Exposed: Lead detective casts doubt over Keli Lane trial
Police had “absolutely nothing” to pin on Keli Lane, says the lead homicide squad detective.
- Published by David Knox
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ABC crime documentary Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane has raised new questions about her 2008 trial for the murder of baby Tegan.
Detective Sharon Rhodes (pictured), who led the New South Wales Homicide investigation in 2006
claims police had “absolutely nothing” to pin to Lane by the end of 2008.
“I was stunned. I’m surprised they [the jury] were able to get to that point,” Ms Rhodes said.
“I honestly thought that she would be found not guilty because there had been so many problems.”
While she still believes Lane murdered her baby Tegan, she questions whether the trial that led to Lane’s conviction was fair and just.
“I’ve got no doubt in my mind that she committed the crime, that she killed Tegan, murdered her. But she’s an accused person. She deserved due process,” Ms Rhodes said.
Despite an extensive search, Tegan’s remains were not found.
Internal documents obtained by Exposed revealed that after a police investigation spanning eight years and a coronial inquest, the Unsolved Homicide Squad was internally questioning whether they had enough evidence to prosecute Lane. It referred the matter to the Director of the NSW DPP, Nicholas Cowdery QC.
Cowdery said his office was under stress financially and politically at the time.
“This period, 2009/10, was one of those periods where we were dealing with a lot of those kinds of pressures,” he said.
Cowdery said he carefully evaluated the circumstantial evidence before making the decision to charge Lane with murder.
“At some point, there was enough evidence to justify charging,” he said.
“People sometimes quiz you about the nature of a circumstantial case.
“It sounds as though it’s some sort of a guess or some sort of speculation about what might have happened, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“A circumstantial case can be stronger than a case that is supported by direct evidence.”
Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi agreed it was entirely a circumstantial case.
“We had to prove death without a body. We had to prove that whatever happened to baby Tegan, that she was deliberately murdered by Keli Lane,” he said.
The presiding judge, Anthony Whealy QC, said Lane’s trial was highly stressful and unusual because of the amount of evidence submitted during the trial.
“This was a case that was being prepared on the run. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Keli Lane’s defence team declined an invitation to be interviewed by Exposed.
Caro Meldrum-Hanna and Elise Worthington have been inundated with tips and leads relating to their investigation.
Source: ABC
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3 Responses
Mr Cowdery QC, should hang his head in shame at that stupid remark he made??? Really surprised at the court case, she was basically prosecuted on the fact of what she had done in the past ….. even the judge was surprised! I agree more questions than answers and if her baby is still alive…. she never registered the birth, her name was probably changed and she may not even know she has another mother.
What a fascinating doco. Raised more questions than answers in the end though.
Don’t think there will ever be a satisfactory conclusion to this sad and murky story.
Though if Keli Lane did dispose of her baby, it would probably be the decent thing to do to confess so that baby Teghan (and the case) can be finally laid to rest.
Her mental state at the time of her baby’s disappearance (and possibly post natal depression) would possibly be mitigating factors in a new trial.
For true crime fans this has been riveting viewing, kudos to all involved. I’ve always thought ‘what happened to reasonable doubt?’ How can a person be convicted ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ when there is no body?? i am not saying Kelli is innocent, but the simple fact her child is missing does not prove she murdered her. “We had to prove that whatever happened to baby Tegan, that she was deliberately murdered by Keli Lane”….from what i know of the case, i cannot see how they proved that at all.