Paramedic describes shock at seeing alleged Phyllis Harrison murder scene during Steven Hainsworth triple-murder trial
A paramedic has told a court of the disturbing sight they found at the scene of an alleged serial killer’s first alleged murder in Adelaide.
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A paramedic who attended the alleged murder scene of an elderly lady said she had a really hard time handling it after seeing her stockings were pulled down, a court has heard.
Steven Leslie Hainsworth is standing trial in the Supreme Court for the alleged murders of Phyllis Harrison, Beverley Hanley and Stephen Newton.
On Friday, SA Ambulance paramedic Renate Flaherty told the court she was called to Mrs Harrison’s house in March 1998 where she saw her body in the kitchen area.
Ms Flaherty said she checked Mrs Harrison’s pulse to make sure she wasn’t still alive.
“She obviously looked deceased,” she said.
Ms Flaherty said she was distracted when she saw Ms Harrison’s stockings had been taken down but eventually noticed there was a lot of blood.
“I had a hard time processing what I had just seen,” she said.
Ms Flaherty told the court she then spoke with Mrs Harrison’s family members and remembered her daughter saying she had tried to call Mrs Harrison the day before but there was no answer.
“I also remember her saying that her mother was always very meticulous, or you know sure that she locked everything up – she was a safety lady and she was surprised that when they came there the place was open,” Ms Flaherty said.
Mr Hainsworth, 49, of Mildura in Victoria, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mrs Harrison, his aunt Mrs Hanley, and associate Mr Newton between 1998 and 2011.
Mrs Harrison was found dead in her Elizabeth South home, by members of her family, in March 1998.
Mr Hainsworth was, at that time, her next-door neighbour.
In her opening address, prosecutor Amelia Cairney said Mr Hainsworth allegedly entered Mrs Harrison’s home, likely by an unlocked door into a games area on March 2, 1998, looking for items.
“Having encountered Mrs Harrison, he stabbed and killed her,” she said. She said there was “extremely strong support for the hypothesis” Mr Hainsworth was a match to DNA samples sourced from on and around Mrs Harrison’s body.
However, she conceded those samples had sustained “contamination” over the decades since, and that evidence would be called about that issue.
Ms Cairney said in 2007, a knife matching the injuries sustained by Mrs Harrison was found “two doors down” from her former home.
On Friday, the man who bought the house in 2007 said he was cleaning up the hedge and was almost finished when something made a noise.
“Rocks were getting thrown into a pile and I thought it was a rock,” he said.
However, on close inspection the man said he realised it was a mud covered knife and called police.
Detective at Elizabeth Criminal Investigation Branch Mark Pengilly who attended the crime scene in 1998 also gave evidence on Friday.
Counsel Andrew Fowler-Walker asked Mr Pengilly if he believed DNA was in its infancy in terms of an investigative tool in 1998 and that police were not trained to properly deal with contamination.
Mr Pengilly replied he strongly disagreed with this and he would suggest the infancy related to the amount of data.
The trial continues.
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