Coroner reopens Tasmanian cold case into stabbing death of Rita Sally Greer

A CORONER has reopened a decade-old cold case to determine whether the husband and son of a Hobart woman were involved in her fatal stabbing.

Lawyer Barbara Etter, who is acting for Rita Greer’s daughter Pauline, has called for independent analysis of blood spatter evidence in the case to determine whether the dead woman’s injuries were self-inflicted.

A CORONER has reopened a decade-old cold case to determine whether the husband and son of a Hobart woman were involved in her fatal stabbing.

Rita Sally Greer, 62, was found dead in the shower at a property at Pelverata in September 2007.

She had suffered 17 stab wounds and a knife was still embedded in her neck.

A coroner subsequently ruled her death was a suicide.

But the case has been reopened and a preliminary hearing in the Coroner’s Court in Hobart yesterday heard a fresh inquest would examine whether Ms Greer’s estranged husband Samuel or her son Robert were involved in her death.

Ms Greer had separated from her husband in 1995, but the couple lived in separate homes on the same property and remained close.

The 2007 investigation noted Ms Greer suffered serious mental illness and had used cannabis in the hours before her death.

Counsel assisting the coroner Rebecca Lancaster said the new inquest would examine whether Ms Greer acted alone and what her intentions were.

She said police, forensic experts and Robert and Samuel Greer would be called to give evidence.

Lawyer Barbara Etter, who is acting for Ms Greer’s daughter Pauline, called for independent analysis of blood spatter evidence in the case to determine whether the dead woman’s injuries were self-inflicted.

Ms Etter said bloodstains in the shower stall, on a bathroom wall and on the other side of the room where Ms Greer was found needed careful examination.

She wanted an independent pathologist to consider whether there had been a struggle at the scene of Ms Greer’s death.

Ms Etter also called for a more senior police officer to be ­assigned to the case, saying she was concerned there could be a perception the current investigator could be biased or have a conflict of interest.

Her requests were denied by Coroner Olivia McTaggart, who said she was confident the officer currently assigned to the case was up to the task.

Ms Etter said she also wanted the investigation to determine whether Ms Greer had taken out any life insurance policies or had superannuation at the time of her death.

The case will return to court for a preliminary hearing on September 16. The inquest is expected to hear evidence over three days in November.

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