Jeffrey Gilham

Jeffrey Gilham is an Australian double murderer from Sydney, New South Wales, currently serving 2 sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murders of his parents Stephen and Helen on 28 August 1993. On that day he also killed his older brother Christopher, whom he claimed was responsible for the murders. Jeffrey pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Christopher and escaped jail time, walking free on a 5 year good behaviour bond. It was not until 28 November 2008, more than 15 years after the event, that Jeffrey was finally convicted of the murders and Christopher's name officially cleared.
In April 1995 NSW Supreme Court Justice Abadee described the events as “a remarkable human drama”.
The Massacre
According to Jeffrey, he was asleep in the boat-house of his family's home in Woronora, New South Wales in the early hours of 28 August 1993 when he woke to his mother's screams. He went to investigate, finding Christopher standing over his mother's body, which he then lit on fire. Jeffrey picked up the knife which Christopher had dropped and chased Christopher down spiral stairs to the lower storey of the house. There he stabbed Christopher to death. He then ascended the stairs to the upper level, where the fire was raging, and left the house, going to a neighbour's house in an apparently distressed state. The neighbour called emergency services at 4:35am.
An autopsy revealed that Stephen had been stabbed 29 times, Helen and Christopher 17 times each.
Manslaughter Plea
On 29 August 1993 Jeffrey was charged with the murder of Christopher (but not his parents). On 5 April 1995 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the Crown accepted the plea, conceding that Jeffrey's account was "feasible" and could not be refuted on the evidence. Jeffrey walked free on a 5 year good behaviour bond.
Events between 1995 and 2006
Jeffrey inherited his parents' $916,717.59 estate.
On 8 June 1995 a coronial inquest was held and concluded that Christopher was responsible for the death of his parents.
In 1997 a story on 60 Minutes prompted a fresh coronial inquest.
In September 1999 a second investigation into the murders commenced. The DPP recommended that the matter be referred to a Coroner.
On 10 April 2000 the inquest commenced, hearing evidence from a forensic pathologist that Jeffrey had killed his parents. On 28 April 2000 Coroner Elwyn Elms terminated the inquest and sent a brief to the Director of Public Prosecutions, stating that the evidence was capable of convicting Jeffrey of the murder of his parents. The DPP declined to act. Stephen's brother Tony Gilham appealed to the Attorney-General against the DPP's decision, but this appeal was rejected.
On 10 May 2001 Tony took out a private summons alleging that Jeffrey murdered his parents. On 6 June 2001 the DPP took over the prosecution and withdrew the prosecution.
At one stage Tony parked his car outside the DPP's Sydney offices with a sign on the top saying: "Nicholas Cowdery supports mass murderers."
In 2002 Tony wrote to the Independent Commission Against Corruption claiming that the DPP acted incorrectly in accepting Jeffrey's manslaughter plea and not sending him to trial for the murder of his parents.
On 22 July 2004 there was a review of the case. It transpired that all the physical evidence from the scene could not be located and had probably been destroyed as a result of the manslaughter plea and outcome of the initial coronial inquest.
In October 2004 there was a third investigation into the murders.
A brief of evidence was sent to the DPP on 22 November 2005.
Murder Charges, Trials, Conviction and Sentencing
On 21 February 2006 the DPP filed an ex-officio indictment in the NSW Supreme Court alleging that Jeffrey murdered his parents.
On 29 September 2006 Jeffrey sought a permanent stay of proceedings. On 21 March 2007 Justice Howie dismissed the application.
On 21 August 2007 Jeffrey appealed against Justice Howie's ruling. On 26 November 2007 The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeal.
On 8 February 2008 Jeffrey applied for special leave to appeal in the High Court of Australia. The application was dismissed.
Jeffrey's murder trial proceeded and in April 2008 a jury failed to reach a verdict.
A retrial was held, commencing on 13 October 2008 and on 28 November 2008 a jury convicted Jeffrey on 2 counts of murder.
(It is worth noting that notwithstanding the obvious implications of the verdict, Jeffrey cannot be convicted of Christopher's murder, having already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and that plea having been accepted by the Crown in 1993 (see also double jeopardy).)
On 11 March 2009 Jeffrey was sentenced to 2 terms of life imprisonment with no non-parole period set, Justice Roderick Howie noting that "In my judgment the offences were in the worst category. It is not simply because he killed his parents...notwithstanding that the community is repulsed by the thought that a child could kill loving and caring parents for some reason whether explained or not. It is also the callous and brutal nature of the killings and the audacity of his plan to murder them and escape discovery. The offender cannot rely upon any mental state that might diminish the seriousness of the conduct. Nor are there any subjective matters that mitigate the offence. The fact that he is in protective custody is not of particular significance given the nature of the custody. These offences are truly heinous and justify the most serious penalty that can be imposed notwithstanding that the offender does not present as a danger to the community and is probably unlikely to reoffend in the future."
It is understood that Jeffrey intends to appeal against his convictions.

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