Justice In Jeopardy: The Unsolved Murder of Baby Deidre Kennedy

· Sold by Random House Australia
5.0
5 reviews
Ebook
368
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

The shocking story of the unresolved murder of baby Deidre Kennedy.

As her parent's slept on Friday April 13, 1973 17-month old Deidre Kennedy was snatched from her cot. Tossed like trash on top of a toilet block in a nearby park, dawn revealed the obscenity of her murder. Dressed in women's underwear, her chubby thigh showed bruising inflicted by bite marks. She had been bashed, sexually assaulted and strangled. There was no eyewitness. No motive. No confession. No closure for Deidre's family. Three decades on, they are still waiting.

In 1985 - eleven years after her death - former RAAF technician Raymond John Carroll was found guilty of her murder and later acquitted on appeal. In 2000, he was found guilty of perjury on the grounds that he lied when he said he did not kill the baby. Acquitted for the second time - this time on double jeopardy - the case went all the way to the Australian High Court, which dismissed the Crown's appeal. He could never be re-tried again.

A bewildered Australian public, at a loss to understand the technicalities of the law clamoured for explanations. Late in 2003 the United Kingdom successfully passed a Bill that modified the rule of double jeopardy. The Crown now has a right to appeal acquittals when 'new and compelling evidence' comes to light - laws which operate retrospectively. In Australia, change has been excruciatingly slow.

This is an intensely personal story about the casualties of murder: private lives thrown open to public scrutiny, families shattered by grief and a loss of faith in the judicial system. Against legal advice and for the first time, Raymond John Carroll and his family spoke to Debi Marshall about the crime for which he has been twice accused and which, despite two acquittals, continues to haunt him. Informed by interviews with Deidre's shattered family, police, lawyers and forensic scientists,Justice in Jeopardy is a thought-provoking and harrowing true story that will make you weep. For Deidre, whose short life and appalling death spearheaded the call for an overhaul of an ancient law called Double Jeopardy; for her heartbroken family whose lives have been ruined by her murder and for justice denied.

Ratings and reviews

5.0
5 reviews
Rachel Proberts
January 3, 2014
This book is a well researched, well written informative book of the most tradgic of cases. You feel the heat ache and impact if this hiddious crime against the most defenseless of all.. a baby.. it also leaves the sour question in your mind... Did Raymond Carroll kill Deidre Kennedy? And if not, who did. The saddest reality of all is this question may never be answered. Leaving no end to this tale for her greif stricken parents and siblings... Rest in peace baby girl, gone but never forgotten.
Did you find this helpful?
Lesty Loo
August 18, 2014
Well written. This author has told this heartbreaking story with honesty and compassion.
Did you find this helpful?
A Google user
December 8, 2018
Good book on Deidre Kennedy Murder in Ipswich in ‘73.
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

Debi Marshall is a journalist and author who lives in Hobart. She has written a number of biographies and true crime titles, including The House of Hancock: The Rise and Rise of Gina Rinehart, Justice in Jeopardy: The unsolved murder of baby Deidre Kennedy and Killing For Pleasure: the definitive story of the Snowtown serial murders.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.