Wendie-Sue Dent’s murder conviction overturned and retrial ordered

Wendie-Sue Dent was found guilty of poisoning her lover – now three judges have ordered a retrial because she told so many lies jurors may have been “overwhelmed”.

Wendie-Sue Dent was arrested, by detectives, at her motor home in Dapto, NSW. Picture: SA Police.

A court has overturned a woman’s murder conviction – for poisoning her lover to claim his $300,000 estate – fearing the jury that found her guilty was “overwhelmed” by her lies.

In a judgment on Monday, the Court of Criminal Appeal said the case against Wendie-Sue Dent was capable of proving, beyond reasonable doubt, she murdered David Lawrence.

However, Justices Trish Kelly, David Peek and Greg Parker agreed jurors may have been “overwhelmed” by the “number and nature of Dent’s lies” when reaching their verdict.

They said the trial judge should have, but did not, give specific instructions about those lies to the jury – and without them, a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.

The trio quashed Dent’s convictions and ordered a retrial, leaving Mr Lawrence’s family in shock and disbelief.

“It’s shattering, we thought it was all over, but it is what it is,” his brother, Phillip, said outside court.

“This is all part of the robust process of the law … I won’t make any comment other than saying we have to wait for round two and see what happens.”

David Lawrence died in December 2015. Source: SA Police.

Dent pleaded not guilty at trial and continues to insist she is innocent. Picture: AAP/Sam Wundke.

Dent, 61, of Dapto in NSW, pleaded not guilty but was found guilty at trial of having murdered Mr Lawrence in December 2015.

Jurors unanimously ruled she had poisoned him with her medication – including 20, 100mg tablets of morphine – to claim his $300,000 estate.

She also falsified paperwork, including a will, to be named his sole beneficiary and told lies in an attempt to undermine the tight-knit Lawrence family.

Dent filed an appeal against her conviction, saying an engagement ring and a Viagra prescription proved she and her victim were deeply in love and that she did not kill him.

The Lawrences, meanwhile, told Dent she was a selfish, remorseless, outlandish liar whose life is “a waste”, saying she deserves only a “meaningless existence” in jail.

Family members of David Lawrence including his brother Philip Lawrence, front, outside court on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

In Monday’s lead judgment, Justice Kelly said “lies told” by Dent were, “in a very real sense … front and centre on the prosecution case”.

She said those lies fell into several different categories including forgeries, lies told before and after Mr Lawrence’s death, and lies about the cause of his death.

As a result, jurors required “clear and careful directions” from the judge as to how those lies interacted with one another and with the evidence.

“It is perhaps easy, with the wisdom of hindsight, to criticise the directions given by a trial judge,” she said.

“However … I am left with a distinct sense of unease that the jury may have been overwhelmed by the number and nature of Dent’s lies.

“The judge’s directions as to the lies was, in all the circumstances of this case, inadequate and may have led to a miscarriage of justice.”

Justice Kelly said she had also conducted “my own, independent review” of the evidence.

“I consider that it was well open for a jury, properly instructed, to conclude beyond reasonable doubt … that Dent had administered the drugs with the necessary intent of killing Mr Lawrence,” she said.

Dent was remanded in custody to face court again on Friday, when a timetable for her retrial will be set.