Murders, bombings in Leonard Warwick case ‘beyond coincidence’

Three judges who made orders adverse to Leonard Warwick became targets of extreme violence, his trial has been told.

Leonard Warwick.

Three Sydney Family Court judges who made orders adverse to former firefighter Leonard Warwick became targets of extreme violence, his trial has been told.

And the only Family Court registry building ever to be bombed in Australia was at Parramatta, where Mr Warwick’s cases were heard, prosecutor Gareth Christofi said on Thursday.

Mr Christofi was listing the “coincidence and tendency evidence­” against the 73-year-old during the crown’s closing address in the NSW Supreme Court.

Mr Warwick has pleaded not guilty to four murders and 20 other offences related to seven events that occurred between February 1980 and July 1985.

The crown alleges the events were inextricably linked to drawn-out Family Court proceedings involving Mr Warwick and his ex-wife, Andrea Blanch­ard, from 1979 to 1986.

“He is circumstantially linked to each crime,” Mr Christofi said.

“The crown submits the circum­stances in which the seven events occurred are substantially similar … the intended targets had involvement in the marital dispute in a way which was adverse to the accused’s interests.”

Judge David Opas, who was shot dead at his Sydney home in 1980, was the first judge to deal with Mr Warwick’s case and had made adverse rulings against him.

“He was highly critical of the accused in open court,” Mr Christofi said. Judge Richard Gee took over, dealing with the case on at least five occasions and also making numerous orders adverse to Mr Warwick. His home was bombed in 1984, as was the registry building at Parramatta.

The home of Ray Watson, the third judge to make adverse orders­, was then bombed, killing his wife Pearl.

And a bomb was found under a car bonnet at the former home of a solicitor representing Mr Warwick­’s estranged wife.

The prosecutor said the first event involved the shooting ­murder of Stephen Blanchard, who was the brother of Mr Warwick­’s estranged wife.

Both Blanchard and Opas died from a single gunshot wound from a .22 firearm.

“The possibility that anyone else could be responsible, given the coincidence evidence, is ­increasingly remote,” Mr Christofi said.

The seventh event involved the explosion of a bomb in 1985 which ripped apart a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall, killing Graham Wykes and injuring 13 people — part of the congregation offering support to his ex-wife.

The prosecutor also referred to evidence that he said indicated Mr Warwick had the knowledge and skill to make an improvised explosive device.

The trial continues before Justice Peter Garling, without a jury.

AAP