Black widow killer Biannca Edmunds appeals murder conviction
A black widow killer at the centre of a bungled assassination plot that left two men dead is fighting to overturn her conviction claiming she didn’t get a fair trial after the judge ruled out self-defence.
Police & Courts
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Black widow killer Biannca Edmunds is fighting to overturn her conviction, claiming she did not get a fair trial after the judge ruled out self defence.
Edmunds, 38, was found guilty of murder and is serving a 26-year jail term after she plotted with her new husband, Glen Cassidy, to kill her ex-partner Michael Caposiena amid a custody battle over their son.
Both men were killed in the assassination attempt on March 12, 2016.
During the 2022 trial she had denied any involvement, and claimed Cassidy, 49, acted alone.
Cassidy, armed with a sawn-off shotgun, ambushed Mr Caposiena, 32, at his Westmeadows home, firing a bullet through his head during a struggle.
Mr Caposiena managed to inflict a fatal stab wound to Cassidy during the scuffle.
Defence barrister Dermot Dann KC told Victoria’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday the trial judge, now retired Justice Lex Lasry, made an error in a pre-trial ruling, leading to a miscarriage of justice for Edmunds.
He said Justice Lasry ruled self defence was not an option, and directed the jury they would “have little or no difficulty in finding Mr Cassidy murdered Mr Caposiena”.
Mr Dann said this was a “devastating set of directions” by His Honour for his client.
He said whether self defence was a consideration should have been a decision for the jury, not the judge.
He said the evidence pointed to Mr Caposiena stabbing Cassidy before seeing the gun, meaning the jury could have found he pulled the trigger in self defence.
Ultimately, if the jury found Cassidy acted in self defence, then they could not have convicted Edmunds of murder.
“Maybe the jury would have rejected self defence (but) the question had to be left open for the jury’s consideration,” Mr Dann said.
“His Honour erred in the original ruling … a substantial miscarriage of justice occurred.”
Crown prosecutor Ray Gibson KC said self defence “is not a realistic scenario” as Cassidy had gone to the house “armed to the teeth” and the shooting and stabbing happened in a split second of each other.
“The opportunity for a reasonable possibility of self defence just doesn’t exist – we say it’s fanciful,” Mr Gibson said.
“(Mr Cassidy) came in with an assassination kit – a shotgun, two knives, gaffa tape and the like.”
He said the evidence against Cassidy was damning, including that he parked away from the scene and had a hand-drawn map on him of Mr Caposiena’s home, identifying where street lights, security cameras and barking dogs were.
He even had notes on his phone, Mr Gibson said, detailing the plan, including “one bulet” (sic), “Getting him alone”, “Body” and “Transport”.
Edmunds, who police say goaded her husband to commit the hit, promising him more sex, has always said suggestions she was involved were “absurd”.
“I’m not a psycho,” she said. “I have never wished anyone dead.”
But the trial heard she wanted Mr Caposiena out of her and her son’s life, and told Cassidy, “if you were a real man, you’d take care of it”.
The newlyweds devised the plan to kill inside their Shepparton home, where Edmunds stayed when Cassidy drove the 150km to Mr Caposiena’s home.
Court of Appeal president Karin Emerton and Justices Lesley Taylor and Peter Kidd reserved their decision.
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