Shandee’s mum Vicki Blackburn, opposition demand Qld govt reopens DNA inquiry

Shandee Blackburn’s mum says a commission of inquiry needs to be reopened to examine new information about the scandal-plagued forensic lab.

The opposition has joined forces with the mother of a high-profile unsolved murder victim to demand the state government reopens a commission of inquiry into Queensland’s scandal-plagued forensic testing laboratory.

Vicki Blackburn, whose daughter Shandee’s horrific murder in Mackay 10 years ago remains unsolved, said she was “shattered completely” by revelations a flawed DNA extraction method was used in the investigation despite the state-run lab being aware the testing practice was failing to detect vital forensic evidence.

A powerful commission of inquiry last year discovered the forensic lab had incorrectly reported samples collected from serious crimes had insufficient DNA for processing.

The revelations led to about 30,000 cases being reviewed and the Queensland forensic lab being overhauled.

But recent reporting from The Australian has revealed the lab applied automated DNA extraction methods when examining evidence collected from Shandee’s brutal murder.

Vicki Blackburn, mother of murder victim Shandee Blackburn, called for the inquiry to be reopened. Picture: David Clark

The application of this method was exposed by independent forensic scientist Dr Kristy Wright, who examined documents known as Project 13.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli on Monday morning called on the inquiry to be reopened after meeting Dr Wright, who was a pivotal whistleblower involved in The Australian’s investigative podcast Shandee’s Story.

He said the failings associated with Project 13 “may deny justice for tens of thousands of Queenslanders”.

“It is vital for justice to be done that justice is also seen to be done,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“This has to be done in the light and to know that new allegations have been raised will, for many Queenslanders, leave them to wonder if we can have faith in this system being restored.”

Ms Blackburn fought back tears as she said the failure of the lab may have starved her family of justice for the horrific stabbing murder of her 23-year-old daughter in 2013.

She said the inquiry must be reopened to interrogate the findings of Project 13.

Vicki Blackburn, mother of murder victim Shandee Blackburn, forensic scientist Kirsty Wright and Shandee’s sister, Shannah Blackburn. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

“There are potentially thousands upon thousands of victims who had no idea this happened or if it even affects them,” she said.

“Not once, in over 10 years since Shandee’s death, have I heard any mention of Project 13.

“Not once have I heard the implications, not only on Shandee’s case, but also the thousands of other samples.

“This omission to bring this to light within the inquiry has meant, for us, potentially the identification of the person who took Shandee’s life may never have been exposed.”

Ms Blackburn said revelations of Project 13 had left her “shattered completely”.

“I was re-devastated, not just for Shandee’s case but for everybody’s case.

“These samples don’t need just retesting.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Shandee Blackburn. Picture: Facebook

“There needs to be a proper investigation and each one of these samples needs to be dealt with separately on its own merit to get any chance of justice for these people.”

The lab is currently reviewing 30,000 cases as result of the findings from last year’s inquiry, but Ms Blackburn expects that figure to blow out to as much as 90,000 if the cases from Project 13 are considered.

“Over 16 years that this system was run in the lab,” she said.

“They need to identify what went wrong in the first place.

“A research project needs to be done on how to extract the DNA – go back to the original samples and find out how best to extract from the possible DNA to get the best possible result.”