Everything we know so far about criminal neglect trial of Murray Bridge couple Brodie Tull and Starr Light Cahill
The trial of a couple accused of causing horrific injuries to their infant twin boys has heard from family and expert witnesses. Here’s everything that has happened so far.
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The trial of Murray Bridge couple accused of causing horrific injuries to their infant twin boys is wrapping up, with a jury expected to decide their fates next week.
Starr Light Cahill, 29, and Brodie Tull, 24, have pleaded not guilty to two counts of criminal neglect after denying they were responsible for causing the multiple rib fractures or had knowledge of them.
Instead, they claimed to police either their dog, by sitting on twins’ chest, or Ms Cahill’s daughter mishandling the babies is what caused them.
Here’s everything that has happened in the trial so far.
The allegations
In his opening address Michael Foundas, prosecuting, told the jury the couple’s twin boys were born six weeks premature on March 8, 2022.
The court heard one of the twins presented at the Murray Bridge hospital on May 29, 2022.
“He was not breathing properly, he was making grunting noises and his chest was making an unusual clicking sound,” Mr Foundas said.
An examination by an expert forensic pediatrician revealed the boy had 33 recent rib fractures, signs of 18 older rib fractures, a laceration to his liver, bruising and an older leg fracture.
“On the prosecution case, (the boy) had been the victim of at least one recent and one older occasion of deliberate inflictions of force, particularly to his chest,” Mr Foundas said.
Police attended the house to check on the other twin the following day.
A medical examination found he had 13 recent rib fractures and signs of 24 older rib fractures.
“It is the prosecution case that those incredibly vulnerable and helpless infant twins were failed by the two people who should have been caring for them and keeping them safe,” Mr Foundas said.
“Mr Tull’s temperament, on the prosecution case, might be described as someone who is quick to anger or easily set off.”
What witnesses have said
Ms Cahill’s mother, Donna Sweeney gave evidence that during a visit to the couple’s home she observed Ms Cahill’s unsupervised nine year old daughter holding one of the twins “like a ragdoll”.
She said Mr Tull was allegedly smoking cannabis in the laundry at the time and noted the house was filthy, with rubbish on the floor and piles of dog faeces.
Ms Sweeney also detailed a time she was in the car with Ms Cahill months after the boys’ injuries were uncovered.
“We were talking about Starr and Brodie … like Starr was telling us how her and Brodie were fighting,” she said.
Ms Sweeney said Ms Cahill then told her Mr Tull would not like it if “the truth” about what happened to the twins came out.
Ms Sweeney said Ms Cahill then changed the conversation when she was asked what she meant by that.
Ms Cahill’s grandfather, Brian Hedger discussed in his evidence how both Mr Tull and Ms Cahill could lose their temper at times.
Mr Hedger recounted a time when he took the couple to KFC and Mr Tull didn’t specify the size of the drink he wanted and became angry when they gave him a smaller size than he was after.
“He lost his temper at staff … he just verbally abused the staff member,” he said.
In cross examination, Mr Hedger noted he had never seen Mr Tull be aggressive towards the children or noticed any injuries on them.
A government worker gave evidence about a “strange” comment Mr Tull made when she went to the couple’s house with police to check on the other twin after his brother’s injuries came to light.
The worker asked Mr Tull if he knew why they were there.
“I believe that he suggested it was due to the injuries on (the other twin),” she said.
“I do recall thinking that was strange because obviously we weren’t aware of any injuries to (the other twin) at the time.”
The worker said she also observed the house to be in a “bit of disarray” and said she saw cockroaches on the older children’s beds and belongings.
An expert weighs in
Dr Janine Tee, who specialises in forensic paediatrics, told the court the injuries were beyond the normal handling practices of babies and could have been caused by impact, such as a punch or a hit, or compression, such as squeezing.
Dr Tee was asked if a dog the size of a jack russell could have caused the injuries to the first twin if it had jumped up onto the swing he was in and sat on its chest for a period.
“It’s very difficult to measure that force, but for a small dog, I would not expect that incident to cause any fractures,” she said.
Dr Tee was then asked if a child who had her arms crossed across the chest of the first twin, with his head unsupported, could have caused any or all of the injuries.
She replied that while it could have potentially caused some of the side fractures it couldn’t explain the fractures next to the spine.
“We need to think about not just their ability to cause injury but their motivation to cause it … and all together, the ability, the motivation, the drive to actually do it repeatedly, in my opinion, makes it very unlikely that the siblings have actually done all of these injuries,” she said.
Dr Tee also offered the same explanations for the second twin’s injuries.
In cross examination Dr Tee was asked whether she could exclude a child causing either of the twins’ rib fractures.
“I don’t have enough information to be able to say definitively whether they – a child of seven – say, is able or not able to generate that force to cause fractures but would expect a greater degree of force to cause them,” she replied.
What happens next?
The prosecution case has now been completed and closing addresses have commenced today.
This will be the first opportunity for the couple’s lawyers to argue their clients’ defence in detail to the jury.
The jury will then begin their deliberations next week and ultimately decide Mr Tull and Ms Cahill’s fates by returning guilty or not guilty verdicts.
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Originally published as Everything we know so far about criminal neglect trial of Murray Bridge couple Brodie Tull and Starr Light Cahill
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