Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

i see, to be honest with no credible opposition your probably right,

i was tryig to make the point that use a kids death for political gain / point scoring was appauling regardless which view of politics you learn towards,

steve

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I was thinking WTF, the womans weekly :rolleyes: is now using the case as its cover story this month.

It really is about time this case became a private matter and let the poor kid be buried with dignity.

I really hope the person charged IS the guilty one, the whole media circus thing would taint any trial.

Re: The thread
 

Re-opened this one rather than starting a new one;)

Brett Cowan found guilty on all three charges. With luck they will throw away the key this time given his previous.

Full story here

Daniel disappeared about a month after we arrived here. We were on the Coast the day he was taken & our son is the same age. It brings a lump to my throat when I see Bruce and Denise Morcombe speak about the loss of their son. It's been over 10 years. A long time for justice to be done:thumbup:

Re: The thread
 

This poor lads parents must be relieved - hopefully they will get some kind of closure now

What the police did was risky given the legal system but fair play to them, they got it right in this case

Re: The thread
 

The judge mentioned the excellent job the under cover cops did in this case this afternoon, unusual I thought..

Re: The thread
 

Totally wrong that with his past history he was out after serving such a sort time in jail. :frown: No tracking device nothing?.


DM went to my kids school for a while, yet daily you see kids going to school, often alone. Theres one tiny fella who rides a pushbike alone comes out under the underpass, and tries to cross the traffic. He would only be 5 or 6 years old. This BC character might be off the streets now, but as details emerge I hope parents think about what the hell their 6 year old is doing out there alone. BC was one of many suspects, the rest of them are still out there, probably with just as horrific history as the one who cracked and confessed after a huge sum of money was dangled as a carrot.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I wonder if Daniel's family feel any sort of relief now. I imagine it's all too ingrained to feel much of anything. As for kids still being out alone in the area, I can see where most of the parents are coming from. It doesn't help anyone to wrap kids up in cotton wool, and there's probably a touch of lightning never strikes twice.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Amazed at how WA Police trapped this guy. May he rot in hell.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Just watched some of the footage where they trapped him into confessing, amazing he did not suspect the cop fiddling with his mobile/recorder and then putting it on the table as they start to talk. and can cowan read? he hands the computer back to the cop who reads it, mumbles something about glasses.

Really creepy part is he looks like some regular bloke you would get down the pub and obviously had no shortage of ladies while he was doing all this.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Perhaps I am a lone voice here. But I am very disturbed at how he was trapped. According to this article he could only get in on a big deal if he admitted he was involved in Daniel's murder. So he admitted it. Even though previously in undercover investigations he had not admitted any involvement.

Stings like this remind me of Colin Stagg in the Rachel Nickel case, he implicated himself in something he did not do because he similarly thought there was a reward of some type in pretending he was involved.

No, traps should not be used. It distorts justice.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

You are not a lone voice, the local paper has comments saying the same thing.

IMO, the guy was not that bright, could have easily ' confessed ' for the mateship he talks about ( in the interview ) and the huge money.

1000's of police worked on the case for 10 years, there must have been some pressure to get their man.

No doubt this guy needed locking up, ( previous history which I assume had DNA at some stage ). However I agree, money in any form distorts justice.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I read the last 2 posts of this thread:

It is this part of the Criminal Justice System that is ****ed.
There is the potential for miscarriages of justice.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Having read the last 5 ....he was guilty...

not sure if he should rot in hell...but we live in a *** society. That is all.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

[QUOTE=BadgeIsBack;11170913

not sure if he should rot in hell...[/QUOTE]

I don't know about you but man sentenced TWICE for raping two little boys should've been in hell long time ago, regardless if he murdered Daniel or not.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Well the sting or trap call it what you will resulted in Cowan showing the undercover cops where he killed Daniel, where he disposed of the body, what car he used & possibly the worst disclosure of how & why he killed him.
He was already number one suspect at the inquest, he just had to give 'em enough rope.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Case closed then:) And I should read back more than 5 threads paying particular attention to links...

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

It was before the trial started in my IMHO. It is a wonder the jury took 7.5 hours to convict........

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

The jury were out for less than a day after 4 weeks of evidence. Pretty cut & dried I'd say. We struggled for longer than that on a simple assault charge [spitting on a policeman] when I did jury service.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

It's called 'The Criminal Justice System' mate.

Remember it is not as simple as stepping out to the local supermarket....
there is more to jury decisions that meets the eye....real life is not like what you see on the Box..

You might need this system yourself one day.

It is great when it takes time : it means the judge is telling his people to use their loaf.
Remember: the average Joe on the jury will be your average Joe...

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

You totally missed my point. I was speaking as an outside observer of such a high profile and publicised case, it would be hard for, even a miracle, for anyone to be found innocent with the weight of evidence and publicity that the case has generated over the years.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

On the question of entrapment, that has to be a concern when/if it comes to an appeal, but given the nature of the justice system today (aka smart defence lawyers) I'm sure that the prosecution would have thought of this and would never have brought this case to trial if this was an issue

I agree - done and dusted

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

But he wasn't found innocent (yes?):
I would expect the people - all lay people remember - Jesus wept!- to be correctly advised by the Judge and take their time to ensure a decision was made.

I love it when juries take their time in a publicised and open and shut case - it means the Judge is directing them properly- and they are not just googling away...to get out of court quick.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

What is the point of giving sentences that run concurrently? So he gets Life (yeah right) with no parole for 20 years but he also gets the other sentences running concurrently so in effect they don't exist. Now that pisses me off a lot.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I suppose the parole bit is key here. Presumably there is no point in giving out sentences that take you past the average life expectancy of a person.

If one of the sentences is life, well back when it meant life - it cancels out the others in terms of time served- but the conviction stands as do the sentences. They still exist.

The real issue here maybe is the fact parole is considered.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Can anyone answer me this? How can he be convicted for 'indecently dealing with a child ' when there is no forensic evidence. I think I am right in saying (from involvement with SES) that only bones were found ( finally) so where is the evidence of 'indecent dealings'?
Would be interested in the background to that particular charge, based on my previous life in forensics, and various child murders that I've worked on, so if anyone can point me to the real facts behind that charge I would really appreciate it.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

It was his own admission that was secretly filmed.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Not defending him at all but 'secretly' filmed? do they have to read people their rights here.....oh hang on this is Queensland....
And they convicted on that? ok I'm not up on Queensland law but thats as dodgy as the honeytrap issue........ Rachel Nickel comes to mind again.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

In his confession to the undercover police he said when he pulled down Daniels pants Daniel resisted and he then killed him. He didn't say he sexually assaulted him but he did say he was going to.
It was an undercover operation and from the video I've seen on the news it looks like he knew it was being recorded. It also wasn't Queensland, but WA where they filmed the confession. It was WA police in a Perth hotel room IIRC.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the guy at all, I have no way of ascertaining whether he is guilty or not, but how on earth can a convction bd made on such sneaky underhand methods. We used to go to such lengths in cases like this to ensure everything was above board.
Stinks, not what I call justice.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I agree.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Agree it wasn't an ideal way to catch him, but there were a lot of people confessing to the crime - something like 21 persons of interest - he was the most likely candidate from profiling information and he turned out to be the only one who could lead them to the body. I do struggle with this type of entrapment but am glad it's over for the Morcombes.

Now at the risk of sounding like a complete nut job myself, I dreamt about the killer about 8 years ago and according to the information I wrote down when I woke up in the morning, they have the right guy. Sometimes I dream and I know it's just a dream and sometimes I dream something significant (I usually know the difference). Have been doing the crazy dreaming all my life - still think Sarah Spears body is somewhere near the train tunnel in John Forest National Park, East of Perth. Now I shall change my my username from kim67 to crazyladywhothinksshehaspremonitionsinhersleep.:ee k:

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I read yesterday that in QLD you can be convicted of murder without a body or bones or anything being found.

Life in OZ is 20 years not LIFE.

No parole is only a a recommendation of no parole, its still up to the parole board 14 or 15 years later. So if that is true this guy could still be out in 14 years, age 59 and ready to go again.

One bit of reading yesterday had the cops allegedly saying only 2 other boys were snatch and rape victims in the timeframe/locality of Cowans life, so it must be him. That alone leaves some room for error.

Like the rest of the population I have no idea what bits of what we are reading online are true.

My expererience of being on a jury led me to believe I would never ever want to be tried by one. One guy was a cop hater, would not have anyone convicted, no matter what they did. One lady found the very handsome accused quite endearing, wouldn't have a bad word said about him:blink: CCTV Video footage of the incident was shown, the cop hater looked at his feet all the time and passed evidence along unread. The video showed clearly the incident, yet 3 people said to them they couldn't see it was an incident :unsure: The accused did not have to have his past criminal history revealed, yet the victims history was raised and hung out to dry by the defense.

The mood at decision time was , indifference, I have to go get pick up the/dog/ shopping/kids/get to work... i have better things to do than sit here...... really most people just wanted to go.

The vote was mostly innocent, despite the CCTV footage No way was it ever going to sway away from reasonable doubt as some people had a far more compelling personal agenda.

Back to Cowan, he no doubt needs to be in jail, be it for DM or the other boys, the sentences handed out for rape/murder of a child are a joke. I too wonder if he can appeal though given the way he was convicted. He should have been locked up longer on the cases where there was DNA, then tagged as a sex offender.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

His non parole period has been set at 20 years according to the reports yesterday.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Well that's what I thought but it was also reported that will still be up to the parole board at the time as that can only be a recommendation.


This article here too suggests 20 years is is 20 years due to act brought in by Parliament.

It also suggests that Cowan is going to appeal.

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au...iller/2199813/

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Who knows, so many conflicting reports, his lawyer will appeal his convictions according to stories last night - let's hope he ends up with a "never to be released" sticker on his file and we can all just forget about him.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

I agree that some confessions are not worth much. But if the convictions were based on other evidence. It appears there was much the jury did not know.

I lost my original post. It matters not one jot to me whether sentences run concurrently - if one is pretty much life it cancels out the others. The conviction and sentences still stand.

As for parole - this is my view on the society in which we live.
There are some crimes where the criminal is so sick he needs to be taken out of society - for the protection of others - as we don't shoot people then we have to lock them up. This is one of those scenarios.

Elsewhere, I believe we should expect that a convicted criminal could be rehabilitated and this needs to assessed. Rehab is the other side of the coin which is deterrence/punishment. In fact, I think it's a human right. There are convicted killers on death row in the US who killed in a moment of young foolishness and aggression - but perhaps could have expected to be rehabilitated and would not reoffend.

I come to a sort of conclusion that if we bring back the death penalty then we should shoot all our serial murderers (some murders are manslaughter of course and there are murders where the intent was not quite so shocking) and crimes against children once we know they are guilty beyond doubt and where there is no place in our society for these sick individuals - I use the word sick in a non-tabloid meaning - 'ill'. But does that past muster? It's a deterrant but not a deterrant that would help the mentally ill. Do we treat ill individuals after we punish them and remove them from society? It is even possible.

:)

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

The worst sort of person on a jury is probably the sort of person that believes in tough justice and the sort of person that talks about 'them', sees leadership thoughts and learning in terms of 'they reckon' and 'they say' and watches too much TV and reads a tabloid newspaper. ;-)

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

No doubt about it he is the poor lad's killer. The recorded confession is here.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Its pretty sickening stuff to listen to, the way he just talks about his car and laughs and smiles with the other bloke. There are some sick f**** in this world.

Re: The Daniel Morcombe thread
 

Totally agree. And not a bit of remorse. Even the rope would be too good for that bastard.