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The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Toorak thieves allegedly steal $75k of jewellery and WWII medals
In a pair of brazen robberies in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs an alleged thief stole a $25,000 engagement ring alongside war medals and a further $50,000 worth of jewellery. The two burglaries occurred about 6.30pm on Friday June 27 at two neighbouring Toorak homes. Police are now urging anyone with information to come forward. The alleged thief is currently unidentified, with police releasing a new image to help identify him. The alleged thief was caught on CCTV. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police From the first property he allegedly stole a 2-carat diamond engagement ring, before forcing his way into the next-door home and taking a safe filled with approximately $50k worth of jewellery and four WWII army medals. War medals belonging to one of the victim's mothers were also stolen. Picture: Supplied / Victoria Police No residents were home at the time of the thefts. Detective Senior Constable Daniel Wall said the significance of the stolen items has made it 'particularly distressing' for the victims. 'An engagement ring carries profound sentimental worth and it would extremely upsetting to have this taken away from you,' Detective Wall said. 'The war medals belonged to the victim's mother who has now sadly passed away, so you can understand how heartbreaking it must be for this family. A further $50k worth of jewellery was also stolen. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police 'We're asking residents in the area to check their CCTV, and we're particularly keen to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area at the time. You can do so anonymously via Crime Stoppers.' Police have released images of the stolen jewellery, which include a cupid charm, a love-heart bracelet, and a star-shaped brooch. Brendan Kearns Cadet Journalist Brendan Kearns is a cadet journalist with News Corp Australia. He has written for The Australian, the Herald Sun, the Geelong Advertiser, CHOICE, Cosmos, and The Citizen. He won Democracy's Watchdogs' Student Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 and hosted the third season of award-winning podcast Uncurated. He studied as Master of Journalism at The University of Melbourne, before that he worked as a video producer and disability worker. @brendandkearns Brendan Kearns
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Erin Patterson: Key question remaining after mushroom trial
Found guilty this week of murdering her husband's parents and aunt, one key question remains unanswered in Erin Patterson's poisoning trial; why? Patterson's motivation for poisoning four in-laws with deadly mushrooms was only briefly addressed as her blockbuster trial played out in Victoria's southwest this year. Prosecutors said they would not be putting forward a motive, explaining sometimes a killer's reasons remain only known to them, while her defence argued she had 'anti-motive', or reasons to want her victims alive. The 50-year-old was on Monday found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder by a jury after seven days of deliberations. She had pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing the case was a tragic accident. In his final remarks to the jury, Justice Christopher Beale said the prosecution does not need to prove a motive to make out the charges of murder and attempted murder. 'For some murders there may be evidence of motive, but some murders occur for no apparent reason,' he said. 'The motives for such murders may only ever be known to the offenders.' He told the jury the prosecution had agreed there was no known reason why Patterson did what she was ultimately found guilty of. 'It's the allegations of murder and attempted murder the prosecution has to prove, nothing else,' the judge said. 'But that does not mean that the absence of the evidence of a motive to kill is irrelevant. It is a relevant consideration, which you must take into account in the accused's favour when weighing all the evidence in this case.' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC touched on motive in her closing address, saying while the prosecution was not putting one forward; 'you don't have to know why a person does something in order to know they did it'. Dr Rogers said the evidence in the trial shows the relationship between Patterson and her in-laws was 'not always a harmonious one'. The prosecutor pointed to Simon's account of tension in their relationship in late 2022 over the issue of child support, with Don and Gail 'dragged unwillingly' into the conflict. She said child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps had given evidence Patterson described Simon as 'nasty' after that conflict and their son's evidence the relationship was 'very negative'. Dr Rogers suggested Patterson was leading a 'duplicitous life', presenting a positive face to the Patterson family while sharing her real feelings to her online friends, several of whom gave evidence. ' … the evidence shows, you might think, that the divide between the accused and her in-laws was deeper than they ever knew,' Dr Rogers said. 'She expressed her real feelings about them and the broader Patterson family to her online friends.' Dr Rogers turned to a series of messages in December 2022 from Patterson to her online friends, where she called them a 'lost cause', mocked their religious beliefs and wrote; 'this family I swear to God'. Patterson's barrister, Colin Mandy SC, questioned why the prosecution had focused so much on a brief period of tension in 2022 when they weren't putting forward a motive. 'They spent so much time in this trial scratching around to try and find some suggestion of … animosity in the family dynamics,' he said. 'There's no anger or aggression. There's not hatred or anything remotely approaching that. 'Not even between Simon and Erin and certainly not between Erin and Simon's parents.' Turning to the messages Patterson sent to her online friends, Mr Mandy labelled it an 'aberration' in her relationship with the Patterson family that only spanned a few days. 'Erin made a handful of comments in the context of being hurt and frustrated about these responses she was getting from Don and Gail, in the context of her issues with Simon, and that's it,' he said. 'And you might think that venting in that way is a pretty healthy thing to do.' The defence barrister said the prosecution's case had ignored the years of love and support shown by the family to Patterson. 'Erin Patterson had a motive to keep these people in her world so that they could keep supporting her and her children, especially her children,' he said. 'Why would she take wonderful, active, loving grandparents away from her own children?' He further questioned why she would kill Ian and Heather, who she 'hardly knew' aside from the church community. Mr Mandy said the evidence in the trial showed his client was a person of good character; a devoted mother of two with no prior convictions and close relationships with her in-laws, particularly Don and Gail. He agreed motive was not one of the four elements of murder the prosecution had to provide beyond reasonable doubt, but suggested it was an important consideration on the issue of his client's intention. 'Our argument to you is that motive is very important to the proof of intention and usually fundamental to it,' he said. 'Without a motive, you're left guessing about the most important element of the offence in this trial and that's intention.' Patterson will return to court at a later date.
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Police seek information about $25k engagement ring stolen from Toorak home
In a pair of brazen robberies in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs an alleged thief stole a $25,000 engagement ring alongside war medals and a further $50,000 worth of jewellery. The two burglaries occurred about 6.30pm on Friday June 27 at two neighbouring Toorak homes. Police are now urging anyone with information to come forward. The alleged thief is currently unidentified, with police releasing a new image to help identify him. From the first property he allegedly stole a 2-carat diamond engagement ring, before forcing his way into the next-door home and taking a safe filled with approximately $50k worth of jewellery and four WWII army medals. No residents were home at the time of the thefts. Detective Senior Constable Daniel Wall said the significance of the stolen items has made it 'particularly distressing' for the victims. 'An engagement ring carries profound sentimental worth and it would extremely upsetting to have this taken away from you,' Detective Wall said. 'The war medals belonged to the victim's mother who has now sadly passed away, so you can understand how heartbreaking it must be for this family. 'We're asking residents in the area to check their CCTV, and we're particularly keen to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area at the time. You can do so anonymously via Crime Stoppers.' Police have released images of the stolen jewellery, which include a cupid charm, a love-heart bracelet, and a star-shaped brooch.
