By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In late 2007, investment banker and Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham bought the painting Blue Lavender Bay for $2.5 million. The purchase was made on the understanding that the artwork had been painted by renowned Australian artist Brett Whiteley. The late artist’s wife, Wendy Whiteley, paid a visit to Mr… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 30 December 2011, Canadian authorities detected the secretion of various illegal drugs within a commercial oven, which was set to be flown to Sydney and delivered to an Italian restaurant in the NSW Central Coast town of The Entrance. The illicit substances were removed from the oven, and… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In Australian criminal trials, the Crown (or prosecution) presents its case first – calling its witnesses to testify one at a time. Those witnesses give ‘evidence in chief’ for the prosecution before they are subjected to cross-examination by the defence. After all of the prosecution witnesses have finished testifying,… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 23 May 2012, Shane Hoskins and an accomplice broke into a funeral home in Moree. Mr Hoskins tried to smash through a glass panel with a rock but, when that didn’t work, he kicked in the front door and security grille. The pair carried away a flat screen… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Just after midnight on 2 September 1991, Paul Darcey Armstrong met Filipe Flores at the Exchange Hotel on Oxford Street in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. The pair left the nightclub, and Armstrong drove Flores to Lincoln Crescent in Waterloo. Mr Armstrong then performed oral sex on the 27-year-old Ecuadorian man at… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim NSW police executed a search warrant at the Woolloomooloo residence of Rachel Jaia Lambert on 29 December 2011. In the apartment, officers found 456 MDMA (‘ecstacy’) tablets, a quantity of cannabis and several items indicating drug supply, including scales and small resealable plastic bags. The total value of the… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 11 July 2013, NSW police pulled over a man referred to as ‘EF’ for a random breath test. On conducting a search of EF’s vehicle, officers found a plastic bag containing orange crystals. Seven small resealable plastic bags were also found in the car, all with traces of… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On the afternoon of 3 January 2011, John Elturk stole a chef’s knife worth $25 from a Big W store at Carnes Hill. The 37-year-old then made his way to the family home in Lansvale, where he’d been living with his father until shortly before Christmas. The two had… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 2 March 2012, NSW police senior constable David Rixon pulled Michael Allan Jacobs over on Lorraine Street, West Tamworth for a routine breath test. But when the officer told the driver he was about to test him, Jacobs shot the highway patrolman in the chest with a .38… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 22 March 1978, NSW police detective Watson introduced himself to Edward Paul Filippetti and his mother at Port Kembla Courthouse. The detective explained that he had received information about Mr Filippetti having a large number of “buddha sticks” concealed at his Lake Heights house. Buddha sticks are often made… Read more »
