NSW: Inquest into triple killing hears police admit mistakes

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2000
NSW: Inquest into triple killing hears police admit mistakes

By Alec Brown

SYDNEY 11 April, AAP - A murder inquiry detective today admitted that some aspects
of an investigation into the stabbing deaths of three members of a Sydney family could
have been more thorough.

Detective Sergeant Jeff Ahern told a new inquest into the deaths there were some questions
he should have asked Jeffrey Gilham, the son of two of the victims - but he didn't.

Steven Gilham, 58, and his wife Helen, 55, were stabbed repeatedly in their home at
Woronora in Sydney's south in the early hours of August 28, 1993.

Their son Christopher, 25, was also found dead in the home, with 17 stab wounds.

Jeffrey Gilham, the only surviving son, told police at the time that he had stabbed
his brother Christopher after discovering that Christopher had killed his parents and
set his mother alight.

On April 7, 1995, Jeffrey Gilham was sentenced to a five year good behaviour bond after
pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Under cross examination by William Brewer, representing Jeffrey Gilham, Det Sgt Ahern
was today asked whether he was satisfied with the thoroughness of the police investigation
into the deaths.

"I think so, in general, yes," he told Glebe Coroner's Court.

"Personally, there were some questions I would have liked to ask, but under the circumstances,
it was difficult."

Mr Brewer also asked Det Sgt Ahern whether tests had been carried out on an intercom
unit, which linked the boathouse where Jeffrey Gilham was sleeping and the house where
the killings took place.

"Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have," said the detective.

Mr Brewer went on to ask Det Sgt Ahern whether he had raised with Jeffrey Gilham doubts
he had about his story - specifically, the time it took him to get from the boathouse
to the scene of the killings.

"No I didn't. In hindsight, maybe I should have," he said.

Earlier, counsel for the family of the victims, Ian Temby QC, asked Det Sgt Ahern about
an apparent lack of blood on the murder weapon.

"Was the conclusion you drew at the time that the knife had either been wiped or washed clean?"

"Yes," he answered.

Det Sgt Ahern admitted that water used by firefighters to douse the flames in the house
could have washed off some blood.

"(But) I didn't believe it was of a degree that would have caused blood to be totally
absent," he said.

Mr Temby also asked Det Sgt Ahern about a document which was found at the house.

Mr Temby asked: "You understand... that to find at a crime scene a document entitled
'Evidence at a Crime Scene' is passing strange?"

"Well, it is unusual," said the detective.

The inquest continues.

AAP ab/sb/arb

KEYWORD: GILHAM NIGHTLEAD

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