a grey sweatshirt, sitting in front of a bare Besser Block wall

Telstra clothing confirmed as "trousers"
 
https://www.watoday.com.au/national...for-evidence-to-be-heard-20190624-p520n7.html

" Among these is a witness account of an incident that happened when the accused killer was just 13.
The court was told Mr Edwards had been invited to a barbecue at the witness' home in 1982.
The woman's statement said she had walked into her bedroom when she spotted Mr Edwards within reach of a set of drawers where her underwear was kept"

The witness said Mr Edwards told her he was "just looking around" and left the bedroom, but she claimed the next day she found a black, lacy bra hanging from the drawer, which was "extremely unusual".
 
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/co...ject-to-womans-underwear-claim-ng-b881240076z

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo wants to lead evidence from a witness who claims she found Mr Edwards in her bedroom and found a bra hanging out of a drawer the next day.

But Mr Edwards' lawyer Paul Yovich said the alleged incident bears no similarity to the alleged offending.

The hearing is expected to deal with objections to witness statements, two objections relating to Mr Edwards' video-recorded police interview, and will involve a demonstration of how the "electronic trial" will run.
 
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/cl...email&utm_campaign=PerthNow+PM+Update+25/6/19
Claremont Serial Killings: Prosecutors prepare to counter any suggestion victims may have died by suicide

Prosecutors are preparing to counter any suggestion the victims of the accused Claremont serial killer took their own lives, with plans to provide evidence about their ‘state of mind’ at the time of their disappearances.

On the second day of a directions hearing ahead of Bradley Robert Edwards trial in November, prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo told the Supreme Court she wanted to lead evidence from Sarah Spiers’ and Ciara Glennon’s family and friends.

She also revealed Mr Edwards had for the first time formally conceded Ms Spiers — whose body has never been found — had died, although he made no admissions “as to the timing and manner of her death”.

Mr Edwards has denied murdering Ms Spiers, 18, Jane Rimmer, 23, and Ms Glennon, 27, who were abducted from the streets of Claremont in the 1990s.
 
Evidence against accused Claremont serial killer struck out in court

The Claremont serial killings

Three young Perth women disappeared in the mid-1990s.

One of the pieces of evidence that prosecutors wanted to call relating to the alleged Karrakatta cemetery offences was from a resident who claimed to have noticed a Telstra van parked in the area on at least four or five occasions, sometime in the mid 1990s.
Mr Edwards worked for Telstra at the time and prosecutors argued it was relevant because it showed that a person in a Telstra van was looking for opportunities to abduct, sexually assault and murder young women.
They also argued it was relevant to what is called the "Telstra living witness" evidence, which alleges a man in a Telstra van was driving around the Claremont area and offering lifts to young women.
But Justice Stephen Hall said the evidence was not relevant and "extremely tenuous".

Parts of police interview inadmissible
Another piece of potential evidence that was thrown out was part of Mr Edwards interview with police after his arrest in December 2016.
The detectives were questioning him about the DNA evidence which allegedly linked him to the offences.

PHOTO: Bradley Robert Edwards appeared in court via video link for today's directions hearing. (ABC News: Anne Barnetson)
Mr Edwards was seen saying to the detectives: "You're assuming I've done it."

The officer then responded: "I'm not assuming anything. Science says it's yours. The science speaks for itself."
Justice Hall said the last part of what the detective said "was clearly a comment" and "an assertion on the part of the police officer that the science was irrefutable".

"Whether or not that is so is a matter to be determined at the trial," he said. "The police officer's view of the evidence is not relevant."

Further objections possible
Justice Hall did allow statements from the families of Ms Spiers and Ms Glennon about the women's state of mind, which could rule out the idea of them disappearing voluntarily and make it more likely they were abducted by a stranger.

But he excluded evidence about Mr Edwards being seen near an underwear drawer at the age of 13 or 14 while at the home a family friend's house in the early 1980s.

Prosecutors said this was relevant because it showed he had an interest in women's underclothing and related to the Huntingdale alleged offences in 1988.
He deferred rulings on a range of other objections relating to claims by prosecutors that Mr Edwards committed the alleged offences at times of emotional turmoil in his personal life and relationships.

That evidence would come from Mr Edwards's two former wives, one of whom started a relationship with another man while she was still married to Mr Edwards around the crucial time of mid-1995.

Edwards told of pregnancy before one death, court told
The court has heard the woman fell pregnant to the man and told Mr Edwards around April or May 1996.
Prosecutors said the evidence was relevant because it showed Mr Edwards was in a state of upset or emotional turmoil around the time of Ms Rimmer's death on June 9, 1996.
The evidence prosecutors wanted to call from Mr Edwards's second wife was about how their relationship developed and when he proposed to her.
The relationship started on April 1, 1997, about two weeks after Ms Glennon disappeared, and prosecutors said this showed he had the opportunity to be out late at night without being noticed.
It was alleged the start of the relationship also explained why there were no further offences after 1997.
Further argument will be heard on the application to include that evidence at a two-day hearing in October, which Justice Hall said was necessary because new material had come to light in written submissions to him.
The problem of 'new' evidence
Defence barrister Paul Yovich SC also raised concerns that he was still receiving "new" evidence in the case, which appeared to have arisen from "additional enquiries" that had been made.
He told prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo SC that in future she needed to seek leave from him to include new material.
Justice Hall had previously indicated that the trial would proceed over the two-week Christmas period, but today he said he was now inclined not to hear evidence from witnesses at that time, although he did leave it open for there to be legal argument.

At the end of today's proceedings Mr Edwards, who appeared in court via video link from Casuarina Prison, was remanded in custody until a two-day hearing in October.
 
https://www.watoday.com.au/national...helped-lead-to-an-arrest-20190219-p50yw8.html

Cold case detectives re-examining a kimono left behind at an attempted sex attack in Huntingdale in 1988 discovered that the garment allegedly contained the same male DNA profile found on Ciara Glennon and the Karrakatta cemetery rape victim.

During 1 occasion - the prowler, wearing a dressing gown, ran away after he was caught lingering in a resident's backyard.

Police were called to that scene and four finger and palmprints were taken from the rear door to the house.

After the alleged Claremont serial killer's DNA was discovered on the kimono in 2016, the fingerprints were run through the national database.
 
May 2019:

Claremont serial killings: accused had 'pent up anger'

The psychiatrist said Edwards was “emotionally constricted” and it was unlikely the sources of frustration he cited were “the entire explanation”.

The psychologist similarly reported Edwards had a “displacement of feeling”, which Justice Stephen Hall said was essentially the prosecution’s “emotional upset” argument.

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo agreed.

“Something wrong is done to him (by someone) close to him … and he then takes it out on someone he doesn’t know,” Ms Barbagallo said.

She has previously argued the breakdown of Edwards’ relationship in early 1996 coincided with the timing of the first of three murders, and no more followed after he met someone new.
 
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