John Peros, who coroner found had killed Shandee Blackburn, sues state for $20m

The man found by a coroner to have killed his ex-partner Shandee Blackburn is now suing the state for $20 million, claiming malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment.

John Peros was found by a coroner to have murdered Shandee Blackburn.

• Video: Peros captured on CCTV
• Shandee’s Story: Listen to podcast

The man a coroner found was responsible for killing Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn has sensationally lodged a $20 million damages claim against the state alleging he was the victim of malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment.

John Peros spent more than three years in prison until 2017 when he was acquitted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend Ms Blackburn, who was viciously stabbed to death as she walked home from work in February 2013.

But in 2020, coroner David O’Connell, who examined the case, found that Peros was responsible for killing Ms Blackburn, concluding there was “no other possible reasonable explanation”.

Despite the coroner’s finding, Queensland’s double jeopardy laws mean Peros cannot be charged again with Ms Blackburn’s murder unless fresh and compelling evidence comes to light.

In his findings the coroner stated that Peros was not guilty of any offence, nor was he civilly liable.

“These are inquest finding that I make, and this is not a criminal trial, nor a civil action,” Mr O’Connell said.

Peros, who now resides in Western Australia, has lodged a civil suit in the Brisbane Supreme Court against arresting officer Detective Sergeant Lisa Elkins and the State of Queensland.

“As a consequence of the malicious prosecution of the plaintiff by (Det Elkins), the plaintiff was wrongly imprisoned between 4 September 2014 and 8 April 2017,” the claim states.

Shandee Blackburn

Peros is suing for $20 million in damages, including $1 million in legal costs he says he spent defending the murder charge, and for loss of income during the time he spent in jail calculated at $100,000 per year.

In his claim, Peros alleges police failed to properly investigate another man, William Daniel, the nephew of police officer Samantha Bliss who participated in the investigation into Ms Blackburn’s death.

Both Daniel and Peros have strenuously proclaimed their innocence, both denying any involvement in the death of 23-year-old Ms Blackburn.

The claim states: “The prosecution of the plaintiff (Peros) was actuated by malice and an improper purpose in that; the first defendant (Det Elkins) knew that the evidence against the plaintiff was inadequate in order to establish the charge of murder and armed robbery, yet continued with the prosecution on the basis that the plaintiff was the only person she could establish opportunity and motive beyond any person who might have committed the murder.

“The reason for not pursuing Daniel as a witness was that he was related to a fellow officer, Bliss, and the first defendant (Det Elkins) did not disclose her relationship with Bliss to senior investigating officers or otherwise disqualify herself from the investigation given that Daniel was a relative of Bliss.”

Allegations of a conflict of interest relating to Det Bliss and her connection to Daniel were raised at the inquest before Mr O’Connell who wrote in his findings: “I do not suspect that Detective Bliss has committed either an offence, or a breach of discipline.”

Detective Sergeant Lisa Elkins

In his civil claim, Peros also alleged Det Elkins was motivated to press the prosecution against him “in order to maintain public confidence and to advance her own position within the police service…”.

Det Elkins has never been found to have engaged in any wrongdoing in relation to the case and the adequacy of the police investigation was not probed at the inquest.

The State of Queensland and Det Elkins are yet to file a defence to the civil claim.

Ms Blackburn, 23, was set upon while walking home from her job at the Harrup Park Country Club in Mackay on February 9, 2013.

She suffered dozens of stab wounds in the frenzied attack.

Peros, a former champion amateur boxer, filed his civil damages suit in April, two months after the 10 year anniversary of Ms Blackburn’s death and six years after his acquittal.

In the claim, 41-year-old Peros argued that the police case had been insufficient to lead an “ordinarily prudent and cautious person” to the conclusion that he was guilty of murder or that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute.

He alleges that Det Elkins: “did not honestly and genuinely believe that the evidence she had compiled in respect of the guilt of the plaintiff was sufficient in order to set the processes of the criminal law in motion”.

“ … And in order to make the case against the plaintiff appear stronger than it truly was, took steps to embellish, manipulate, misrepresent or deliberately conceal aspects of the evidence which was likely to exculpate the plaintiff or otherwise undermine the case advanced by the prosecution …” Peros claims.

The crime scene in East Mackay

He alleges in the court documents that police “unduly dismissed” the evidence of a witness Levii Blackman who told police Daniel had confessed to the murder, allegedly telling him “someone got murdered up there” and “I did it”.

“The first defendant (Elkins) was influenced by her relationship with Bliss in the conduct of the investigation and the pursuit of the plaintiff (Peros) as opposed to Daniel,” the claim alleges.

Revelations exposed in the The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story about the failings of the crucial DNA testing in the murder investigation prompted a commission of inquiry into the state’s forensic lab.

Following the inquiry, commissioner Walter Sofronoff KC made more than 100 recommendations in a 500-page report handed down in December which contained damning findings about the lab’s catastrophic failings that he described as being “as big as it gets”.

In December last year, Peros was also found guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court of a charge of common assault after he attacked a fellow worker at a Pilbara mine site in June 2020, two months before Mr O'Connell delivered his findings.

The court heard the pair had a disagreement the day before the assault when they saw a video of police being attacked at a Black Lives Matter protest and Peros commented “all police officers should be stabbed and shot and everything else”, but his victim disagreed.

Peros was fined $2000 and allowed a spent conviction after his lawyer argued he had already lost his high paying job and could struggle to find more work in the mining industry if convicted.

A Queensland police spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment on matters currently before the courts.

Shandee Blackburn

TIMELINE

February 9, 2013:Shandee Blackburn is murdered in Mackay while walking home from work. The 23-year-old is set upon during the 1.2km walk home from her job in the cafe of Harrup Park Country Club and stabbed dozens of times in a frenzied attack.

March 10, 2013:John Peros, Ms Blackburn’s ex-boyfriend, is first spoken to by detectives about her death amid an extensive police investigation.

September 4, 2014:Peros is charged with the murder and armed robbery of Ms Blackburn. He is held on remand until his trial in 2017.

February 2016:Peros is committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.

April 8, 2017:A jury finds Peros not guilty of Ms Blackburn’s murder and he walks free after 1131 days behind bars.

August 2020: Coroner David O’Connell delivers his findings following an inquest into Ms Blackburn’s death, saying: “Ms Blackburn died due to injuries sustained in an incident involving violence with Mr John Peros, who used a bladed instrument. I realise and appreciate the gravity and ramifications of my findings. It is not a decision I make lightly nor quickly, rather it is one I have very carefully considered and weighed up, to ensure I feel an actual and definite persuasion towards my conclusions; and that there is no other possible reasonable explanation I can reach on the evidence to persuade me to come to a different or an open conclusion.”

June 2022: Prompted by explosive revelations about DNA lab testing failures in The Australian’s podcast Shandee’s Story, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces a commission of inquiry will be held to investigate the lab’s practices.

December 2022: Commissioner Walter Sofronoff KC delivers his findings about the catastrophic failings at the lab, making more than 100 recommendations in his 500- page report. Thousands of samples will be have to be retested over the coming years.