Shandee Blackburn murder investigation reopened after podcast

A coroner has formally reopened investigations into the unsolved murder of Shandee Blackburn.

Shandee Blackburn’s mother, Vicki, in Mackay on Tuesday, says the coronial investigation will benefit all families affected by failings at the forensics lab. Picture: Daryl Wright.

The unsolved murder of Shandee Blackburn has been formally reopened by a Queensland coroner, giving her grieving family new hope that her killer will be brought to justice as they mark the ninth anniversary of her brutal death.

Coroner David O’Connell wrote to Shandee’s grateful mother Vicki last week to tell her he had made the decision to reopen the coronial investigation.

The decision was sparked by the findings of the investigative podcast series Shandee’s Story last year of serious errors and problems in the government-run ­forensics laboratory’s handling of evidence in the murder case.

Vicki will on Wednesday visit her daughter’s grave with flowers, just as she has done on the anniversary every year since Shandee’s murder in the early hours of Saturday February 9, 2013.

“It gives us something to keep going, to keep fighting for – to not just throw our hands up in the air and go ‘we’re giving up, we’re not getting anywhere’,” Vicki said of the new coronial investigation.

“That has certainly come from the coroner’s decision and from all the responses that we got from the podcast. It has strengthened our resolve to keep going.”

Vicki said she had “complete confidence” in the coroner, who she hopes will order the retesting of forensic evidence in an independent laboratory.

Among the shocking findings of forensic biologist Kirsty Wright and The Australian’s Hedley Thomas was that the lab failed to detect DNA in a sample from a pool of blood, did not detect prime murder suspect John Peros’s trace DNA in his own car, and only partially tested many other samples.

New software and DNA profiling kits introduced weeks before Shandee’s murder may have contributed to the lab’s serious problems interpreting DNA profiles.

The podcast series is due to resume this week, with new episodes set to deliver startling new revelations about the murder case.

Legal and scientific experts, Shandee’s family and other victims of crime have joined Dr Wright in calling for a separate broad inquiry into the forensics laboratory. There are concerns systemic failures in the lab could affect many hundreds of cases.

Dr Wright says in analysing hundreds of pages of documents from the investigation and court proceedings, she found a “forensics train wreck” that could turn into the biggest forensics disaster in Australian history.

“I’m still stunned that no other government body has taken any action or regard to that,” Shandee’s mother Vicki said.

“It is quite astounding that it’s not important enough to look at.

“I’m not talking about Shandee’s case in particular. I’m talking about the government not taking any steps to look at this laboratory and the findings from Kirsty.

“It’s astounding that nothing’s been done. Even that the lab still has its accreditation, as far as I’m aware. Nobody’s looked at that. Nobody has investigated, as far as I’m aware. Nothing has been done from any government department to look at the processes and results coming from that laboratory.”

Shandee Blackburn

Shandee suffered more than 20 stab and slash wounds as she walked home from work in the sugar and mining town of Mackay on Queensland’s central coast.

Mr O’Connell, based in Mackay, delivered findings in 2020 that the 23-year-old was killed by her former boyfriend, Mr Peros. But he did not find fresh and compelling evidence required to charge Mr Peros with murder under the state’s double jeopardy laws.

A jury had acquitted Mr Peros of the murder in 2017. He denies any involvement.

In his letter to Vicki, Mr O’Connell said: “I am writing to update you about recent developments regarding the coronial investigation into the death of your daughter, Shandee Blackburn.

“I recently received a letter from the Honourable Ms Shannon Fentiman, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence.

“The Attorney-General ­requested I consider reopening the inquest pursuant to s50A of the Coroners Act, to investigate and inquire into the further issues raised regarding the forensic evidence and testing of the evidence in this case.

“At this time, I can advise you that I have reopened my coronial investigation. I am awaiting further information before I can make any determination as to whether I will reopen the inquest.

“If you have any remarks or comment you wish to provide me, can you please do so in writing and at your earliest convenience.

“As soon as I make any formal decision as to whether the inquest should be reopened and further evidence heard, I will write to you again.”

Coroners have the power to “make or arrange for any examination, inspection, report or test” considered necessary for the ­investigation.

Samples taken from Shandee’s fingernails, arms and clothing and from 12 areas of possible blood in Mr Peros’s car and from knives ­recovered during the investigation are among those that could be retested.

The lab may have also failed to conduct DNA comparison checks on two high-priority targets in the murder investigation. One of the men, Scott MacPherson, had a history of using knives to stab people and was once jailed for ­assaulting Vicki.

Vicki said the lab’s operations had to be reviewed “not just for Shandee, but for any person in any investigation that relies on DNA … that’s not something that you can get wrong. We can all ­remember when DNA came in and it was the be-all and end-all. It was going to help solve so many crimes, and we’ve even seen where DNA … has exonerated some people who have been incarcerated and they’re innocent.

“So the value of that DNA – every single person in the justice system has to be able to have ­confidence in that.”