Ok..I'll bite..is this some sort of riddle?  

Media Watch did a segment on the coverage of the case in Australian Story...

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3358394.htm

This bizarre case was the subject of a recently-aired Australian Story episode - and my gut-feel was that the surviving family member had behaved strangely...

That said, the other son was not portrayed as all sweetness and light...

There was a suggestion in that show, to the effect that the mother had rushed home early from work shortly before the murders so that her husband wouldn't need to be at home alone with one of the sons...

Another strange aspect of this case, was that one of the sons had joked at a family meal/gathering that the two sons should bump their parents off for their $$$ (upon hearing of a US case in which that had occurred)...

My gut-feeling was that either or both of the sons was possibly inclined to committing the crime/s in question...

There were also issues over the estates of the parents - which triggered the sons' uncle to pursue the case...

Apparently, the investigating police were convinced of the surviving son's guilt - but that the DPP had initially been reluctant to pursue the case (until the uncle came forward and pushed)...

Equitist wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2011 at 6:16pm:




what amazes me is that anyone now believes he will get an honest second trial..our system is dead weird... a story on the ABC.. and BINGO he gets his case reopened.

I think we are as much a victim of celebrity TV as America..

I saw the original show on this and like you nem this gentleman didnt act at all like a person who had been through hell and back..how you could c arry on life  almost normal and then goad a grandparent I will never know..

the uncle admit he believed him right through his first trial..but then later he saw a different person..can we also believe this person is putting on a show for everyone.even his family.[wife friends].I dont know I will be surprised if he gets a second trial though..he will walk free..

the family is dead. nothing will change that and they cannot speak for themselves..

NEW SOUTH WALES SUPREME COURT

Criminal Law - sentence - murder of parents 15 years ago.

DECISION:
The offender is sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the charges of murder.

JUDGMENT:
HOWIE J

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH 2009
2006/2766 REGINA v JEFFREY GILHAM


REMARKS ON SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: The offender is to be sentenced for the murder of his parents in their home on 28
August 1993 after a jury convicted him of these offences on 28 November 2008. The facts surrounding these
killings, the death of the offender’s brother on the same evening and the history of the prosecution of these
offences are truly extraordinary. In April 1995 Mr Justice Abadee described the events surrounding the killings
as “a remarkable human drama”. That drama has continued to the present day.

2 At the outset it is important to bear in mind that the offender is being sentenced for the murder of his
parents. It is obvious now that both the investigating police and the prosecutor were duped at the time that the
offender was dealt with for the manslaughter of his brother. But that event has passed into history and has only
limited relevance, as I shall explain later. Of course it is impossible to consider the penalty for the killing of his
parents without considerable reference to the death of his brother, but I am not punishing the offender for that
killing. Nor am I in any way vindicating his brother who for 15 years was falsely accused of murdering his
parents. I do not accept the prosecutor’s submission that the objective seriousness of the killing of his parents
was aggravated by the fact that the offender falsely blamed the killings on his brother.

3 At the time of the killings the offender lived with his parents, who were in their 50’s, and his elder
brother in the family home in Woronora. The brother, Christopher, was aged 25 years and the offender 23. The
family was highly respected in the community. Both sons, and in particular the offender, were seen as role
models to those who knew the family as friends or neighbours because of their scholastic achievements, their
general exemplary behaviour and character, and their loving relationship with their parents.

4 The offender in particular was admired. He was a good looking, strongly built young man who had
marked success as a yachtsman. He was gregarious and popular not only within his own large circle of friends
but with acquaintances of his parents and neighbours. He was apparently the favoured son, at least of his father.
Christopher, however, was more withdrawn and sensitive, yet was not without his own friends arising mainly
from his interest in fencing. He did not have the striking appearance of his brother and was troubled with
difficulties in his eyesight. He spent much of his time in the family home using the computer.
5 In the early hours of the morning of 28 August, the offender’s parents and brother were savagely
stabbed to death and the house set on fire. At about 4.30am the offender came to a neighbour’s home raising the
alarm. He was dressed only in a pair of shorts and appeared to be in a highly distressed and emotional state. He
said that his brother had killed his parents and set them on fire. He admitted to having stabbed his brother to
death. The neighbour called emergency services. The offender in a halting and distracted manner told the
operator what had happened. So apparently deranged was the offender’s state of mind and so frantic was he to
assist his parents at the time, that at one stage he took hold of a small kitchen fire extinguisher and had to be
restrained from running outside to fight the fire. He then lay on the floor in a foetal position hugging a jumper
that had been brought to him.

6 Eventually he went out to where the fire brigade were in attendance but had to be taken away from the
house in order to stop him trying to enter the building. He even tried to prevent a fireman going toward the
house because he claimed there was a murderer inside. He appeared to be in a highly distressed and confused
state and was comforted by neighbours until the police arrived.

7 When firemen were able to enter the premises they found the charred remains of the offender’s father
facedown in the bedroom. An axe was near the bed. The body of the mother, also heavily burnt, was in the
lounge room lying on her back. Downstairs near his bedroom was the body of Christopher unaffected by fire.
He was lying on his back clothed in a short shave coat with a filleting knife propped against his body near his
left hand. He had multiple stab wounds to his torso in the chest area.

8 The offender was taken to the police station and interviewed by investigators. There dressed only in
shorts with a blanket around his shoulders the offender gave the following account almost in a whisper. He slept
in a boathouse separate from the main residence. He was asleep when he heard screams from his mother over
the intercom next to his bed that was connected to the lounge room of the main house. He got up put on a pair of
shorts and ran up the path to the house entering through the open glass sliding door into the dining area. There
he saw his brother standing over the body of his mother and about to set her on fire. His brother said that he had
killed his parents and then he lit his mother’s body.