Shae McDonald
(AAP), The Courier-Mail
September 30, 2016
12:01amExtract:
Brisbane Arcade Murder: Renewed calls to appeal Reginald Brown’s conviction
D Moles established the research group Networked Knowledge 16 years ago and also co-founded the Miscarriages of Justice Project at Flinders University in South Australia.
He told Australian Story he thought it likely police “got the wrong person” when they convicted Brown of Ms Armstrong’s murder.
The former law professor told The Courier-Mail there were
certain features about Brown’s trial that were “very unsatisfactory”.
Dr Moles said in order for a conviction to be set aside on
appeal, a court needed to be satisfied there were errors at trial, not whether
the evidence pointed to a person being guilty or innocent.“The question is did the person have a fair trial,” he said.
Dr Moles said there were several pieces of physical evidence
used during the original court case that “raised alarm bells”.
One of them was the fact Ms Armstrong’s body was “infested” with
ants.
Dr Moles said the logical question to ask was where they came
from.
“There wasn’t an ants nest within the medical room or medical
centre,” he said.
“What it would tell me is that it’s likely she was attacked and
either disabled or killed somewhere else, where there were ants.
“Her body was subsequently moved to the medical rooms, with the
ants on board.”
Finally!! The ants!! This was the FIRST THING that made me suspicious that Bronia's death may have happened elsewhere. It is these ants that made me first realise Reg had possibly been framed. They're such an important physical factor of evidence - & such a strong indicator that the real crime may have happened in a different location to where Bronia was actually found. Hopefully a professional entomologist that is willing to speak out can one day shed some light on possible species of ant and historically common locations for nesting sites nearby the city.
ReplyDeleteSo many unanswered questions with this case Emma! The detectives showed no interest in locating the source of the ants... Instead they were more interested in quickly building the crime around Reg Brown..a second hand lowboy given to the Armstrong family by the Brown family was suddenly deemed a gift of seduction. Reg was also condemned for telling Bronia Armstrong's girlfriend not to ring the workplace so often during business hours. Our grandfather also wore an unglamorous support truss for a long standing inguinal hernia (in the groin), a health complaint concealed by police because it didn't fit with their theory...the hernia and the truss were recorded in the admission book at Boggo Road Gaol. And speaking of the gaol, just prior to his hearing Reg had his notes to his lawyer confiscated by a prison warder. Wonder where they went to from there? Police maybe? There is so much more to tell than we could manage in 30 mins. on ABC Australian Story. Although we will be forever grateful that Aust. Story gave our grandfather a voice.
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