Reasonable Doubt: Bizarre Tales of Death & Justice
Reasonable Doubt: Bizarre Tales of Death & Justice, or just Reasonable Doubt, is a crime novel by Australian author and Herald Sun journalist, Wayne Howell. The book was first published in 2007 by the Five Mile Press and explores eighteen unusual murders in Australia during the nineteen-nineties and twenty-first century. Reasonable Doubt is Howell's second book after Killer Excuses, which explores extraordinary defences tried in Australian [...] and [...] trials.
The stories
Reasonable Doubt investigates eighteen infamous and unusual murders, particularly in the city of Melbourne.
- David Hookes: A Cricket Hero Dies - Australian cricket legend David Hookes is fatally punched by bouncer Zdravko Micevic outside the Beaconsfield Hotel in St Kilda, Victoria after Hookes' and his friends were celebrating a win over a South Australian team on a one-day match. Hookes and his friends were thrown out of the pub and a group of bouncers began following them down Cowderoy Street. Hookes had been drinking heavily that night and after a verbal exchange, a fight broke out and Micevic left-hook punched Hookes' in the face and he fell to the ground. After being taken to hospital, Hookes died a week later. Micevic is later found not guilty of [...].
- Gatto Vs Veniamin: Defence Underworld-style - Melbourne underworld figure Domenic 'Mick' Gatto was having lunch with his Italian-Australian family at the La Porcella restaurant in Melbourne when friend and underworld hitman Andrew Veniamin approached him. After a short discussion, Gatto and Veniamin left for a private chat at the back of the restaurant in a small corridor. During the discussion, Gatto claims that Veniamin confessed to the murders of Dino Dibra, Paul Kallipolitis and Gatto's close friend Graham Kinniburgh. Gatto claims that Veniamin then pulled a .38 and after shots were fired, Gatto managed to turn the gun on Veniamin before shooting him dead. Gatto is later found not guilty of [...].
- Sniper Wife - 38 year old mother of five Claire MacDonald donned a camouflage jacket, hid in a sniper's nest with a bolt-action long-distance rifle, lured her husband of seventeen years into range and fired six shots at him from 48 metres away. She claims that she killed him because he didn't deserve to live and was physically abusive to her and her children. MacDonald is later acquitted of [...].
- Mother-in-Law Nightmare - 55 year old Nicola Spina claims that he is awoken by his wife of 28 years Maria who punched him in the head. After scratching, biting and punching him, Maria called her 73 year old mother Giovanna Persico who joined in on the assault. Nicola manages to push his wife and mother-in-law onto the bedroom's double-brick wall corner and both women's heads are smashed and are killed almost instantly. However, after this event apparently occurs, Spina then calls over Maria's brother Faustino Persico and after talking, Spina pulls a double-barrelled shotgun on Persico. Spina lies and tells Persico that Maria has gone for a walk and claims that she stole all $5000 out of his account. He then reveals that he shot Maria and Giovanna and after a long discussion, Persico manages to ring his family and the police. As the police come, Persico pleads with Spina to give himself up as the police know where he is. Spina agrees and lets Persico go. In the trial that followed, Spina was found guilty of the double [...] and false imprisonment and was sentenced to two life sentences. He was given a minimum non-parole period of 25 years.
- Being Al Pacino - 24 year old Peter Barnwell accidentally shoots his 25 year old flatmate Luke O'Keefe in the head after playing around with Luke's gun as he slept, pretending to be Al Pacino. Luke is killed instantly and Peter is sentenced to four years in prison.
- Sleepwalk of Death - Bernard Brown claims that when he shot and bashed his wife of 10 years Susan, it was because he did so while he was sleepwalking. He was later convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment.
- A Spritual Death - 53 year old mother of nine Lani Morris is locked in a caravan by Jim and Eugenia Pesnak for a 21-day fasting period as part of an introduction into breatharianism. The Pesnaks failed to call an ambulance after a week into the process, even after Morris was dizzy, hallucinating and coughing up bile. After eleven days, the Pesnaks do finally call an ambulance and Morris is put on an intravenous drip, but dies later in hospital. Both are found guilty of [...], Jim is sentenced to six years and Eugenia is sentenced to three. A later appeal saw Jim be resentenced to four years and Eugenia two.