Photographer Derick Sands loses Supreme Court defamation case over Corinna Marr murder
A FORMER newspaper photographer has lost a defamation case against the state, in which he claimed his life was ruined when outed as a suspect in the Corinna Marr murder.
A FORMER newspaper photographer has lost a defamation case against the state, in which he claimed his life was ruined when outed as a suspect in the Corinna Marr murder.
Supreme Court Justice Trish Kelly today found that Derick Sands had failed to prove SA Police had leaked information to The Advertiser that the former photographer was to be the subject of a court order to provide his fingerprints and DNA in early 2004.
Mr Sands claimed the publication and a subsequent press conference, in which his name was not used, had made him appear the prime suspect in the 1997 shooting murder of Ms Marr at her Collinswood unit.
However, Justice Kelly found that the journalists who attended the press conference already knew Mr Sands was a suspect in the case.
Justice Kelly also found that none of the publications implied that there were "strong grounds" to suspect Mr Sands had murdered Ms Marr "or the imputation that the police had information placing (Mr Sands) at the scene of the murder".
The judge also found the publications of the court hearings in which Mr Sands was ordered to provide DNA and fingerprint samples - which did not match with any found at the murder scene - "were true in substance and fact".
"This is my conclusion from the whole of the evidence which includes a rejection of (Mr Sands') evidence on central issues in this trial," Justice Kelly found.
During closing submissions in February, Crown lawyer Darrell Trim QC urged Justice Kelly to rule against Mr Sands, branding him an "incorrigible liar".
Mr Sands was not in court for this morning's judgment but his lawyer, Peter Humphries, said he would not be surprised by the decision.
"The plaintiff carries the burden of proof and sometimes the situation may be truthful but convincing the court on the burden of proof that you carry is not always easy," Mr Humphries said.
"Probably with resignation, not much has gone right for Derick Sands since 2004 at the latest and for quite a long time before that - he will probably see this as just another chapter."
Major Crime chief Detective Superintendent Grant Moyle said police were happy with Justice Kelly's ruling.
"We're obviously very pleased with the judgment and it's vindication for all the hard work that has gone in by so many people," he said.
"Of course it's still open, we are yet to charge anyone with that murder and as I've said in other cases we don't give up and don't forget."
Det Supt Moyle declined to comment further on the case, including whether police would further investigate Ms Marr's husband Robert Marr - who Mr Sands argued should have been regarded as the prime suspect in the murder.
HISTORY OF THE CASE
Former Messenger photographer Derick Sands, 42, claimed he has lost everything - left bankrupt, friendless and jobless - since he was named as a suspect in the Marr murder in early 2004.
Sands' legal counsel, Paul Heywood-Smith QC, told Justice Trish Kelly during the defamation trial that Major Crime police had botched the investigation - and had pinned their suspicions on the wrong man.
He said Sands, who denies police claims he was involved in a lengthy affair with Ms Marr, had no reason to want her dead.
He argued the pair had been platonic friends since he took her photograph for an advertisement for real estate firm Weeks and Macklin, where she worked at Firle.
In 2009, Sands was labelled a liar who had misled the court by Justice David Bleby, who ruled against him in a similar defamation case against Channel 7.
Justice Bleby found that Sands' status as a suspect was common knowledge among many friends and colleagues before his name was broadcast and that he had given three different accounts of his movements on the afternoon of the murder.
Sands sued the state, arguing that SA Police leaked details that they had issued a court order to take fingerprints, sparking a media frenzy in which he was ultimately identified as a suspect.
The fingerprints did not match and nobody has been charged with the murder.
During the previous defamation trial, Major Crime Detective Sergeant John Keane told the court Sands was the only person police could not eliminate as a suspect, yet conceded there was no hard evidence against him.
Mr Heywood-Smith said there was "something murky" about the police investigation, and questioned why Ms Marr's husband Robert was ruled out as a suspect two days after the murder, before they had obtained witness statements from neighbours.
Sands' team says those statements - either withheld or heavily edited during the previous defamation trial - cast an entirely different light on the case and suggest Robert Marr had the motive to murder his wife.
"The husband had a very strong motive to murder the deceased, and Your Honour will hear of statements that have now been provided (such as) neighbours hearing violent arguments in the week before the murder between husband and wife," Mr Heywood-Smith said.
The unredacted statements showed that Ms Marr told friends and colleagues she was about to leave her husband of 18 months and that she had been involved in affairs with other men.
Mr Heywood-Smith said the revelations shattered the illusion that the Marrs were in a "fairytale marriage".
In the previous defamation case, Det Sgt Keane said police had ruled out a neighbour's claim that Robert Marr arrived home about 45 minutes before ambulance sirens wailed up Howard St - saying Mr Marr had an alibi because he was with a work colleague until shortly before arriving home at 3.45pm.
Mr Marr, who made a plea for information five months after the murder before leaving the country to work for Cirque du Soleil, said he had not noticed his wife's body in the darkened bedroom and found her about 15 minutes after arriving home.
Three years ago, Mr Marr told the Sunday Mail from Brazil that he hoped the killer would be found, saying he believed he knew the truth.
"I really look forward to the day when there's a final judgment brought down and a person is found responsible ... and when that person finally gets what they deserve," Mr Marr said.
CORINNA MARR'S FINAL HOURS
* 9.15am: Leaves her Howard St flat for work at Weeks and Macklin real estate at Firle, arriving about 15 minutes later.
* 10.30am: Travels to Norwood modelling agency, X-Treem, to collect a lycra catsuit for a Strongbow Cider promotion at the Woodville Hotel that night.
* 11am: Arrives back at work, phones husband Robert to arrange that night's meal.
* About 12.30pm:
Corinna visited by a female advertising representative and acquaintance, with the pair chatting happily before Corinna has a pastie and coffee at her desk for lunch.
* 1.30pm: Phones father Trevor King at the family's stained glass business in a regular call to her family.
* 2.30pm: Corinna finishes work after arranging an early finish with her boss, Colin Todd. Mr Todd, who often accompanies Corinna to promotional jobs with her husband's knowledge and approval, confirms he will pick her up from her flat at 3.45pm for the Woodville Hotel promotion.
* About 2.50pm:
Corinna enters the front door of her unit. She goes inside and starts getting ready for her Strongbow promotion.
* About 3pm: Corinna gets into the shower to wash her hair.
* About 3.15pm: A neighbour hears a hair dryer being used in Corinna's bedroom.
* 3.15pm-3.45pm:
The time frame in which forensic experts estimate somebody shot Corinna numerous times in her bedroom. She was found wearing the promotional catsuit with no wounds to suggest she tried to protect herself from danger. There was no robbery or sexual assault.
* 3.45pm: Husband Robert Marr arrives home to find the front door open, walks into the bedroom to get a folder from a cabinet but does not notice his wife's body in the darkness.
* About 3.50pm: Robert goes outside, then returns to the bedroom and finds Corinna before pulling her to the foot of the bed and commencing CPR.
Shortly before 4pm:
Colin Todd phones the Marr home to explain he is running late and is shocked to hear Robert say: "Corinna's dead ... what the f**k have you done?"
* 4pm: Robert Marr phones 000, explaining his wife is unconscious and believes she has been bashed before keeping an open line as he continues resuscitation attempts.
* 4.07pm: An ambulance arrives and is met by a distraught Robert Marr. Paramedics find Corinna's body in the bedroom, finding relatively little blood before discovering she had been shot when they cut her outfit. There is nothing they can do and she is declared dead soon after.
DERICK SANDS
* Former Messenger photographer who denies police claims he was involved in a lengthy affair with Corinna Marr.
* Voluntarily went to police days after the murder to tell police he was friends with Ms Marr.
* Provided a statement to police in August 1997 - has no contact with police for next five years.
* In October 2002, Sands is interrogated by police but not asked to provide an alibi.
* In January 2004, Sands' house is searched and DNA taken, before police lodge court application to take fingerprints.
* In March 2004, Sands is named in media outlets as a suspect but is never charged.
* Loses defamation case in 2009 against Channel 7, branded a liar by Justice David Bleby.