The families of three Aboriginal children who were allegedly murdered in the early 1990s have had their push for a retrial of the accused killer overturned, after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found there was not enough new or compelling evidence to try him again.
Relatives of Bowraville children Colleen Walker, 16, Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16, and Evelyn Greenup, 4, have for decades sought justice, and in 2016 launched a new campaign to retry the man accused of their deaths based on new evidence and testimony.
The man, whose identity has been suppressed, was found not guilty of Clinton’s murder in 1994, and was acquitted of Evelyn’s death in 2006. Colleen’s body was never found although her clothes were discovered in a nearby river, and nobody was ever charged over her disappearance.
The latest legal challenge claimed that new evidence linking all of the disappearances and the suspect had been unearthed, and was strong enough to negate the state’s double jeopardy provisions, which state a suspect cannot be tried for a crime after already being acquitted – unless groundbreaking evidence can be provided.
On behalf of NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman, Wendy Abraham, QC, told the court the suspect had allegedly pulled Colleen’s pants down while she slept in an incident weeks before her disappearance.
Evelyn disappeared from a bedroom three weeks after Colleen; when her mother awoke, she found allegedly her pants had been pulled down, too.
Abraham said a couple of months after that, Clinton and his girlfriend slept in the accused’s caravan; when she awoke, she allegedly found her pants had been removed, and that Clinton and the man were missing.
The court heard that specific theme of womens’ pants being removed, and the suspect’s alleged proximity to the victims in the hours before their disappearances, linked him to all three incidents.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeal still found that didn’t constitute enough new and compelling evidence to retry the man over Clinton and Evelyn’s deaths.
Speaking outside the courtroom, relatives told of their dismay at the ruling.
“We have fought on, done everything properly to apply for the retrial,” said Dolly Jerome, Clinton’s aunt.
“I’m just so heartbroken. I can’t do this.
“I have no faith in the system. I have no faith at all.”
