by David Murray
Everyone has known, worked with or dated someone like Gerard Baden-Clay and there was a palpable hunger to see him held to account. It was cathartic to see Gerard brought to justice. When the public thought he was going to wriggle off the hook for murder, they roared their outrage.
Fraud
Not too long ago I was invited to speak about this book at the Queensland University of Technology. Also speaking was Dr Claire Ferguson from QUT’s School of Justice. Ferguson had some interesting insights on how killers try to manipulate crime scenes. (Most criminals aren’t very bright, like the US man who claimed his wife randomly fell from a height during a walk, but left in his car a map to the exact location where it happened.)
Ferguson also asked an interesting question about Gerard. Many killers have a history of fraud, she explained. Was there any financial dishonesty in Gerard’s past?
Sure enough, there are red flags in this area. Kerry-Anne Walker always suspected Gerard had ripped off his workplace, Flight Centre, just before Gerard and Allison left Australia on their extended honeymoon. After Allison went missing, Walker told police Gerard had written cheques from Flight Centre to pay for flowers, vehicles and other expenses for the wedding. Questions had been asked at the time and Gerard left Flight Centre quickly. In any event Gerard wasn’t charged and the company later rehired him.
I’d been trying for years to interview Flight Centre founder Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner. We finally spoke in the lead-up to the rally; Turner described Allison and Gerard in polar opposite terms. ‘I remember her quite well. She was highly regarded, successful,’ Turner told me. ‘Gerard was a bit of a slightly different character but I certainly remember him. He was considered a little bit strange.’
I asked Turner about the persistent rumours the firm investigated Gerard for financial impropriety. ‘That was the story,’ he said. ‘But I think it was one of those things that couldn’t be proved. So, he was let go, but not necessarily tried for that.’
Sleaze
This might be hard to believe, but one thing I didn’t fully appreciate was just how sleazy Gerard could be. Of course, we all know Gerard was a philanderer who had multiple affairs, ‘many of them concurrent’, as he had himself testified at trial. But what surprised were his casual sexual remarks and advances towards colleagues and even clients.
Stephanie (name changed) first met Gerard when she was househunting and later had dealings with him in the Kenmore and District Chamber of Commerce. She was married with a young son and Gerard knew her husband from the chamber.
At a meeting around August 2006, when Stephanie was chamber secretary and Gerard was vice president, he made his first inappropriate comment. She was lining up for coffee at the time. ‘Your clothes are beautiful and I love the way you dress. If I wasn’t with Allison, watch out, I’d be with you,’ he’d said. Stephanie said something about her husband in reply, and joined the rest of their group.
At the next month’s meeting, Gerard spotted her and started stumbling in her direction. When he reached her, he flung his arms around her. ‘I was pretending to be drunk to get a hug,’ he laughed.
Things escalated at a Century 21 Christmas party, when she told Gerard she wanted to ask a favour. Gerard jumped in first. ‘Do you want me to have sex with you?’ he said. There were people all around them.
At a family camping trip, Stephanie mentioned she liked condensed milk. Gerard brought out a can to share but only one spoon. ‘Don’t worry about another spoon, we’ll be snogging later tonight,’ he said in front of everyone, including Allison. They all groaned awkwardly, and Stephanie’s husband wasn’t impressed. Their social contact ended soon after.
Some staff thought he crossed the line too. One, Terri Hughes, talked to Gerard about boundaries. She wanted him to stop hugging her and the other women in the office. It was inappropriate.
Mystery text message
Allison’s last text message to Kerry-Anne Walker on the night she vanished never rang true. Kerry-Anne had asked Allison to return some borrowed dresses. Allison replied by text at 7.50 pm. Part of the message bugged Kerry-Anne. ‘Sorry you had to chase them up,’ Allison had texted.
It was a bit formal and Allison would know she never had to apologise to her friend. Kerry-Anne wondered at the time, and still does today, who really sent the text message. Had Allison already lost her life by then? Was it really Gerard who sent the message, giving him a lot more time than anyone has realised to dispose of Allison’s body?
Allison’s clothes
It has become a common assumption that when Allison’s body was found, she was in her walking clothes. But the clothes Allison was wearing – three-quarter pants, a singlet top and a jumper – is exactly the kind of comfortable outfit many women wear to bed.
Tellingly, Allison was not wearing a bra. Her singlet had what is known as an inbuilt ‘shelf bra’, which is little more than an extra layer of material over the chest area. It seems more likely these were clothes Allison planned to sleep in, rather than walk in.
All Gerard had to do was put her shoes and socks on and tie her laces.
The two cars
A loose end in this book is the sighting of two cars driving towards Kholo Creek Bridge the night Allison went missing. The cars were so close they were almost touching, and the one behind had its headlights off.
Unfortunately, on legal advice, there’s not much more I can say about this. Witness Mary Mason has described the drivers to me. She thinks she knows who they are. I’m told police looked into it and the dates didn’t match. But Mason is adamant, and has told me she is happy to sign a statutory declaration. I’m not satisfied this has been looked into as thoroughly as it should be.
Prisoner E00477
Gerard’s day now starts with a 7.15 am headcount at Wolston Correctional Centre. Dinner’s served at 4.10 pm and then the cell doors click shut at 5.30 pm.
It’s a regimented existence that resembles his father’s boarding school experience. His 50-cell unit in a ‘secure’ section of the prison provides inmates with a single bed, desk, small shelf, noticeboard, toilet and shower. Like everyone else, on entry into the prison system he was given his own ID: E00477.
When he works in the ‘snaps’ section, which involves the assembly of metal parts, he earns up to $60 a week. He gets the same rate when he works as a prison trolley pusher, delivering three square meals a day to prisoners from the kitchen.
The biggest surprise has been the bond Gerard has formed with Max Sica, who’s serving a minimum of 35 years before he’s eligible for parole, the biggest sentence ever set in Queensland, over the slaying of three siblings. One of Sica’s victims was a 12-year-old girl. It’s odd to think of them together – Sica, a psychopath, and Gerard, the narcissist – but with both claiming they are innocent victims of an injustice, they would have a lot to talk about. According to veteran crime reporter Paula Doneman, Gerard and Sica have regular chats while pushing food trolleys around.
Gerard has been a prolific letter writer since being jailed. A source sent me one letter he wrote while awaiting trial. In it, Gerard updated his supporters on what he called the ‘Four Fs’: family, friends, fitness and faith. Gerard signed off with a quote from John Grisham’s novel The Chamber: ‘Weird things happen within our absurd judicial system. Courts rule this way one day and the other way the next.’ Given the events that followed in court, it was a prescient line.
Up until his trial, Gerard’s daughters regularly visited him in prison. He raved about these visits, telling his parents he didn’t know how he could survive without them. These days, Gerard’s daughters have nothing to do with him. The moment the jury convicted him of murdering their mother, all contact with the girls was cut off. They have not seen or spoken to him since.
Complete disconnection from his daughters must be the toughest sentence of all for Gerard. After his conviction, he was still wearing his wedding ring and kept a wedding picture on his cell wall.
The High Court’s decision wa
s crushing for Gerard. Afterwards, as the reality of his life sentence hit him, he broke down. Sobbing uncontrollably, he had to be helped back to his cell. He has been seeking to be moved to the prison’s residential section, where inmates have more space and freedom.
Will anyone else be charged?
No. To my knowledge, no one else is being investigated over Allison’s murder.
The scratches
Gerard’s razor story was so blatantly false, from there it was a matter of connecting the dots to why he was lying. But what if he’d said from the outset that Allison scratched him and then stormed off? Would police have shown the same level of interest? I’m told even Gerard’s fellow prisoners are obsessed by this point, endlessly discussing what they would have said and done if faced with the same predicament.
That night
So, what happened? Only one person really knows. But we all have theories.
I have no doubt Gerard killed Allison – the evidence was overwhelming. Some people hear ‘circumstantial’ and think ‘weak’. That’s not the case; a solid set of facts can reveal everything you need to know. The scratches on Gerard’s face spoke of close-quarter combat. The leaves in Allison’s hair pointed to death at her house. The blood in the car revealed how Gerard transported her body.
If Allison did fall and hit her head, as Gerard’s legal team belatedly suggested was possible on appeal, it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have called an ambulance. Death is rarely instantaneous. To accept that version, we’d also have to accept that after not meaning to seriously hurt Allison, he would go the next step and dump her body under a bridge. For me it’s all a bridge too far.
Some of the most crucial evidence against Gerard came from an unexpected source: his garden. Who would have thought some leaves would play such a big role in a murder trial? But those leaves told a story. Allison, who’d been at the hairdresser’s that evening, clearly should not have had half her garden in her hair. Gerard’s defence team and supporters certainly realised the power of this evidence during the trial. I’m told one of them, after hearing the expert testimony of Queensland Herbarium director Dr Gordon Guymer, walked out of court and was heard to remark: ‘That’s a very dangerous man.’ Polite, slim Guymer, at five feet seven inches, is possibly the last person in the world you would call dangerous, but the comment showed just how crucial his evidence was seen to be in convicting Gerard.
I haven’t previously discussed in this book the absence of some plant material from Allison’s clothes and body, which didn’t come up at the trial. What Guymer didn’t find is just as interesting as what he did find. If Allison had been dragged through her overgrown lawn, or if she’d stumbled along road verges or crashed through the tall grass at Kholo Creek, she would have been covered in grass seeds and material from a whole range other plants. There was no sign of that at all; the only plant material that clung to her was from those six species in her garden. Which plays into the following theory: my theory. Others will have different ones, and you probably have your own.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Allison’s death had to follow on from an argument, when in fact it may well have been an attack by stealth. Gerard just may have seen no other way out.
Allison was gaining a little confidence, but she’d never wanted to end the marriage. It’s hard to see her threatening to leave and take the children. Much more likely is that Gerard had become sick of being forced to account for his deception. Allison was stripping away his mask, one frustrating question at a time.
Perhaps it was on the couch as she stared blankly at the TV, or in bed as she lay there thinking about her marriage. Smothering is the most likely explanation for the lack of injuries. All she could do was reach out and claw at her assailant. In the process, she marked and caught her own killer, a man who didn’t love her and who could only gain from her demise.
Prosecutors didn’t say it was premeditated, but perhaps Gerard did plan it. I think the fantasy of being shot of Allison had been bubbling away for years, right back to when he jokingly offered a young real estate worker, Melissa Romano, a job – to ‘kill my wife’. Gerard was broke and sick of it. There was a million dollars on the line and he knew it. He had the arrogance to believe he could pull it off.
Allison’s body ended up on the overgrown back patio, an area fringed by fishbone ferns and covered in the leaves of crepe myrtle, eucalyptus, lilly pilly and Chinese elm. Some of these fronds and leaves lodged in her hair.
Gerard wrapped her in a sheet or something similar. He no longer had to look at her face. She was just something to dispose of.
He carried Allison down the gentle slope on the side of the house to the carport. A tendril of cat’s claw creeper from the beams of the carport caught in her hair as he struggled to manoeuvre her body to the car. He put Allison in the third-row seating area of Sparky, her Holden Captiva, under the cover of darkness. She was bleeding from the head, either from the attack or an injury sustained moving her body. A small amount of blood dripped down the car’s side panel.
Quiet Kholo Creek was the perfect dumping ground – lending weight to the possibility that killing Allison was more than a spur of the moment act. Perhaps people would even think she had jumped to her death. Gerard drove her body there, carried her through the tall grass and down the steep slope to a ledge beneath the bridge. She was still in the sheet, which is why she wasn’t covered in grass seeds from the bush or garden. With a push, she rolled out of the sheet and down to the muddy bank just below. She lay there through tides and storms, until she was found.
Back at home, Gerard loaded the car boot with old toys. Laying a false trail was a Scouts basic. But he missed the small trail of blood down the side panel.
In front of the mirror, he realised just how bad those scratches were. He tried to disguise them, inflicting more marks on his face with his razor, but only made it look worse. He’d put his phone on charge, having no idea it would log the time it was plugged into the wall. Then he waited for the sun to rise, pressed the panic button early and tried to talk his way out of trouble. He almost got away with it. If it wasn’t for those scratches, he’d have been home free.
To donate to The Late Allison Baden-Clay Children’s Trust: BSB: 084-737, ACC: 94-308-4078.
Anyone living with domestic abuse can find support through the National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Service on 1800 737 732 (1800RESPECT)
A proud new member of the AYBC. Allison at around 11 years of age. Courtesy Inara Svalbe
Allison and other members of the Australian Youth Ballet Company (AYBC) meeting Rolf Harris in Scotland. Courtesy Inara Svalbe
The ballerina on stage. Allison is on the far right. Courtesy Inara Svalbe
Exchange students. Allison, aged 17, pictured with Linda Drinnan. They both spent 1986 in Denmark and became close friends. Courtesy Linda Ebeling
A side trip during the exchange year. Linda, friend Philippa Mackenzie and Allison in Paris. Courtesy Linda Ebeling
In high spirits. Pictured with Austrian street performers, 1986. Courtesy Linda Ebeling
That’s my husband in the turban. As newlyweds, Gerard and Allison travelled extensively. Photo courtesy Linda Ebeling
Beautiful bride, handsome groom. Photo courtesy Linda Ebeling
Heading off after a wedding with all the trimmings – except, to the surprise of some guests, alcohol. Photo courtesy Linda Ebeling
Gerard wore his gold jacket with pride, everywhere he went. Jim Campey/Newspix
The scratches that rang so many alarm bells. Queensland Police Service
Kholo Creek Bridge the day Allison’s body was discovered on a bank below. Glenn Barnes/Newspix
Detective Superintendent Mark Ainsworth, the Regional Crime Coordinator, and Police Inspector Mark Laing, who coordinated the search, front media during the investigation. Paul Guy/Newspix
Allison’s home, showing the carefully parked cars, on the day she was reported missing. Queensland Police Ser
vice
The loungeroom. Gerard told police he went to bed before Allison and that the last time he saw her, she was watching TV. Queensland Police Service
Leaf of Dolichandra ungui-cati, cat’s claw creeper, that was entwined in Allison Baden-Clay’s hair. Strands of her hair are still attached to the leaf. Photo G.P. Guymer, Queensland Herbarium
Leaf parts (pinnae) of Nephrolepis cordifolia, fishbone fern. Plant material would play a pivotal role in the case. Photo G.P. Guymer, Queensland Herbarium
Allison’s blood trailing down a side panel in her Holden Captiva, by the third row of seats. When police first examined the car, the seats had been folded down, and the boot was full of toys. Queensland Police Service
Left to pick up the pieces of her life, a shattered Toni McHugh – the ‘other woman’ – after giving evidence. She discovered during the investigation Gerard had dalliances during their affair. Jack Tran/Newspix
Gerard’s parents, Nigel and Elaine Baden-Clay. An incredibly close family, the Baden-Clays’ support for Gerard is unwavering. Jack Tran/Newspix
Leaving court after the verdict. Allison’s parents, Geoff and Priscilla Dickie, with sister Vanessa and brother Ashley (immediately behind Geoff), are flanked by her best friend, Kerry-Anne Walker (left), and cousin Jodie Dann (right). Jack Tran/Newspix