NSW: Hung jury in Jeffrey Gilham double-murder trial

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2008
NSW: Hung jury in Jeffrey Gilham double-murder trial

By Margaret Scheikowski

SYDNEY, April 10 AAP - Almost 15 years after Steven and Helen Gilham were brutally
murdered in their Sydney home, a jury has been unable to decide if their surviving son
was their killer.

At the start of Jeffrey Gilham's double-murder trial in February, Justice Roderick
Howie told the jury the case was a "whodunnit".

But after they failed to agree on who did kill the couple, the judge discharged them
this afternoon.

As the jurors filed out of the NSW Supreme Court, Gilham showed no emotion - a demeanour
he maintained throughout the six-week trial.

He left the complex holding hands with his wife.

The jury retired on Monday, but subsequently sent the judge two notes saying they could
not reach a unanimous verdict.

When they were given the option of a majority decision of 11-1, the foreman told the
judge further deliberations would not result in either verdict.

After discharging them, Justice Howie continued Gilham's bail and adjourned the case
to the next arraignment list in the Supreme Court on May 2.

On that date, it is open to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to tell the judge
if the case is to be continued.

Gilham had pleaded not guilty to murdering his parents - Steven, 58, and Helen, 55
- at the family home at Woronora on August 28, 1993.

In 1995, he admitted to the manslaughter of his older brother Christopher, 25, who
also was viciously stabbed to death.

In his evidence to the jury, Gilham repeated what he told police in 1993 - he stabbed
his sibling after Christopher confessed to killing their parents and setting their mother
on fire.

But Mark Tedeschi QC, for the crown, contended Gilham killed all three family members,
stabbing them a total of 63 times in a "ferocious attack".

He referred to the "remarkably similar" way in which they were stabbed and alleged
Gilham then destroyed much of the evidence, including by showering and setting the house
on fire.

While the crown said Gilham was motivated by greed to acquire his parent's wealth,
his barrister, Phillip Boulten, SC, told the jury he had no reason at all to kill them,
adding there was no fortune to inherit.

"He had a good relationship with his mother and his father," he said.

"It was as close and loving as you can get."

Mr Boulten also rejected the crown's claim that Gilham had created false evidence about
his sibling's so-called "weird" behaviour before the deaths so he could blame him for
the killings.

"The defence case is there was trouble between Christopher and Steven," he said.

"Mr Gilham was very concerned about Christopher because Christopher was not acting
the way he usually did."

The jury was told much of the evidence was lost or destroyed, including the knife used
to stab the three victims.

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