Court dismisses Adelaide wife killer Peter Dansie’s appeal against murder conviction
The man who drowned his wheelchair-bound wife by pushing her into a city pond – claiming it was an accident – will stay in jail.
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A man who drowned his wheelchair-bound wife in the Adelaide Parklands at sunset has lost an appeal to overturn his murder conviction.
After six months of deliberations, the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Peter Rex Dansie’s appeal in a majority decision on Monday morning.
The judgment means Dansie no longer has any legal right to his wife Helen’s possessions, potentially clearing the way for their son to take control of the family assets.
On Easter Sunday, 2017, Dansie took his wife of more than 40 years to Veale Gardens in the southern parklands of Adelaide. He pushed Helen – and her wheelchair – into a pond, where she drowned.
Following a history-making mistrial, Dansie was found guilty of murdering his wife. He was sentenced to at least 25 years behind bars.
The Supreme Court found he was obsessed with controlling Helen and her assets and had a “very keen interest” in sexual relationships with women in China.
In his appeal, Dansie argued the trial judge had “no or insufficient regard to aspects of the evidence which tended to cast doubt on the prosecution case as to (his) intention”.
Greg Mead SC, for Dansie, previously told the court his client experienced a miscarriage of justice, similar to acquitted Catholic Cardinal George Pell.
Justice Kevin Nicholson said Dansie’s conviction should be overturned.
In remarks published online, Justice Nicholson said he was “not able to reject the essentials of (Dansie’s) account beyond reasonable doubt”.
In particular, Justice Nicholson could not rule out the possibility his wife’s death was just a tragic accident.
“The prosecution case lacks probative force in such a way as to cause me to doubt that the appellant murdered his wife,” he said.
“In my view, it would be dangerous in all the circumstances to allow the verdict of guilty of murder to stand.”
Justices Greg Parker and Mark Livesey, however, disagreed, saying the conviction was reasonable, thus dismissing the appeal by majority.
“In my view, when considered in its totality, the evidence was such that the trial Judge was not required to hold a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the appellant,” Justice Parker said.
Dansie’s son Grant was fighting a separate court action to seize his mother’s assets so his father can no longer benefit from her death.
gabriel.polychronis@news.com.au
