Beyond the relief, a travesty continues
While the finding of one of Queensland’s most astute judges was a relief, the killer of Shandee Blackburn, whoever he may be, is still at large, with justice still an elusive mirage for her mother.
Shandee's Story
Acquitted, then ruled a killer – now defiant John Peros has a financial price to pay
John Peros’s defamation claim over The Australian’s Shandee’s Story podcast has been torpedoed in the Supreme Court.
Peros claims he became a ‘recluse’ after Shandee podcast
John Peros says he became a recluse, struggled to find a job or maintain friendships because people thought he murdered his ex-girlfriend Shandee Blackburn after the release of an episode of The Australian’s investigative podcast series Shandee’s Story.
Why John Peros says Shandee’s Story caused him harm
Lawyers for John Peros say The Australian’s ‘serious repute’ as a quality news outlet enhanced the ‘serious harm’ it caused in investigative podcast Shandee’s Story.
Podcast Episodes
Episode 1 – Sugar Town
Episode 2 – Sweating Bullets
Episode 3 – Toxic Love
Episode 5 – Willy D
Episode 6 – Losing It
Episode 7 – Bad Science
Episode 8 – Charge
Episode 9 – Fast Hands
Episode 10 – Blood
Episode 11 – Lollies
Episode 12 – Herring and Shark
Episode 13 – Unheard Evidence
Episode 15 – Spin Cycles
Episode 16 – Running
Episode 17 – Through The Cracks
Episode 18 – Fair Go
Episode 19 – Shandee’s Legacy
Episode 20 – Shoot The Messengers
Introducing Shandee’s Legacy
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 1: Blame Game
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 2: Evidence Destruction
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 3: Ingrid’s Epic Spray
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 4: Gaslit
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 10: Project 13
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 11: What Linzi Left Out
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 12: History Repeating
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 13: Science Speak
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 14: Closing Ranks
No ‘serious harm’ to Peros standing
A coroner had already concluded that former amateur boxer John Peros had viciously stabbed his ex-girlfriend Shandee Blackburn to death, prior to the release of a true crime episode; court hears.
‘Obliterated’ reputation key to Shandee case hearing
A Supreme Court judge will hold a hearing to decide if boxer John Peros suffered serious harm to his reputation from a podcast released more than a year after a coroner found he savagely stabbed his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn to death.
DNA disaster lab ‘must be shut down’
The forensic scientist who exposed Queensland’s DNA lab disaster says her worst fears are being realised, with ‘mind boggling’ evidence the lab is facing impossible demands.
Shandee’s mum facing a defamation trial
Vicki Blackburn is headed towards a trial in which she will seek to show her daughter’s former boyfriend stabbed her to death and got away with it.
Shandee mum has lawyers’ support
Murder victim Shandee Blackburn’s mother is being represented by a high-powered legal team without charge as she fights defamation proceedings brought by her daughter’s accused killer.
Forensic lab’s latest failure
The Miles government needs to intervene in a case involving long delays in the formal identification and release of bodies of a couple killed in a plane crash.
Accused killer lodges lawsuit over FB posts
The man accused by a coroner of killing Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn is suing a Walkley Award-winning journalism student for defamation over derogatory comments other people made on Facebook.
Double jeopardy overhaul: Shandee’s ex could face retrial
Draft laws would allow the ex-boyfriend of murder victim Shandee Blackburn to face a retrial if he is implicated in re-testing of DNA samples in her case.
DNA lab’s fake facts key ‘proof of its lies’
A document described as a ‘fact sheet’ misled dozens of scientists and Queensland Health on the eve of the launch of a DNA testing system that was doomed to fail.
DNA lab’s 17 years of disasters
The 17-year saga of Queensland’s DNA laboratory raises the question: how many synonyms are there for the words shameful and debacle?
What reputation: Mum’s explosive legal defence
John Peros is a remorseless killer who had no reputation to lose from Facebook posts calling him a murdering sociopath, court documents allege.
This was a magic carpet ride for pure cowardice
Wet lettuce leaves have fallen with more force than the findings about those responsible for the Queensland DNA lab’s criminal-freeing Project 13.
Punch in the gut for victims: nine-year DNA lab betrayal
Criminals may have evaded justice across nine years as a result of ‘fatally flawed’ DNA testing, a Qld inquiry has found, potentially forcing the retesting of up to 103,000 samples.
Years of missed alarms won’t cost DNA lab chief
The scientist leading Queensland’s embattled DNA lab out of ruin has been found to have failed to sound the alarm about its biggest catastrophe, but will stay on.
Expert witness furious at DNA probe findings
A respected academic tells of her shock that Qld’s second DNA inquiry could find scientists did everything wrong but hold no-one accountable.
Scientist not asked about her notes
The scientist at the centre of a DNA scandal was not asked in a commission of inquiry’s hearings about her working notes.
‘It’s horrible’: Evidence was destroyed
Potentially crucial forensic evidence from Queensland crimes was routinely discarded for more than a decade, ruining the chance of retesting and worsening the biggest forensic disaster in history.
Blink, and the DNA inquiry was over
The Project 13 DNA inquiry wrapped up yesterday in Brisbane in record time, leaving in its wake a raft of unanswered questions and unresolved issues.
‘Thousands of criminals are walking the streets’
More than 100,000 crime scene samples from 2007 to 2016 processed with the flawed extraction method at Queensland’s DNA lab now face retesting.
Queensland Police out for blood over DNA failures
The number of presumed blood samples failing to yield DNA profiles doubled after the introduction of a robotic lab method.
DNA grilling: why didn’t you act?
Qld’s new forensic lab boss admits she only ordered retesting of thousands of crime samples potentially affected by flawed DNA extraction after being questioned by The Australian.
It’s a disgraceful cover-up … and it’s still going on
There are predictable, garden-variety cover-ups. And then there’s the kind of cover-up so big and dangerous you can scarcely believe it.
Time to talk DNA as witnesses enter hot tub of truth
Shandee Blackburn’s mother sat in the front row of the court’s public gallery as public hearings begin for the second DNA inquiry.
Justice is ‘in jeopardy’ without law reform: Shandee’s mum
New double jeopardy laws will be meaningless for victims if they can’t use evidence unearthed in a review of cases affected by failures in Qld’s DNA lab, Shandee Blackburn’s mum warns.
DNA inquiry sequel set to draw fresh blood
So many over the years have peered into the mirror of Shandee Blackburn’s blood. A decade on, we might finally get an answer to why her killer is still at large.
Accused killer sues Shandee Blackburn’s mum
Vicki Blackburn is being sued for defamation by the man accused of killing her daughter, over comments made by other people.
D-Day for DNA extraction inquiry
Public hearing dates and lawyers have been announced for a new commission of inquiry into a flawed DNA extraction method blamed for forensic samples failing to identify Shandee Blackburn’s killer.
Wrong call: Murder victim’s mum rejects review
The Queensland government tried to persuade Shandee Blackburn’s mum that an advisory board could handle allegations against the new chief of the state’s DNA lab.
Call for DNA inquiry to be reopened
Vicki Blackburn, whose daughter’s unsolved murder prompted last year’s inquiry, said the government owed it to victims of crime to reopen investigation into DNA testing.
School kid ‘could find DNA flaws’
A retired forensic scientist says a high school student could have picked up catastrophic problems with a DNA extraction method that has been blamed for the failure to identify Shandee Blackburn’s killer.
Call for new Queensland DNA boss to quit
The mother of murdered woman Shandee Blackburn calls for the new boss of Queensland’s troubled DNA lab to resign and a CCC investigation to be ordered into her actions.
New lab chief facing tough DNA queries
The new chief of Queensland’s strife-torn DNA lab failed in an expert report to detail a catastrophic flaw in an extraction method blamed for the failure to identify the killer of Shandee Blackburn.
Scientists aware of flawed DNA test
A flawed DNA extraction method blamed for the failure to identify the killer of Shandee Blackburn was implemented despite scientists raising concerns it was failing.
Shandee’s Story: The catastrophe called Project 13
The scientist who triggered a landmark inquiry into Queensland’s DNA lab believes she has found the origins of why samples failed to identify Shandee Blackburn’s killer | LISTEN
DNA breakthrough for justice
The Queensland laboratory is finally being brought up to standard
Shandee’s victory: Killer, rapists caught after DNA lab overhaul
The slaying of a pregnant woman is one of several serious crimes in Queensland resolved as a direct result of huge reforms to the state’s DNA testing lab.
Peros fails in bid to up-end guilty ruling
A Supreme Court justice found that John Peros was guilty of mine site bashing ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.
Shandee’s accused killer sues for $20m
John Peros, the man acquitted of murdering Shandee Blackburn, has reportedly lodged a $20m claim against the Queensland government.
Bring DNA scandal to final end
The incoming Queensland Health Minister needs to make an early decision to resolve the future of Cathie Allen, the scientist at the centre of the laboratory fiasco.
Top award recognises Thomas’s compassion, courage and fury
The Australian’s national chief correspondent has won one of journalism’s highest honours for his outstanding podcasts Shandee’s Story and The Teacher’s Trial.
Shandee’s mother urges national review of DNA labs
The mother of murdered Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn has backed calls for a national review of the way DNA laboratories are accredited.
Scientist whose brave stand protected public interest
Kirsty Wright helped expose major failures in criminal justice.
Champion who fought the system, for the voiceless
Kirsty Wright’s gutsy calling out in the Shandee’s Story investigative podcast series of the Queensland government’s ‘broken’ DNA testing laboratory is extraordinary.
‘False hope’ offered to rape victims
Those affected by evidence bungling at Qld’s DNA lab are being given false hope under proposed double-jeopardy laws.
Shandee accused assault victim’s injuries revealed
The extent of the injuries inflicted on a workmate by John Peros can now be seen for the first time.
Double jeopardy jettisoned in DNA lab overhaul
People acquitted of rape will face retrial if new DNA evidence is uncovered during the testing of thousands of crime samples shelved during the lab disaster.
Shandee murder suspect’s DNA to be kept on file
The DNA of John Peros – the man found by a coroner to have killed his girlfriend Shandee Blackburn – will be kept in police files indefinitely.
Justice denied in state due to DNA laboratory failures
The Australian podcast Shandee’s Story led to the inquiry.
Report brings hope in family quest for justice
The family of slain Mackay woman Shandee Blackburn is hopeful her murder can be solved after a royal commission-style inquiry recommended sweeping reforms to Queensland’s forensics laboratory.
Disturbing: Lab’s forensic failings ‘as big as it gets’
Thousands of criminal cases will be reviewed and a top scientist may face serious action after an inquiry revealed long-running failures.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/topics/shandees-story