A contaminated crime scene and an inadequate police investigation have led to an open finding in a coronial inquest into the shooting death of a district farmer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The four-day inquest into the death of David Whale, 35, presided over by deputy state coroner Carl Milovanovich, came to a close in Dubbo yesterday.
During the hearing at the court it was alleged that Mr Whale's wife Janelle, now using her maiden name of Bartlett, was having an affair with family friend Tim Donnelly at the time of her husband's death.
Mr Whale was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head on his property 'Iona' near Nyngan on October 2 2000.
Ms Bartlett was seen carrying a rifle the day her husband died and she had also removed the gun from the scene of the shooting before police arrived, the inquest was told.
Phone records presented to the court showed Ms Bartlett had attempted to call Mr Donnelly two minutes before she called an ambulance.
In giving his findings Mr Milovanovich said he had found some aspects of the case disturbing.
"I have a number of concerns about the police investigation," he said.
"Firstly, Mrs Whale, as she was then known, was never tested for gun powder residue.
"The police assumed suicide, which was a fundamental error and the gun was never tested for prints.
"Also they were aware of a relationship between Janelle Whale and Timothy Donnelly which was not followed up until later."
However Mr Milovanovich added some of the assumptions made by police were not unreasonable.
"It's possible bleeding in the deceased's nasal area gave the impression the bullet went through the nose or mouth and the wound behind the ear was not detected until post-mortem," he said.
"That could have been seen as an exit wound and it put investigators in the frame of mind that this was suicide.
"There was a compromised crime scene that had been contaminated in some ways - the firearm had been moved."
While giving his final submission to the court, senior counsel for Ms Bartlett, David Campbell, said an open finding did not provide closure for the families involved.
"The central features of this case are that there was a known history of a young man with depression, who was on anti-depressant medication that he had not taken for several days," he said.
"There was something that went wrong that day ... there was a row of some kind and the environment is consistent with someone taking that step (of committing suicide)."
Mr Campbell added there was also no evidence of an affair between his client and Mr Donnelly.
"An association did develop later but there was no suggestion of an affair," he said.
One of the main features of the case was the entry wound of the bullet found in Mr Whale's head.
An autopsy revealed Mr Whale had been shot behind his right ear with the bullet fracturing and becoming embedded in his left temple.The coroner gave a number of possible reasons for the unusual trajectory of the bullet wound.
"There's a possibility he could have stumbled and the firearm went off," Mr Milovanovich said.
"But (if it was suicide) why one would choose to inflict a wound there - that question will never be answered.
"It's possible he wanted to shield his children from seeing a disfiguring gunshot wound to the face or he could have turned away as he fired the gun."
Clive Steirn, senior counsel for Mr Whale's parents Brian and Patsy Whale, told the court it was impossible to conclude it was a case of suicide.
"Three witnesses attempted to simulate the position of the rifle, none were physically capable of doing it," he said.
"Why would the deceased place the rifle in that position?"
Mr Steirn also noted the "flurry of attempted phone calls" to Mr Donnelly before the ambulance was called.
"That cries out for an explanation," he said.
"There were three calls to Tim Donnelly before calling for someone to come and collect the children, then there were eight calls to Tim Donnelly before calling her own parents and other family members."
Mr Donnelly's solicitor John North said there was no evidence his client had been having an affair with Ms Bartlett.
"A small community has been devastated by the loss of a highly thought of young man and that community is searching for answers that just aren't there," he said. "I ask you to also recognise the hurt, pain and bad effect on his business that these rumours have had on my client."
In his final remarks, Mr Milovanovich said there was not enough evidence capable of satisfying a jury that "a known person had committed an indictable offence".
"There is not enough evidence that it was a suicide - it's possible it was an accident, it was possible there was foul play involved," he said.
"I would like to add that I don't adhere to the view that an open finding incriminates people.
"I would like to express my personal sympathy to the family and also the condolences of the court."