Detective denies claims he hid evidence on cop murders

A former homicide detective who investigated accused cop killer Jason Roberts has denied he deliberately hid evidence from the original 2002 trial.

A former homicide detective who investigated accused cop killer Jason Roberts has denied he deliberately hid evidence from the original 2002 trial.

A former homicide detective who investigated accused cop killer Jason Roberts has denied he deliberately hid evidence from the original 2002 trial.

George Buchhorn, who was in charge of preparing the “hand up brief’’ for Mr Roberts’ original trial over the 1998 murders of Sgt Gary Silk and Sen Constable Rodney Miller, was accused in the Supreme Court on Wednesday of orchestrating the concealment and backdating of police statements.

Mr Roberts was convicted alongside his girlfriend’s father, Bandali Debs, in 2002 of the Silk-Miller murders after both men pleaded not guilty.

The 41-year-old Mr Roberts, however, had his convictions quashed in 2020 after the Appeal Court granted him a retrial.

Mr Roberts’ barrister, David Hallowes SC, accused Mr Buchhorn of “deliberately’’ withholding police statements.

“You were ensuring Jason Roberts didn’t get a fair trial,” Mr Hallowes asserted.

“That’s incorrect,’’ Mr Buchhorn replied.

Sergeant Gary Silk.

Senior Constable Rodney Miller

Mr Buchhorn admitted he had omitted some original statements from the brief of evidence if they were replaced by amended ones, but testified he was trained to do so.

He also testified he also sent police members back their statements for clarification to train them.

“My conduct during that investigation was in accordance with how I’d been trained,’’ Mr Buchhorn said.

But he denied that he had withheld statements as a strategy to hide evidence from defence lawyers.

“Your honour, I’m not comfortable with the way the questions are being put,’’ he told the court.

Mr Hallowes also asked Mr Buchhorn if he was trained to backdate statements to appear as if they were made on the morning of the murders on August 16, 1998, firing at him “That’s what you did’’.

Mr Buchhorn answered: “No’’.

“You deliberately hid statements,’’ Mr Hallowes said.

“It was sent back as part of their training.’’

The additional police statements in question were made by officers who had surrounded a fatally wounded officer Miller after he was ambushed on Cochranes Rd on August 16, 1998.

They include words said by the wounded officer Miller, deemed his “dying declaration’’.

Some of the police statements were made months and years after the murders.

The trial has heard evidence that an original police statement made by then officer Glenn Pullin on the morning of the Silk-Miller murders was replaced by a second statement, which was backdated to appear as the original.

The statement contained additional evidence regarding officer Miller’s “dying declaration’’ indicating there was more than one offender.

The trial continues.