On November 14, 1984, Jennifer
Tanner's body was found slumped over her husband's bolt-action
.22-calibre rifle.
She had been shot twice in the head
and through both hands as her infant son slept in the next room.
When Laurie Tanner came home and
found his wife's body he didn't notice the bullet-holes through both hands, but
they were there; the sort experts call 'classic defence wounds'.
When two country policemen arrived
at the scene, they found Jennifer's body slumped on a couch with a rifle between
her knees, the muzzle still pointed towards her still-bleeding head.
They called Detective Sergeant Ian
Welsh at Alexandra.
Welsh, known locally as 'Columbo',
was informed of their find but he decided not to make the long drive to attend.
The uneasy constables called Welsh
back after discovering a second bullet shell near the body but the detective
stuck to his original decision and also chose not to bother with forensic or
finger printing tests.
Even photographs were ruled out.
Welsh denied receiving this call at
the 1998 inquest into Jennifer's death.
Don Frazer and Bill Kerr were the
constables who discovered the body.
Kerr was the older of the two, was
aware that Jennifer Tanner had been the sister-in-law of tough detective Denis
Tanner and some things niggled him.
These included the half-drunk cup of
coffee and plate of biscuits next to Jennifer's body and the fact that she had
asked husband Laurie to bring home some surprise chocolates before he'd gone
out.
There was also the fact that there
was no suicide note and that the family baby had been left alone in another
room.
As Frazer and Kerr drove to the home
of Jennifer's parents, Les and Kathy Blake, to break the awful news, they heard
a radio message that Melbourne police had gone to Denis Tanner's Footscray flat
but he was not home.
Bill Kerr decided to keep his
niggling feelings to himself for many years.
On the morning of November 15,
1984, Bruce Frederick Tanner, brother of Denis and Laurie, drove to the old
farmhouse to do something so unpleasant he still resents talking about it.
Bruce interrupted his rushed trip -
from Gilgarre, near Kyabram, to his parents house at Mansfield - to spend time
cleaning the scene of his sister-in-law's suicide the night before.
It is unclear why two of his
brothers, then both policemen, did not later comment on his destroying a
possible crime scene.
Bruce Tanner would give evidence at
the 1998 inquest into Jennifer's death.
In late 1985, the first inquest
into the death of Jennifer Tanner was held.
Denis Tanner was represented by Joe
Gullaci.
A coroners finding in 1998 would be
damning of the initial investigation, which was so inept it resulted in an open
finding rather than a recommendation for murder charges.
In March 1988, Denis Tanner was
believed to be responsible for selling out Operation Mint, an undercover
investigation into an amphetamines ring.
The operation
was headed by Ron Iddles and Sgt Dave Foley.
It was believed that
a drug squad officer had passed information to Tanner who worked in the same
building.
Tanner had then used
a former policeman as a go-between and passed the information on to drug dealers
William Hackett and Terrance Moon.
On December 7,
1988, Tanner transferred to Benalla as a detective sergeant.
His wife, also in the force,
resigned from her position at Altona.
Tanner was
counselled by officers during his time at Benalla for using inappropriate
language.
In February 1989,
Tanner hurt his knee.
This occurred after a violent
struggle with a criminal in the Benalla cells.
On April 17, 1989, Tanner
began forty days leave.
This was to to recover from stress
and anxiety 'due to a variety of factors' perceived by him, not the least being
that he heard allegations that he was suspected of serious corruption.
He returned to work on
June 11, 1989.
On October 18,
1989, the detective suspected of leaking news to Tanner regarding Operation Mint
was interviewed by Chief
Inspector Tony Warren.
He resigned within the next six weeks.
Tanner
was interviewed by
investigators relating to the operation.
He later called Neil
Comrie to ask him where he stood.
'Out in the cold',
was the answer.
Comrie informed
Tanner of the intention of Command to send him to the Police Reserve.
On January 16, 1990, Deputy
Commissioner Brendan Crimmins wrote to Tanner with regard to Operation Mint and
effectively called him a crook.
He demoted Tanner to the Police
Force Reserve.
Tanner appealed the transfer.
In April 1990, Detective
Superintendent (and future Chief Commissioner) Neil Comrie (left) and Tony Warren were called in to find out the truth
behind the 'selling out' of Operation Mint.
The former detective suspected of
passing information to Denis Tanner was interviewed as a suspect.
In 1990, Tanner's appeal to the
Police Services Board was heard by County Court Judge Walsh, former Police
Commander Eric Sutton, and respected former policeman Fred Leslie.
Eleven serving and former police
ranked from constable to Chief Inspector told the hearing that Tanner was a
trusted and valuable member of the CIB.
Tanner's appeal was successful and
Crimmins directive to transfer Tanner was overturned.
The board found that there were overtones of corruption surrounding the operation but Tanner could not be linked in
any way.
Ron Iddles resigned from the force
in disgust.
He later re-joined and was swiftly
promoted through the ranks and joined the homicide squad.
In the early
1990's Kevin Hicks, later jailed
for his role in a massive amphetamines operation, transferred from the major
crimes squad to Benalla CIB.
His boss there was
Denis Tanner.
The two men had both
worked at the major crime squad and did not get on.
Years later, at
drug baron Peter Pilarinos trial, defence
counsel Brian Cash said his client was once told by Hicks:
"I'm sure you won't like to go on a picnic with Denis Tanner. Like others,
you won't come back from (the) picnic."
On July 20, 1995,
the body of transsexual Adele Bailey was discovered in a disused mineshaft
adjacent to the Tanner families former property in Bonnie Doon.
Tanner's link to
Bailey and a probing of the mystery by the
Sunday Age prompted the original inquest into Jennifer Tanner's death being
quashed and the re-opening of a new inquiry.
In September 1995, two months
after the mine-shaft discovery, the old Tanner homestead burnt to the ground.
The property had been sold shortly
after Jennifer's death to an absentee owner.
The fire began outside and engulfed
the building before fire fighters could get there.
In early October
1997, a new inquest began into the murder of Jennifer Tanner.
It ran for 23
sitting days scattered over a year.
In his opening address, Jeremy Rapke
made public the name of Sergeant Helen Golding.
Golding was Godmother to Denis
Tanner's children, and formerly his wife's best friend.
It was revealed that Sergeant
Golding had received a series of death threats; but this dramatic revelation
paled beside the appearance of the woman herself a week later, an event marked
by a weapon check on everyone entering the court.
Visibly shaken, Sergeant Golding
told the court she contacted the task force after reading an account of Jennifer
Tanner's death in the Sunday Age in June 1996.
She said she was terrified and had
not slept properly, walked her dog or ridden her horse since making a statement
to investigators about Denis Tanner in October 1996.
Her story was chilling.
She was sent a dagger, covered in
fake blood; leaflets from funeral directors thanking her for her inquiries that
she had not made; a sympathy card with 'you're dead' written on it; and a .22
calibre bullet in an envelope.
What worried her most perhaps more
than the dagger, was a wreath left on her doorstep with the message, 'Time runs
out'.
On July 8, 1997, she received a
letter containing her current roster with the words 'I miss you,' and an
accompanying threatening note.
Bill Kerr, one of the two young
constables called when Jennifer's body was discovered, spent hours in the stand.
The amiable country cop had quietly
believed Jennifer Tanner was murdered since an autopsy two days after her death
showed that she had two bullets in her skull, as well as bullet wounds in each
hand.
Kerr recounted his claims that he'd
called detective Ian Welsh at Alexandra twice to inform him of irregularities at the
scene only to be told to continue the investigation as a suicide and not to
gather evidence as if it were a crime scene.
Kerr said that he was puzzled that
two hours after the body was found, he heard the police radio message about
Denis Tanner. (Sgt Golding gave evidence that Tanner's wife Lynne told her that
Denis didn't get home until 5a.m on the night of Jenny Tanner's death.)
Kerr said he was frustrated by
'superiors', who repeatedly denied his requests for forensic tests on the rifle,
which he insisted on keeping in his locker at Mansfield police station.
His request for a list of questions
to be put to Denis Tanner was also denied.
Months later, Tanner made a
statement to a homicide detective, Albert 'Jimmy' Fry, in which he gave a
different alibi to the one he'd given Kerr the day after the shooting.
But it was not a record of
interview, he was not questioned, and no meaningful questions were put to him.
Fry, also retired, said he couldn't
explain why he didn't realise, after reading the file provided by Kerr, that
Denis Tanner had contradicted his original alibi that he was 'at the trots' on
the night of the 'murder'.
This was demonstrably false as the
trots meeting he claimed to be at did not occur.
In the statement Tanner made to
Fry, he stated he was providing security at a bingo night in Albert Park.
Don Frazer, the constable who
accompanied Kerr to the Tanner home, had become a sergeant by the time he faced
the inquiry.
After giving his evidence, Frazer
quietly told the coroner he regretted the way things were handled on the night
Jenny Tanner was shot, and volunteered a defence of Kerr's role in having the
case re-opened.
"I just wish I'd given Bill
Kerr more support-as perhaps others should have," Frazer is recorded as
saying.
The late Ian "Columbo" Welch, who became a carpet
cleaner after he retired from the police force, engaged in a bruising exchange
with Jeremy Rapke, when he came to the stand.
Welsh was then asked how he later
thought the scene should have been handled.
"The scene should have been
preserved, and there should have been a full and proper homicide
investigation," he muttered after an awkward pause.
Asked which people a homicide
investigation should have interviewed, he says: "I believe Denis Tanner
should have been interviewed."
Superintendent Peter Fleming,
later of the anti-corruption unit, was assisting the coroner in 1985.
At the inquest he seemed to have a
much sharper memory than some of the other witnesses.
Fleming testified bluntly that the
investigation of Jenny Tanner's death was 'grossly inadequate' at every level,
and that he was concerned that nothing was done to correct it.
He recalled an angry meeting at
homicide squad offices where, he says, Fry was adamant it was suicide,' refused
to investigate it, and was supported by his superiors.
"There were rumours this
particular matter was not being handled correctly," Fleming said at the
inquiry.
Bruce Frederick Tanner gritted
his way aggressively through cross-examination about the intriguing events the
day after Jennifer Tanner's death.
His version of events were that his
mother phoned him at about 6am with the bad news that his brothers wife had
been found shot dead.
After arranging for staff to fill in
for him at his school, Bruce set out for Mansfield to comfort his parents and
Laurie.
But instead of driving past the
farmhouse, which is next to the highway in Bonnie Doon, he stopped and went in.
Asked why he did this instead of
going straight to his grieving relatives, Tanner retorted: "Because the
police had informed my mother she was expected to clean up, and there was no way
she was going to do that."
Unfortunately he could not remember
the name of the policeman who informed him.
Asked why he hadn't enquired about
the circumstances surrounding the death, Bruce Tanner said he had gone overseas
a few weeks later, and hadn't returned for more than a year.
He conceded 'probably' discussing
Jennifer's death with Denis, but claimed he didn't know two bullets had been
found in Jennifer's skull until after his return to Australia.
After Bruce Tanner's day in the
stand, he was returning with the family group to the court car park when brother
Denis hit a Herald-Sun photographer in the groin with his brief case.
Then Bruce threw open his car door
as he accelerated away, knocking the same photographer to the ground.
Much more evidence was heard over
the next nine days.
A doctor who
performed the autopsy on Jennifer's body admitted that he tried hard in 1984
to make the two head wounds and two hand wounds fit the police's dogged
insistence that it was a suicide.
In
1998 -- almost 14 years after his wife's death -- Laurie Tanner came upon
intruders in the barn.
He
later said through his lawyer David Brooks that the intruders set upon him and
he suffered life-threatening injuries, including a fractured skull, a stab wound
and extensive facial injuries.
Mr
Tanner was lucky to have survived, he said.
Mr
Brookes claimed the attackers were members of a police taskforce charged with
installing listening devices in the barn "and he was punished for entering
the barn''.
On December 10,
1998, Coroner Graeme Johnstone bought down his finding.
He stated that
Jennifer Tanner had been killed by her brother-in-law, Detective Sergeant Denis
Tanner.
Johnstone told a
packed courtroom that Denis shot her at least three times and probably four or
more, with her husbands bolt-action .22 rifle.
The finding was an indictment of
both Denis Tanner and the 1985 investigation but despite public outrage it was
obvious that there would be no use charging him with murder.
Much of the evidence that had been
weighed by Johnstone would be inadmissible in a criminal trial and without
forensic proof or eye-witnesses, the web of circumstantial evidence was not
enough to put before a jury.
The result was a legal stalemate.
In early 1999 an inquest was
held into the death of Adele Bailey.
Mrs Janine Fletcher, a former insurance clerk,
told the inquest that a former client and policeman, Mark
O'Loughlin, had
boasted of the parties and talked about police letting "the blokes rough
up'' trans-sexual prostitutes in police cells.
O'Loughlin bragged of taking prostitutes and
strippers to his holiday house in Bonnie Doon.
An "obscene amount''
of alcohol was stocked there, the court was told.
Fletcher also identified Sergeant
Denis Tanner, a friend of Mr O'Loughlin, as having the same eyes as a policeman
who threatened her after she questioned a "suspicious'' insurance claim by
Mr O'Loughlin.
Mrs Fletcher, who told the inquest
of a series of threatening phone calls she had received, said she rang police in
1996 after reading an article in The Sunday Age about the Tanner case.
Mrs Fletcher said she had processed three
insurance claims for Mark O'Loughlin with insurance broker Complete Financial
Services in the early 1980s.
One of the claims was for stolen cash and an
"obscene amount'' of alcohol at a holiday house near Bonnie Doon, she told
the court.
"Mark told everyone in the office he would
take prostitutes and strippers away to his holiday shack for entertainment,''
she said.
But she was suspicious about one of the claims
involving the theft of jewellery from O'Loughlin's
car.
She said she felt her suspicions were confirmed
when she saw similar jewellery advertised in The Trading Post which listed the
phone number of the South Melbourne police station where O'Loughlin
worked.
But when she told her boss, Mr Dennis Jones, who
had a number of police officers as clients at the time, she was told to
"back off''.
A week later she was pulled up in her car by a
plainclothes policeman she later identified as Sergeant Tanner.
"He told me to butt out of what wasn't my
business, leave his friends alone and keep my nose clean,'' she told the court.
"I have never ever forgotten what the eyes
of that guy were like because he had me really scared at the time.''
Compared with the Jennifer Tanner inquest, the
case of Adele Bailey was a relatively quick affair.
Coroner Jacinta Heffey made an open finding after
she was offered little useful evidence from those who survived the culture of St
Kilda in the early 70's.
On July 28, 1999, Denis Tanner resigned from the
force.
However, the
Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions announced that no murder charge would
be laid against the police officer on the basis that senior prosecutors had
confirmed that there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction.
In 2000 Andrew
Rule wrote and narrated a television documentary on the Tanner case.
Rule broke the story for the Sunday Age in 1996.
On March 13, 2002, John
Silvester reported that Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon had called in the
federal police to investigate a claim of perjury against Victorian police
officers on the murder taskforce that investigated Denis Tanner over the deaths
of Jennifer Tanner and Adele Bailey.
The unprecedented federal review
would examine the taskforce, codenamed Kale.
Ms Nixon sought the federal
intervention despite the State Ombudsman, Barry Perry, completing an inquiry
that recommended no action be taken against the taskforce detectives.
The federal police were to look
at the taskforce's decision to place listening devices in the house of a serving
policeman, Senior Detective Gerry McHugh.
Kale taskforce detectives alleged
that McHugh might have been at a party with Mr Tanner at Bonnie Doon, where Ms
Bailey became sick or died in 1978.
Taskforce detectives had been
told that McHugh was filled with remorse over the death and
cover-up of Ms Bailey and might be prepared to give evidence against Mr Tanner.
The detectives obtained a Supreme
Court warrant to install listening devices in McHugh's Mildura
home.
He
found them.
McHugh, a policeman with more
than 25 years' experience, was angered that he was treated as a suspect.
He alleged that taskforce
detectives used perjured evidence to justify the warrant.
The detectives responded that
they acted in good faith and were legitimately acting on material from an
informer.
Subsequent investigations found
that Senior Detective McHugh was not at the Bonnie Doon party and was not
involved with Ms Bailey's disappearance.
The taskforce detectives were
hand-picked because of their reputations as efficient, honest investigators.
McHugh was
believed to be considering suing the police department.
Legal sources said senior police
were considering an attempt to settle the dispute out of court.
It is believed Senior Detective
McHugh met Ms Nixon to explain his complaints.
After the meeting, she asked for
the federal police help.
Two federal police officers are
believed to have flown to Mildura to interview Senior Detective McHugh.
A Victoria Police spokesman
confirmed that federal police members had been asked to "review parts of a
Victoria Police investigation".
It was the discovery of Ms Bailey's
body in July 1995 that led to the re-opening of the investigation into the death
of Denis Tanner's sister-in-law Jennifer.
It was shortly before the Director
of Public Prosecution decided not to charge Mr Tanner that officers from
Taskforce Kale, which was set up to investigate the deaths of Jennifer Tanner
and Adele Bailey, put the murder allegations to Sen-Det McHugh.
He then fought a three-year legal
battle to gain access to the affidavit Kale detectives used to convince a
Supreme Court judge he was enough of a murder suspect to grant their application
to bug his home, car and telephone.
A former Victoria Police officer,
one of two people quoted in the affidavit, claims the wording on it attributed
to him bears no resemblance to the conversation he actually had with Kale
detectives.
"The affidavit had me
implicating Gerry McHugh in relation to the Adele Bailey murder," former
Det-Sgt Ron Irwin said.
"That is a complete
fabrication. No such conversation took place."
The other source has since also
denied to the Ombudsman that he provided police with information attributed to
him.
On Febrary 3,
2003, the Herald Sun reported that the Police Association
was
considering paying for McHugh to sue Chief Commissioner Nixon
over claims corruption allegations were being covered up.
McHugh asked the
association to fund his planned legal action against Ms Nixon
and several other Victoria Police officers.
McHugh said if the
association did not back him, he would proceed with the unprecedented suit
himself.
McHugh intended suing Ms Nixon
because he alleged her force failed to properly investigate his corruption
claims.
He also planned to take civil action
against some detectives - including an inspector, a former inspector and two
sergeants - he claims fabricated evidence against him.
Sen-Det McHugh named these officers
to the Ombudsman as being corrupt, accusing them of perjury, perverting the
course of justice and conspiring to do both.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner
Peter Nancarrow said an independent review conducted by the Australian Federal
Police into Sen-Det McHugh's allegations had been completed.
"Victoria Police is now seeking
legal advice in relation to those findings," he said.
Mr Nancarrow said the AFP review had
found no evidence of criminal behaviour involving Victoria Police, as had two
investigations by Ombudsman Dr Barry Perry.
Sen-Det McHugh claimed the
corruption was of a kind not heard of before in Victoria.
"This form of corruption is the
very worst kind. It goes to the heart of our judicial system," he said.
"If senior police are going to
fabricate evidence before the Supreme Court and get away with it then our
criminal justice system is shot."
Sen-Det McHugh had obtained Victoria
Police documents under Freedom of Information laws which he claimed showed
detectives fabricated evidence to get bugging warrant.
He alleged Operation Kale taskforce
members investigating Denis Tanner wrongly accused him of being present with Mr
Tanner when Ms Bailey was murdered.
"I was not a friend of Denis
Tanner and have never met Adele Bailey," Sen-Det McHugh said.
"I didn't even know of the
existence of Denis Tanner when she was murdered in 1978. In fact, I didn't meet
him until 20 years after she disappeared and that was only briefly and on a
professional basis.''
"My official police diaries
prove I was with other officers in Melbourne during the time Adele Bailey was
murdered and dumped at Bonnie Doon."
On February
23, 2003, the Herald Sun reported that Denis
Tanner had new evidence he claimed would prove his
innocence.
He challenged authorities to let him
test this fresh material in court.
Tanner said he could show he didn't
kill his sister-in-law, Jennifer Tanner, or Adele Bailey.
Tanner wanted the chance to clear
his name, either through the ordering of a new inquest, a judicial inquiry or
being charged.
In an exclusive interview with the Herald
Sun, he put his side of the story for the first time.
Tanner said the new evidence was
uncovered by former Victoria Police Detective-Sergeant Ron Irwin, assisted by
retired detective Gordon Davie and others.
Mr Irwin had spent the previous 12
months investigating the deaths of Jennifer Tanner and Ms Bailey.
"My conclusion is that Denis
Tanner didn't kill either of them," he said.
Using his experience as a former
police prosecutor, Mr Irwin prepared a brief of evidence he hoped to use to
prove Mr Tanner's innocence at a third inquest, judicial inquiry or trial.
It included evidence of:
NEW witnesses who would swear
that Mr Tanner was in Melbourne at the time Jennifer Tanner died 190km away in
Bonnie Doon and that she was depressed.
TAPE recordings made by
police being mutilated and tampered with so conversations favourable to Mr
Tanner were destroyed.
CRUCIAL parts of
conversations on police tapes being omitted or falsely transcribed so that the
tapes wrongly implicated Mr Tanner.
X-RAYS, showing the first
shot fired into Jennifer Tanner's skull would not have killed her and that she
could have fired the second and fatal shot, which were not presented at her
first inquest and were withheld from the second one.
Mr Tanner claimed he could show that he
didn't kill Jennifer Tanner or Ms Bailey.
"I am writing to
Attorney-General Rob Hulls to appeal to him to order a new inquest," he
told Insight.
"If he refuses, then being
charged would be preferable to the situation I am in now, where, in the eyes of
the public, I am a murderer.
"At least if I was charged I
would get a chance to present the evidence and prove my innocence.
"Though, for the sake of my
family, I would prefer my case to be heard through a new inquest or judicial
inquiry."
The Herald Sun briefed
Victoria Police and Attorney-General Rob Hulls about Mr Tanner's allegations and
the new evidence unearthed by Mr Irwin.
Mr Hulls said he would take action
as soon as Mr Tanner presented his material to him.
"Upon receipt of the letter and
material from Mr Tanner I will seek expert legal advice on their contents and
will respond in due course," he said.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner
Peter Nancarrow said the force was examining all the issues raised.
"There is a substantial number
of documents involved in the case and it will take some time to assess the
issues raised by Denis Tanner," he said.
"Victoria Police is still
considering the issues and some of the allegations that have been raised
concerning the murders of Jennifer Tanner and Adele Bailey.
"At any time, Denis Tanner can
pursue these issues through the correct legal channels."
Mr Nancarrow said he believed State
Ombudsman Dr Barry Perry was also considering some of the issues raised by Mr
Tanner.
Mr Tanner said: "I was wrongly
accused of both murders during inquests so surely I have a right to a new
inquest so another coroner can make a decision based on all the evidence.
"Being labelled a murderer by a
coroner has ruined my life."
While Mr Tanner had the right to
appeal against the second coroner's finding, he claimed he cannot afford to do
so.
"You can only do that through
the Supreme Court and I have been advised it would cost me at least
$200,000," he said.
"I just don't have that sort of
money."
Mr Tanner said most of the new
evidence was gathered after the second inquest finished.
"I therefore haven't as yet had
a chance for it to be tested in a court or some sort of independent official
inquiry," he said.
Mr Irwin said he wanted to stress
that he didn't start his investigation because he was a friend of Denis Tanner.
"I have had very little to do
with Denis until recently," he said.
"If I had discovered evidence
detrimental to him then I would have given it to police.
"My investigation was done
because the taskforce investigating Denis Tanner dreadfully wronged me and I was
determined to get to the bottom of why they did so.
"While investigating my own
matter I came across more and more evidence which suggested Denis Tanner had
been wrongly persecuted.
"Common sense also suggests
that if he had killed the women you would think he would just quietly slink out
of the public eye, thinking to himself how lucky he was to have got away with
it.
"Whereas the exact opposite is
the case. Denis Tanner is agitating authorities to hold some sort of public
inquiry to test his evidence.
"Why would he do that if he is
guilty?
"Shouting about this is a risky
business for him as he can still be charged with murder."
Mr Irwin claimed to have discovered:
EVIDENCE pointing to Jennifer
Tanner having committed suicide.
THAT the taskforce had
withheld other evidence, which could have helped prove Denis Tanner's innocence,
from State Coroner Graeme Johnstone during the second inquest.
THAT exhibits that supported
the theory that Jennifer Tanner killed herself were not presented at the second
inquest.
A PATTERN of omissions and
false transcription of tape recordings that resulted in the second coroner being
misled.
THAT the finding of the
pathologist who examined Jennifer Tanner's exhumed remains, that she was
probably murdered, was based on incorrectly transcribed tapes of the pathologist
who performed the original autopsy, and faulty forensic evidence relating to the
firearm.
THAT taskforce members had
produced a perjured affidavit to persuade a Supreme Court judge to grant a
warrant to bug a detective whom they claimed was with Mr Tanner when Adele
Bailey was killed.
OBVIOUS suspects for both the
murder of Adele Bailey and the burning of the Tanner family property, who were
not presented to the second coroner.
Mr Irwin and Mr Tanner had also
found new witnesses who would be prepared to testify at a third inquest,
judicial inquiry or trial.
One witness claimed to have evidence
that showed he was with Denis Tanner in Melbourne about the time Jennifer Tanner
died.
Other witnesses would testify about
Jennifer Tanner's depression at the time she died.
Mr Irwin had evidence that a doctor
twice referred Jennifer Tanner to a psychiatrist shortly before she died.
She failed to keep the appointments,
the last of which was for two days before the shooting.
He also found a doctor who saw
Jennifer Tanner socially and told Laurie Tanner four months before she died that
his wife was showing signs of depression.
Another new witness was a former
Victoria Police officer who will dispute claims made at the second inquest that
Denis Tanner was not home when police visited him a few hours after Jennifer
Tanner was shot.
He would say police first knocked on
Mr Tanner's door at daylight the morning after the shooting and that he was
home.
"This officer did provide this
information to the taskforce, but it was not given to the coroner, and he was
not called at the inquest to give this evidence," Mr Irwin said.
On February 24,
2003, the Herald Sun
reported that the second Jennifer Tanner inquest
took place 14 years after her death, which meant the recollections of witnesses
were hazy.
That made tape recordings secretly
made by investigating officer Sen-Constable Bill Kerr in the weeks after the
shooting all the more important.
They would provide an accurate
picture of what was said at the time, rather than having to rely on shaky
memories.
Not so, says retired Victoria Police
Det-Sgt Ron Irwin.
"Only very selective portions
of the tapes were produced in evidence and only select portions of those
produced were transcribed," Mr Irwin said.
He said very few of the tapes were
played in court because the police taskforce claimed they were inaudible.
The sound system in the court was so
bad that the few tapes that were played were not able to be understood by the
coroner or anybody else.
"So the coroner relied on
transcripts of those tapes the taskforce bothered to transcribe," Mr Irwin
said.
"I have since got hold of most
of the tapes and enhanced and transcribed them. They were not unintelligible at
all.
"They tell a totally different
story to the one presented by Kerr to the second inquest.
"There are an enormous number
of differences between what is actually said on the tapes and what the taskforce
claimed was said on them.
"The differences result in
support being given to the taskforce contention that Denis Tanner murdered
Jennifer Tanner."
Mr Irwin cited as an example a tape
made four days after Jennifer Tanner died, in which Sen-Constable Kerr is
talking to Denis and Laurie Tanner.
He said the transcript presented to
the coroner in relation to this conversation had large chunks edited out or
misrepresented.
"The omissions and alterations
to text throughout the taskforce transcript occur at every part that shows
concern, devastation or grief by Laurie or other Tanner family members," Mr
Irwin said.
The following are other examples of
transcription errors and tape tamperings alleged by Mr Irwin.
Denis Tanner was asked by police the
morning after Jennifer Tanner died what he had been doing the night before.
He replied "doing a
part-timer" and later explained that involved providing security at a
charity bingo game in Middle Park, 190km from where Jennifer died.
That evidence was crucial to Mr
Tanner as much was made in the second inquest about his supposedly having given
two different alibis: one that he was at the trots on the night; the other that
he was working a part-timer at the bingo.
The tape showed he only mentioned
one alibi.
After repeated pressure from his
counsel, Mr Tanner was allowed to take the tape home overnight to listen to it.
He and members of his family were
delighted to hear the passage backing his claim he only ever gave one alibi,
that he was working a part-timer.
He transcribed the relevant passage
to give to his counsel for use in court the next day.
His counsel then quizzed
Sen-Constable Kerr about the tape, making particular mention of the evidence
supporting Mr Tanner's version of events happening at two minutes and 17 seconds
into the tape.
Mr Tanner got a copy of the crucial
tape in February 2002.
When he played it there was an
ear-splitting noise which started at the two minute and 17 second point and
continued for three seconds.
Somebody had obliterated the crucial
alibi evidence.
Mr Tanner claimed the ombudsman has
since tried to get the original tape, but was told by the taskforce that all
original tapes had been lost.
During that same taped conversation
the morning after the shooting, Denis Tanner was asked about whether Laurie and
Jennifer Tanner kept guns in the house.
The statement and notes of one of
the officers present clearly show Denis Tanner replied that guns were not kept
in the house until the time of the escapees.
The tape of the conversation is cut
off at the word until, leaving out the crucial "the time of the
escapees" quote.
Ron Irwin claims whoever doctored
the tape meant to also cut out the word until, but was sloppy.
Cutting out those few words created
the impression Jennifer Tanner did not have guns in the house, whereas her
husband insists that she learned to shoot and had guns in the house after a
spate of escapee scares in the area.
One investigating officer had a
taped conversation with the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Jennifer
Tanner. He was asked how far the bullets penetrated her skull.
The transcript provided to the
inquest says the pathologist replied "it DID go right through to the back
though".
The actual tape, which wasn't played
in court, has him saying "it DIDN'T go right through to the back
though".
This editing of one word drastically
changed the evidence in that the version presented in court just about rules out
Jennifer Tanner being able to fire both shots into her skull.
But the true version means one of
the bullets DIDN'T go right through to the back of the skull, and that would
have meant it was possible for her to fire the second and fatal shot.
A former detective, who conducted a
taped interview with the pathologist who performed Jennifer Tanner's autopsy, provided a statement to Ron Irwin.
He said the pathologist handed him
X-rays of Jennifer Tanner's skull showing the position of the bullets and a
drawing showing the path the bullets took.
At the end of the taped
conversation, at the point where he says the X-rays and other material were
handed over, the pathologist said "these are all yours".
The transcript provided to the
coroner records this as the meaningless "is this the is it".
The former officer said that in 1996
he handed his file that had held these things to the police taskforce set up in
1995 to investigate the Tanner and Bailey deaths.
The X-rays and drawing were not
provided to the second coroner.
Helen Golding, fellow policewoman
and best friend of Denis Tanner's wife Lynne, allowed the taskforce to secretly
tape her during a social meeting with Lynne in a Melbourne motel room.
Ms Golding was not able to be
cross-examined at the second inquest because the tapes of her meeting months
earlier with Lynne Tanner had supposedly not been transcribed by then.
They were not produced until day 22
of the second inquest, 22 months after they were taken.
The tape was incorrectly transcribed
by the taskforce.
Some of the 143 pages had up to 20
errors with an average of eight errors a page.
Some of the mistakes are at points
vital to helping prove Denis Tanner's innocence.
One such wrong transcription was when
Lynne Tanner was telling Ms Golding about having met a policeman at a Christmas
function, who told her he was one of those who delivered the death message about
Jennifer Tanner.
Lynne Tanner said on tape that she
"sort of sat beside this guy at a Christmas function", while the
transcript has her saying "because he is a social worker" instead of
"at a Christmas function".
The tape clearly has her then saying
the officer told her, "Oh I went around to your place to deliver a death
message", yet the transcript presented to the coroner says "Oh I went
around and posted it all over a great list".
The tape clearly has her saying the
officer said "we were at a barbie and we didn't think we'd go and wake you,
so we waited as long as we could".
But the transcript reads: "we
were at a barbie and we didn't think it'd go away because . . . so we waited as
long as we could".
The genuine exchange indicated that
police from Footscray did not go to Denis Tanner's house until around 5.30am,
not the 1am Sen-Constable Kerr claimed, because they were at a station barbecue
and didn't want to wake the Tanners too early.
The transcript given to the coroner
meant nothing other than some conversation about somebody posting a letter.
On February 24,
2003, the Herald Sun
also
reported that former detective Ron Irwin initially only
intended passing on a snippet of information to the taskforce chasing Denis
Tanner over the deaths of Jennifer Tanner and Adele Bailey.
Mr Irwin had no involvement in the case and wasn't a friend of Denis Tanner.
But a customer in Benalla, where he runs a
restaurant, spoke to him about something they knew about Jennifer Tanner's
mental state at the time she died.
Mr Irwin felt it was important enough to pass on
to the Kale task-force.
"I expected that to be my only
involvement," Mr Irwin said.
"But, because of the way the taskforce tried
to use me, the case ended up dominating my life."
Two taskforce detectives came to see Mr Irwin in
February 1999.
He passed on the information he had, but says
they weren't particularly interested in it.
"They were more interested in asking me
about a detective I had worked with called Gerry McHugh," Mr Irwin said.
"I was told they had information about Gerry
having been with Denis when Adele Bailey was killed.
"The detectives told me that McHugh was
ringing Tanner at a local club and asked me to make a covert inquiry for them.
"I did this and established that McHugh was
ringing somebody else -- nothing to do with Tanner.
"Two years later the taskforce came to me
and asked me to refuse to talk to the Ombudsman. I went to the Ombudsman because
I thought they were up to no good."
Mr Irwin eventually found out he was named in an
affidavit the taskforce used to obtain a warrant to bug Sen-Det McHugh's Mildura
home.
"The affidavit had me implicating Gerry in
the death of Adele Bailey, yet I did no such thing," he said.
Mr Irwin alleged the taskforce fabricated the
affidavit and it was that which prompted him to take a closer look at its work.
"If they were prepared to do that to me I
wondered what else they were prepared to do in their tunnel-visioned pursuit of
Denis Tanner," he said.
"I have now spent the past year, almost
full-time, investigating the deaths of these two women, with the assistance of a
number of skilled former detectives, legal, medical and forensic experts.
"I have discovered Denis Tanner did not
murder Jennifer Tanner or Adele Bailey and did not set fire to the Tanner family
home Jennifer died in.
"And, because of my investigation, he can
now prove it."
Mr Irwin said he had interviewed many witnesses
-- some of whom were not called to give evidence and others that were -- who
have stories to tell that presents new evidence not put during the inquests.
He has also identified a line of inquiry about a
possible suspect for the murder of Adele Bailey which was never presented to the
coroner.
"I am not able to say what that information
is as it relates to a number of unsolved murders and I do not want to alert the
suspect to the fact police are aware of it," Mr Irwin said.
"It is certainly something that should have
been investigated and brought to the attention of the coroner. But the taskforce
was very reluctant to present any evidence which suggested somebody other than
Denis Tanner was involved."
On March
2, 2003, the Herald
Sun reported that the
State Ombudsman confirmed crucial evidence supporting Denis Tanner's alibi had
been lost.
Dr Barry Perry told the Herald Sun the
missing original tape recording was of a conversation between Mr Tanner and
police the day after his sister-in-law Jennifer died.
Dr Perry also revealed that his investigators
would immediately start examining the accused former policeman's new evidence.
He said they would concentrate on allegations
that police tapes of conversations relating to the Tanner investigation had been
edited, mutilated or falsely transcribed to wrongly implicate Mr Tanner.
He said his staff would also examine
claims that the Kale taskforce – set up in 1995 to investigate the deaths of
Jennifer Tanner and transsexual prostitute Adele Bailey – withheld vital
evidence from the coroner.
In a secret report to Chief Commissioner
Christine Nixon, seen by the Herald Sun, Dr Perry criticised Kale
detectives for poor judgment in using information that was "hearsay upon
hearsay".
The information was in an affidavit used to
support a court bid for permission to bug a person's home and telephone.
Dr Perry's report accused Kale detectives of
leaving vital information out of the affidavit.
The missing tape is of a conversation between Mr
Tanner and the first police officer to ask him where he was on the night
Jennifer Tanner died.
It took place the morning after the shooting.
A copy of that tape obtained from the coroner's
office has been mutilated just at the point where Mr Tanner answers that he was
working "a part-timer" -- an unofficial second job -- that night.
He later explained that it had involved providing
security at a charity bingo game in Middle Park, 190km from where Jennifer
Tanner died in Bonnie Doon.
Dr Perry said an exhaustive search had failed to
find the original police tape to enable it to be compared with the coroner's
copy.
"Until the original tape is found, it is not
possible to take any further the matter of possible interference with the audio
recording," he said in a letter to Mr Tanner.
Dr Perry's letter also informed Mr Tanner that his
investigators will examine transcripts of evidence given during the second
Jennifer Tanner inquest to see if they contain significant errors and material
indicative of possible serious police misconduct.
His investigators would listen to police tapes
obtained by Mr Tanner and retired detective-sergeant Ron Irwin and compare them
with police taskforce transcripts relied on by the coroner.
Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin alleged that the tapes and
transcripts show a pattern of police tapes being edited in a way that caused the
second coroner to be misled.
They also claimed that crucial parts of
conversations on police tapes were omitted or falsely transcribed so that the
tapes wrongly implicate Mr Tanner.
The Ombudsman's investigators would examine claims
that vital forensic evidence was withheld from the second coroner.
This evidence allegedly kept from the coroner
included:
X-RAYS showing that the first shot fired into
Jennifer Tanner's skull would not have killed her and that she could have fired
the second and fatal shot.
A DRAWING done by the original pathologist, which
showed that one of the bullets passed below the brain and did not hit any vital
parts.
Dr Perry said his office had already considered
some of the evidence provided by Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin and he had now decided
it warranted further examination.
"The discrepancies between the tapes and the
transcripts will be looked at by this office from tomorrow," he said.
On June 13, 2003,
the Age reported that police had launched a fresh inquiry into the
deaths of Jennifer Tanner and Adele Bailey.
The new investigation followed an April 14 meeting
with accused murderer Denis Tanner, in which the former detective briefed Ms
Nixon on new evidence which he said would clear his name.
Mr Tanner and former detective Ron Irwin
had
spent the past 18 months investigating the deaths, following a 1998 finding by
State Coroner Graeme Johnstone that Mr Tanner had shot Mrs Tanner.
Mr Tanner claimed that police investigators
destroyed or withheld evidence favourable to him from the coroner.
Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland said police
had not yet formally received any new evidence.
Two investigators from the major fraud squad have
been drafted by Mr Overland to undertake the inquiry.
Detective Senior-Sergeant Bill Nash and a fellow
detective were reviewing background information on the crimes, including evidence
presented at two prior coronial inquests.
"When they have completed that task, they
will then approach Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin and anyone else who claims to have new
evidence in relation to these crimes," Mr Overland said.
Mr Overland admitted there were suggestions that
police had bungled the initial inquiry into the deaths.
"That is something that the ombudsman is
currently inquiring into," he said.
"We need to make sure that whatever the
outcome (of the new inquiry), people can have confidence in it."
Investigations by the ombudsman's office revealed
discrepancies between transcripts of taped conversation presented by police at
the Johnstone inquest and the contents of the tapes.
A suspicious fire destroyed Mrs
Tanner's former home two
months after her death.
Police alleged Mr Tanner had set fire to the
property to destroy evidence linking him to the deaths.
Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin claimed to have new evidence
revealing the identity of the Springfield arsonist.
Mr Overland refused to comment on the
likely probative value of Mr Tanner's evidence.
"I wouldn't want to speculate until I've had
a chance to look at the new evidence and see exactly what it is," he said.
"These are serious crimes, and in a sense,
we never close the books on serious crimes of this nature until we are satisfied
that we have actually identified and prosecuted the persons responsible.
"At this stage, these three matters (the two
deaths and the fire) are still open. If there is suggestion that there is new
evidence, regardless of what that new evidence is, it is very much our
responsibility to obtain that evidence, to evaluate it and determine a course of
action based on that evidence.
"I don't think you can say the mere fact we
have started an investigation necessarily adds weight to the evidence."
On June 13, 2003, the Age reported that police "botched" the original investigations
into the deaths of Jennifer Tanner Adele Bailey, according to Ron Irwin.
Irwin said police withheld and tampered with evidence in the
initial inquiries.
"The investigators became so singularly
tunnel-visioned with trying to target Denis Tanner that they walked past the
obvious things and selectively presented evidence.
"Witnesses haven't been called, tapes of
conversations clearly show that the evidence that was given in relation to
(alibis) was wrong, and alterations have been made to those tapes," Mr
Irwin said.
"In other instances, tapes have been
withheld which tell a completely different story to that which was presented at
the (Johnstone) inquest.
"In many instances where transcriptions or
tapes have been made, at very crucial points they have been wrongly transcribed.
"Seventy-nine witnesses were never examined
(yet) their evidence was taken into account."
Mr Irwin also said he had evidence identifying
the arsonist responsible for the Springfield fire.
"It certainly wasn't Dennis Tanner. He was
home with his kids that night," he said. "There's evidence in the
depositions that clearly points to a particular person."
And he was adamant that Mr Tanner had no
involvement in either death. "If people want to go to their graves
believing that Jennifer Tanner was murdered, then so be it. But Denis Tanner
didn't do it.
"My view is that it was suicide. She
certainly had problems and there is significant evidence that points towards
it."
Although welcoming the new police inquiry, Mr
Irwin said he would have preferred a judicial inquiry. "I don't think
police are the right people to investigate it.
"Appoint an independent judicial person to
go through that evidence again, and I'm quite certain that a totally different
result will come from the investigation next time round."
On July 30, 2003, the Herald Sun reported that
Victoria's watchdog had found evidence to support aspects of claims Denis Tanner
hoped will clear his name.
Allegations independently corroborated by the
Ombudsman included apparent irregularities with sound recordings, which Mr Tanner
claims should include material backing his alibi.
The Ombudsman's investigators had also obtained
evidence which suggested that X-rays were taken of the skull of Mr Tanner's
sister-in-law Jennifer.
Mr Tanner claimed the X-rays show Mrs Tanner could
have killed herself.
The X-rays were not presented to either of the
two coroners who examined her death.
A retired detective had provided a statement
saying he believes the X-rays were among material he gave to the Victoria Police
Kale taskforce, which was set up in 1995 to re-investigate Mrs Tanner's death.
The fresh evidence unearthed by the Ombudsman
prompted a significant expansion of police and Ombudsman inquiries into the death of Mrs Tanner.
Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon ordered
the boosting of the police probe she established in May 2003.
And Acting Ombudsman Bob Seamer was greatly
increasing the scope of his investigation.
They did so after being briefed by investigators
from the Ombudsman's office and police, who had spent months examining
allegations of police corruption raised by Mr Tanner and former Victoria Police
detective Ron Irwin.
"New information has been uncovered,"
Mr Seamer said in a letter to Mr Tanner.
"The Chief Commissioner has agreed in
principle to establish a police taskforce to pursue possible evidence of
criminality."
Senior Assistant Ombudsman Brian Hardiman
confirmed aspects of the allegations made by Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin had been
corroborated and at least one police tape appeared to be missing.
Mr Hardiman said the partial corroboration of Mr
Tanner and Mr Irwin's claims prompted the upgrading of the investigations by
police and the Ombudsman.
"Essentially, we have some evidence that is
corroborative of what Denis Tanner and Ron Irwin have said about the missing
X-rays, tapes and other irregularities," he said.
Ms Nixon ordered an expansion of the taskforce
set up to re-investigate the death of Mrs Tanner and Adele Bailey after being briefed about the new evidence.
The taskforce was headed by major fraud
group investigator Bill Nash, who reported directly to Assistant
Commissioner (Crime) Simon Overland.
Mr Overland confirmed the expansion of
the taskforce.
"We are still working through the detail on
that with the Ombudsman," he said.
"But we acknowledge that there is a need for
additional resourcing.
"What I would say about the new information
is that we are quite cautious about it.
"We need to work through all the information
thoroughly and meticulously and that is going to take us a considerable period
of time."
Mr Overland said Mr Tanner and Mr Irwin would be
interviewed about their allegations.
"But, bearing in mind the guys who are doing
this are trying to catch up on 20-odd years of prior history, it may be some
time before they are spoken to," he said.
Ms Nixon has also told serving Mildura detective
Gerry McHugh that his allegations of criminal misconduct by members of the Kale
taskforce would be included in the terms of reference of the taskforce.
While the taskforce and the Ombudsman's
investigations were to be boosted, their size and terms of reference had not yet
been determined.
"What we have found is significant and there
are sufficient indicators to warrant further expansion at this stage," Mr
Hardiman said.
Asked if he believed the new evidence warranted a
judicial inquiry, Mr Hardiman said: "We have all the powers of a judicial
inquiry, bar one, and that relates to removing privilege against
self-incrimination.
"We can take evidence on oath and have done
that already in this case.
"We haven't used the coercive powers yet but
we haven't needed to."
Mr Hardiman said he would force people to
co-operate with his inquiry if he had to.
On
April 12, 2007, the Herald Sun reported that Laurie
Tanner was making a last-ditch bid to pursue legal action against the State of
Victoria.
Laurie
claimed police who were installing listening devices in a shed on his Mansfield
property viciously attacked him.
His
barrister, David Brookes, told the County Court the previous day that in 1998 Mr
Tanner came upon intruders in the barn.
Mr
Brookes said the intruders set upon Mr Tanner and he suffered life-threatening
injuries, including a fractured skull, a stab wound and extensive facial
injuries.
Mr
Tanner was lucky to have survived, he said.
Mr
Brookes claimed the attackers were members of a taskforce charged with
installing listening devices in the barn "and he was punished for entering
the barn''.
Laurie
Tanner - who launched civil proceedings in 2003 with his son Sam against 22
defendants, including police, prosecutors and the State Coroner - now wants the
County Court to give him more time to serve the writ and he wants permission to
file an amended statement of claim.
He
has narrowed the field of defendants to four -- the State of Victoria, the Chief
Commissioner of Police and two police officers.
Mr
Brookes said that the two policemen were allegedly part of the taskforce and
either took part in the assault or allowed it to occur.
It
is understood Sam, who was 21 months old at the time of his mother's death, will
be removed from the civil action.
Mr
Tanner is claiming damages.
But
Peter Golombek, representing the four defendants, said the application was
incompetent.
Mr
Golombek claimed the plaintiff had failed to comply with a 2005 court order
which set out conditions for any further time extensions.
The
delay was also inordinate, he said.
He
asked the court to dismiss the application.
Judge
Tim Holt ordered that Mr Tanner's lawyers amend their claim and return to court
on April 19.
On April 19, 2007,
Laurie Tanner lost his bid to pursue the State of Victoria for damages.
County Court judge Tim Holt rejected an
application by Mr Tanner's lawyers to give him more time to serve the writ in
the case.
The previous week the County Court heard Laurie Tanner
claimed he was viciously attacked by police in 1998.
He wants to sue the State of
Victoria and three police officers.
Lawyers said that Mr Tanner would consider an
appeal.
On August 12, 2007, the Sunday Age reported
that police may face charges over the investigation into Denis Tanner.
Seamus Bradley wrote that the case has now
turned on itself.
After 11 years, several
inquiries and a secret $400,000 payout to a policeman
whose home was bugged, the case may finally claim a
scalp — but not that of an alleged killer.
Two respected police
officers risk being charged for their part in the
investigation that led to the state coroner naming
Denis Tanner in 1998 for killing his sister-in-law,
Jennifer Tanner.
A brief compiled over
several months has gone to Deputy Commissioner Simon
Overland. He will pass it to the assistant
commissioner in charge of the ethical standards
department, Luke Cornelius, who may seek the opinion
of the Office of Public Prosecutions.
If the brief is judged
strong enough, charges will be laid against Inspector
Paul Newman and acting Inspector Marty Allison, key
members of the taskforce that investigated allegations
against the then Sergeant Tanner from 1996 to 1998.
Neither officer would
comment about the likelihood of charges but supporters
say both are angry at "a nitpicking
exercise" over the wording of an affidavit.
The brief has been
compiled after a fruitless four-year investigation
into the Tanner case — from the two mysterious
deaths to the fire that destroyed the Tanner farmhouse
at Bonnie Doon after the skeleton was found.
Mr Overland ordered
Detective Senior Sergeant Bill Nash to review the
investigation following repeated complaints by Mr
Tanner and another former policeman, Gerry McHugh.
Operation Trencher,
which has employed three investigators full-time since
2003, followed other reviews — including one by
specially seconded federal police — that exonerated
Inspector Newman and acting Inspector Allison and
other members of the taskforce that investigated Mr
Tanner.
The taskforce was
formed several months after the discovery in late 1995
of the remains of Adele Bailey.
On May 14, 1978,
Tanner arrested transvestite Adele (Paul) Bailey on charges of loitering for
prostitution and homosexual purposes. 