Police switched multiple Silk-Miller reports, inquiry told
Multiple police witness statements taken during the Silk-Miller murder investigation were replaced with new statements containing additional information, an IBAC inquiry has heard.
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Multiple police witness statements taken during the Silk-Miller murder investigation were replaced with new statements containing additional information — without reference or disclosure of the fact they were not the original, a major anti-corruption inquiry has heard.
Sergeant Rosemary Eden, a homicide detective responsible for compiling police statements for the 1998 murder investigation, agreed that several statements included in the brief of evidence were not the original but were made to look like they were the only statements taken. It is not clear if the original statements were destroyed or still exist.
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Sgt Eden was questioned on Wednesday during the third week of the independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission inquiry which was triggered by the Herald Sun’s discovery of a police statement — key to the conviction of Jason Roberts alongside Bandali Debs — which had been buried for 19 years.
In 2017 this paper revealed a backdated statement by first responding officer Glenn Pullin had been altered to include a “dying declaration” by Senior Constable Rodney Miller indicating there were two offenders at the Moorabin shooting.
Snr-Con Miller’s final words were not included in Mr Pullin’s original statement.
Commissioner Robert Redlich QC said while none of the additions to the statements presented as evidence on Wednesday were “earth shattering”, it demonstrated that improper practices regarding statements were commonplace.
“What it suggests is there was a process being followed here which resulted in the initial statement not being kept and disclosed,” Comm Redlich said.
A spreadsheet assembled by Sgt Eden after the murders recorded that statements from Senior-Constable Graham Thwaites and Francis Adams were obtained by 24th August 1998 — about one week after the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Snr-Con Miller.
But the statements included in the brief of evidence were dated in October 1998 for Mr Thwaites and February 2000 for Mr Adams.
The hearing was also shown notes referred to as “points of correction” in regards to another officer’s statement.
These corrections were included in the officer’s statement, with no indication there had been a previous statement made. Sgt Eden said she could not recall seeing multiple statements or original versions disappearing, but accepted that it did happen.
When asked by the commissioner what problems could arise from this practice she said: “clearly it’s wrong”.
The hearing continues.
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