DPP defends handling of lesbian murder case
TASMANIA'S Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis has defended the prosecution of the man who murdered Canberra public servant Kamehn Schrader.
Her friends say there was no way the high-profile lesbian would have invited a man to her hotel room for sex.
They expressed concern that the prosecution had accepted the word of a confessed killer and sullied her name.
Keith Jamie Lynch-Whitton, 29, said he strangled 41-year-old Ms Schrader in a rage after she ridiculed his sexual performance at Hobart's Mercure Hotel on September 19 last year.
On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Peter Evans sentenced Lynch-Whitton to a maximum of 18 years in prison.
Ms Schrader's friends wrote a letter expressing their concerns, which was not presented to the court.
But Mr Ellis said the letter was inadmissible and he had seen nothing to contradict Lynch-Whitton's account of events.
"There was no evidence that was contrary to the facts that were presented," he said.
"One, we knew all about her sexuality. Two, that is not evidence contradicting the evidence that was available.
"Three, the Sentencing Act gives the right to the close relatives of a victim to make a victim impact statement. That doesn't include those people.
"They're not witnesses and it was not a case where there was the slightest evidence that he was there other than with her consent and at her invitation."
Ms Schrader's brother, Richard Schrader, said last night it added to the family's grief to know reports of the killer's story had painted a defamatory picture of Ms Schrader.
"He has already taken her away from us. We don't need him assassinating her character as well," he said.
Friend Liz Parker said the conduct of the case had ruined Ms Schrader's reputation.
"She's never even taken a woman home for a one-night stand, let alone a man," she said.
"She's being portrayed in the media as a woman who was down on a business trip, went to a bar, picked up a guy and had a one-night stand and things went a bit wrong - which, from what we know of her, couldn't be further from the truth."
Ms Parker said even the injuries Ms Schrader suffered raised questions in her mind.
"I viewed her body and you don't generally get the kind of bruising that she had from somebody putting pressure around the neck," she said.
Mr Ellis said it was common for strangling victims to display bruising as blood pooled in the face.
Another friend said Ms Schrader was an extroverted and trusting person whose overtures of friendship were most likely misread by Lynch-Whitton.
"I believe she brought this man to her hotel room to give him a book about something happy, or play him a meaningful song, or show him something on her work laptop or on the internet, or have a drink and talk about some problems he was having," the woman wrote.
"I believe at some stage of the evening she told him she was a lesbian and that is why he killed her.
"I don't believe any sex that happened was consensual and I believe he may have threatened to kill her if she did not have sex with him."
Mr Ellis said there was no evidence Ms Schrader had been raped.
By David Killick
August 16, 2007 11:13am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22254431-421,00.html
Her friends say there was no way the high-profile lesbian would have invited a man to her hotel room for sex.
They expressed concern that the prosecution had accepted the word of a confessed killer and sullied her name.
Keith Jamie Lynch-Whitton, 29, said he strangled 41-year-old Ms Schrader in a rage after she ridiculed his sexual performance at Hobart's Mercure Hotel on September 19 last year.
On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Peter Evans sentenced Lynch-Whitton to a maximum of 18 years in prison.
Ms Schrader's friends wrote a letter expressing their concerns, which was not presented to the court.
But Mr Ellis said the letter was inadmissible and he had seen nothing to contradict Lynch-Whitton's account of events.
"There was no evidence that was contrary to the facts that were presented," he said.
"One, we knew all about her sexuality. Two, that is not evidence contradicting the evidence that was available.
"Three, the Sentencing Act gives the right to the close relatives of a victim to make a victim impact statement. That doesn't include those people.
"They're not witnesses and it was not a case where there was the slightest evidence that he was there other than with her consent and at her invitation."
Ms Schrader's brother, Richard Schrader, said last night it added to the family's grief to know reports of the killer's story had painted a defamatory picture of Ms Schrader.
"He has already taken her away from us. We don't need him assassinating her character as well," he said.
Friend Liz Parker said the conduct of the case had ruined Ms Schrader's reputation.
"She's never even taken a woman home for a one-night stand, let alone a man," she said.
"She's being portrayed in the media as a woman who was down on a business trip, went to a bar, picked up a guy and had a one-night stand and things went a bit wrong - which, from what we know of her, couldn't be further from the truth."
Ms Parker said even the injuries Ms Schrader suffered raised questions in her mind.
"I viewed her body and you don't generally get the kind of bruising that she had from somebody putting pressure around the neck," she said.
Mr Ellis said it was common for strangling victims to display bruising as blood pooled in the face.
Another friend said Ms Schrader was an extroverted and trusting person whose overtures of friendship were most likely misread by Lynch-Whitton.
"I believe she brought this man to her hotel room to give him a book about something happy, or play him a meaningful song, or show him something on her work laptop or on the internet, or have a drink and talk about some problems he was having," the woman wrote.
"I believe at some stage of the evening she told him she was a lesbian and that is why he killed her.
"I don't believe any sex that happened was consensual and I believe he may have threatened to kill her if she did not have sex with him."
Mr Ellis said there was no evidence Ms Schrader had been raped.
By David Killick
August 16, 2007 11:13am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22254431-421,00.html
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