GUILTY Australia - Cariad Anderson Slater, 41, found in shallow grave, Perth, 13 July 1992

“Guilty, raised an appeal. Hung jury,” these were the words typed on a mobile phone that caused a third manslaughter trial of Ronald Leslie Pennington to be aborted earlier this week and left the judge "almost speechless with rage".

Mr Pennington was extradited from Tasmania to stand trial for the death of 41-year-old Cariad Anderson Slater who disappeared in July 1992 and her skeletal remains were found in 2011 in a backyard where Pennington used to live.

This is the third trial he's undergone and: 'The jury of 14 men and women had been given directions at the beginning of the trial that they were not to make inquiries about the circumstances of the retrial they were taking part in.'

One juror's girlfriend researched the previous cases online however, texted her boyfriend and he in turn shared them with some fellow jurors. Despite what the judge called the huge emotional and financial cost, he felt he had no choice but to abandon the trial. The victim's mother and sister were visibly upset, and the juror was called into court to explain his actions.

A new trial could be scheduled to begin August 21st, unless prosecutors decide to drop the case.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/t...th-scrapped-20140730-zyj6e.html#ixzz394lU0Ge8

Holy stupidity, Batman. Honestly, can't they find jurors (or their partners) with brains? What a waste of time, emotion & money for everyone involved.

Updated story.


Elderly man denies killing Perth woman Cariad Anderson-Slater and burying her in his backyard

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-13/pennington-retrial-over-slater-anderson-death/6616112

Elderly man faces manslaughter retrial


The retrial of an 86-year-old man accused of killing an acquaintance 23 years ago has been told it's highly improbable someone else killed her.

Ronald Leslie Pennington is charged with manslaughter over the 1992 death of Cariad Anderson-Slater, 41, whose remains were found 19 years later buried in the backyard of a house he had rented.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/07/13/03/35/retrial-for-wa-man-accused-of-manslaughter

Elderly man guilty of 1992 Perth killing

AN 86-year-old man accused of killing an acquaintance 23 years ago has been found guilty of manslaughter.

AFTER five hours of deliberations on Wednesday, a Supreme Court of Western Australia jury found Ronald Leslie Pennington guilty of unlawfully killing Cariad Anderson-Slater, 41, in 1992


http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...92-perth-killing/story-e6frfku9-1227453008252

Very good news. I didn't know that Cariad's daughter, Melanie MacEachen, had to travel all the way from Scotland for the trial. She says although police made a mistake in never searching Pennington's house at the time, she was glad they were honest about that mistake. She says that is something Pennington has never been.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-...-over-death-of-cariad-anderson-slater/6641030

Thanks Zwiebel, I didn't know that either.

zwiebel said:

Very good news. I didn't know that Cariad's daughter, Melanie MacEachen, had to travel all the way from Scotland for the trial. She says although police made a mistake in never searching Pennington's house at the time, she was glad they were honest about that mistake. She says that is something Pennington has never been.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-...-over-death-of-cariad-anderson-slater/6641030

Click to expand...

Here's an old article from 2012, following Pennington's first conviction that was later overturned. Cariad's husband, David Slater, wrote a book about this case. It seems he went through years of being suspected of disappearing his wife. Strange that his house was thoroughly searched, but the last house Cariad was seen at, wasn't.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/h...d-andersonslaters-killing-20120404-1wbrl.html

Pennington is going to appeal the conviction, his lawyer just announced.

He's due to be sentenced next month and his lawyer also wants a suspended sentence because of his age and ill-health.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wes...rialSF&utm_source=PerthNow&utm_medium=Twitter

From September:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cri...vid-slater-brands-justice-system-a-farce.html

Pennington, 86, was re-sentenced on Wednesday to six and half years in the West Australia Supreme Court for Anderson-Slater's death.

Click to expand...