The Parkside Body in the Freezer Case: 
Incompetent Coroner? (part 4)

 

Was the case against David Szach, convicted of murdering his older lover, Derrance Stevenson, flawed because of an incompetent South Australian Coroner?

This is the question being posed by several individuals interested in the case known as “The Body in the Freezer Case” that thrust Adelaide into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in 1979/ 1980.

Police removed the freezer in which the body of
Derrance Stevenson had been found in his home.

 Questions have been raised about the procedures used by Coroner Dr Colin Manock. It would seem in recent years a number of high profile cases that saw convictions against suspected murderers, have recently been overturned due to the improper procedures applied by Dr Manock.

Dr Colin Manock worked as South Australia’s Chief Forensic Pathologist between 1968 and 1995, he conducted more than 9000 autopsies and gave evidence in just about every major case in the State at that time.

Dr Colin Manock was SA's chief forensic pathologist for almost 30 years. Between 1968 and 1995, he conducted more than 9,000 autopsies and gave evidence in almost every major case.

Perhaps the highest-profile overturned conviction which goes against evidence supplied by Dr Manock is that of the death of popular Adelaide lawyer Anna-Jane Cheney, who was found dead in her bathtub.
 Henry Keogh, a recently separated man with children, who began to date Ms Cheney, was accused of her murder, on the grounds he was trying to cash in her 1-million-dollar insurance policy.
The case seemed to rest on evidence supplied by Dr Manock, which pointed at Ms Cheney being drowned (Mr Keogh’s supporters have always claimed Ms Cheney had a seizure in the bath and drowned accidentally).
In 1995, Keogh faced a trial, which ended up with a hung jury, triggering a retrial. The second trial later that year found Keogh guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life in gaol with a non-prole period of 25 years.
A campaign began almost immediately to free Keogh that lasted almost 20 years. Eventually, after endless appeals, The Full Court of the Criminal Court of Criminal Appeal ruled there had been a “substantial miscarriage of justice” and a retrial was set for Keogh.
Keogh was able to make bail and was released after 20 years in gaol while the third trial, brought about by the appeal, was heard. Keogh endured 10 months of uncertainty as Director of Public Prosecutions, Adam Kimber, SC, re-laid the murder charge before issuing a nolle prosequi[1] in November 2015 allowing Keogh to walk a free man.

Former South Australian Chief Forensic Investigator
Dr Manock

The reason for the nolle prosequi comes back to Dr Manock’s assessments of the body of Ms Cheney, which the full court agreed were “unreliable”, stating that his conclusions were “not properly explored” and his autopsy “inadequate”. Summarised as “unwarranted speculation”
The case rested on a number of bruises on Ms Cheney’s leg that Dr Manock speculated were made by the hand grip of a man.

So where does this tie in with the case against David Szach?

Dr Manock was the forensic coroner on the Derrance Stevenson case. 

Time Line:

17:30 June 5^th 1979: Dr Manock enters the Stevenson residence in Parkside where he is met by police officers. He waits for the police to dust the freezer (which is switched off) for fingerprints and for photos of the object to be taken.

18:00: the freezer lid is opened and Dr Manock sees the body of Stevenson for the first time.
From the Coroner Report 

“I was able to see the body of a male adult in a head down position. A basket of frozen food was above the head and two plastic bags of frozen food were over the buttocks and lower back. Hypostatic staining was visible on the back of the body and I pronounced life extinct at that time. I noted that the freezer was switched off at the mains power point.”

 Frozen food also in the freezer is removed. The body is removed from the freezer and placed on a plastic sheet, and further photographs are taken.
The body is then transported to the Forensic Science Centre at Divett Place, Adelaide.

20:00: The body temperature is taken via a needle probe inserted into the liver. A constant temperature is recorded, with the maximum temperature being +7.2 C
An examination of the bullet wound takes place via X-rays.

A further examination does not continue as Dr Manock states that the skin and organs were still deep-frozen and unconducive to examination.

8:20 June 6^th 1979: Dr Manock continues his examination of the body.

At 0820 hours on 6 June 1979:  I recommenced the examination. 

 The freezer was also tested for its normal running temperatures, this was to help establish a time of death. (read the entire Coronial report here: http://netk.net.au/Szach/AutopsyReport.asp)

This is where the opinion of today’s forensic specialists criticises Dr Manock’s methodology in the case. Considering the time of the death that Dr Manock implied was the basis for putting Szach in the house at the time of death, and implicating him in the murder, it is an important piece of evidence to have correct.

They point out that the method used by Dr Manock to calculate the time of death is based on a formula initially proposed by Fiddes and Patten work published in the Journal of Forensic Medicine in 1958. The experiments were undertaken for this journal involved bodies having their temperature measured after they had been frozen laid out flat, not in the foetal position as was Mr Stevenson.
Dr Manock adjusted his formula by 40% to compensate for Stevenson’s body being in the foetal position, Dr Manock does not give any scientific reason for his adjustment of 40%, and this is where his argument about the correct time of death falls flat on its face with today’s forensic testers.

A few years after the trial another forensic pathologist looked at Dr Manock’s results and stated in a review why it was not appropriate for Dr Manock to use the formula he did, or substitute important key data, like a liver temperature reading for an anal temperature reading, without a scientific reason for doing so.

 He also pointed out factors such as not knowing the room temperature when Mr Stevenson died, or how long there was between being shot and being put into the freezer. He made no accommodation for the freezer being put into “superchill” mode, which would have added another negative 8 degrees to the cooling temperature.

Derrance Stevenson's odd, iconic house on Greenhill Road, Parkside, circa 1979

In 1978. Dr Manock was the at the centre of a controversial autopsy that he did in the open, in front of the public, in a small South Australian town. The story didn’t become public until a recent court case.

WARNING: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIGHT ISLANDERS MAY BE OFFENDED BY THIS VIDEO: 

https://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/dr-colin-manock-part-1

Another high-profile case that Dr Manock's work has been criticised in, is in regards to the 1971 murder of teenager Deborah Leach on a beach at Taperoo. The crime saw Frits Van Beelan convicted and serving 17 years in gaol. He is now appealing his conviction based on wrongful evidence supplied by Dr Manock.

It would seem there are many issues with evidence provided by Dr Manock, across many cases, and judging by the video above, perhaps there is something more sinister behind his position and personality. If one places a puppet in control of evidence in cases, one can pervert the course of justice to one’s own end….a conspiracy perhaps?

Read more about cases where Dr Manock’s evidence is being questioned: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-murderers-to-appeal-amid-challenges-to-evidence-by-former-pathologist-colin-manock/news-story/aee2d4b0da09205c323f031ef370dea1

Next Week: The Parkside Body in the Freezer Case: The Appeal (part 5)

(Bibliography in the final blog post of this series)

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[1] “nolle prosequi” a formal notice of abandonment by a plaintiff or prosecutor of all or part of a suit.

The Parkside Body in the Freezer Case: Innocence (part 2)

The Parkside Body in the Freezer Case: Innocence (part 2)

David Szach’s was sent to jail at the age of 19, for the murder of his 44-year-old  lover, flamboyant lawyer, Derrance Stevenson, in 1979.

Szach’s has always maintained his innocence in the case, launching numerous appeals to clear his name, and even appearing on channel seven current affairs program, Today Tonight, undertaking a polygraph test (https://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/szach-polygraph). (you can read a transcript of the interview here: http://netk.net.au/Media/2007-03-12TTSzach.asp) 

David Szach - circa 1980 - source Today Tonight

It is claimed that Mr Derrance Redford Stevenson was killed on the night of Monday, June 4^th 1979. A concerned friend had visited his home at 189 Greenhill Rd, Parkside after Mr Stevenson failed to appear at an important trial at the courthouse on Tuesday morning. Police searched the building, fearing Mr Stevenson had been robbed for the large amounts of cash his friends claimed he kept on the premises, it was during this time the freezer was found glued shut, and once opened, Mr Stevenson’s body was found.
 Mr Stevenson was last seen alive at about 4.25pm on June 4 by his relieving secretary, Mrs Flaherty.

 The coroner arrived at 6pm Tuesday night to begin examinations of Mr Stevenson’s body, which had spent the night in a sealed freezer. He estimated the time of death, which corresponded to a time that Mr Szach’s would have been present in the home (more about this next week), further pointing the finger toward Mr Szach.

Szach had allegedly cancelled a bus ticket to Coober Pedy on Monday the 4^th. He often went to the town to mine opal. It is claimed that Szach’s took Mr Stevenson’s distinct red 240z Datsun, and drove it to his parent's house, then drove it to Coober Pedy. What is significant about this, is that it is claimed that Stevenson was very particular about who drove his car and where it went. It is claimed he would never have let his 19-year-old lover drive the car.
 To further implicate Szach’s a witness claimed he saw a man leaving Stevenson’s home after 11pm carrying a green garbage bag and an attaché case. The attaché case (or one very similar to it) was found inside Stevenson’s red Datsun in Coober Pedy…

David Szach’s pleaded not guilty in court but was sentenced (via jury) to life in jail. He appealed and was re-tried in 1980, only to lose again. Szach’s refused to apply for parole, as he believed he was innocent, and applying for parole against his sentence, would give him the recognition that he had committed the crime.
 South Australian laws were changed to enable the Chair of the Parole Board to apply for a non-parole period on the behalf of a prisoner because of Szach’s stance.

Szach’s was released in 1994

So, did David Szach’s kill his older lover? Dr Bob Moles of the Miscarriages of Justice Project at Flinders’ University doesn’t believe so and has campaigned against the conviction of Mr Szach’s and the Governments further refusal to allow Szach’s to appeal against his conviction.

Dr Moles publicly stated that Szach’s couldn’t have killed Stevenson in an interview with ABC news reporters, Damien Carrick and Jeremy Story Carter, where he stated;

"You'd have to attribute to David Szach a number of skills,"

"He'd have the skills of a hired assassin. He'd have to have the skills of a highly skilled rally driver. He'd have to have the skills of a person who could impersonate somebody else and he'd also have to have a great capacity to come across as innocent and naïve when he's been questioned by the police."

There is further evidence either overlooked or “pushed aside” by prosecutors. On the night of Stevenson’s death, two cars were seen sitting in the driveway at his house. One for the green and white ford belonging to Gino Gambardella, and the other unknown (with the witness suggesting it could be the red Datsun that belonged to Stevenson). These cars were witnessed at about 11pm on the night of the murder.

A taxi also picked up a young man, wearing a suit, who was carrying a garbage bag and an attaché case and drove him into the City. The young man, when he exited the taxi, forget his belongings, and was called back by the taxi driver to take them with him.
The taxi driver described the young man as being around 19 years old with blond shoulder-length hair, wearing glasses and of a sallow complexion. He (The taxi driver) did not believe this man to be Szach’s.

A mysterious young man showed up on the steps of the South Australian Legal Aid Commission the morning after Stevenson’s murder wanting to report a crime. When asked by a legal secretary if he had seen a lawyer, the man replied: "Only Derrance Stevenson, but when I left him last night he was in no condition to act for anyone."

David Szach - circa 2012 - source ABC News

 This young man was never heard of again, and no one tried to follow up on his request. Who was he? Was he the young man in the suit?



Szach’s also claimed that Stevenson had been receiving threatening phone calls, and after one phone call, had told him to take the Datsun and leave town for a while. Szach’s followed his partner’s advice, spending a day with his mother, and returning home that night, to find Stevenson not home, so he took the car and drove overnight to Coober Pedy. Szach’s never once deterred from this story.

At the time of the trial, it was illegal to be homosexual in Adelaide. The prosecution sensationalised the case in the media by focussing as much attention on the two men’s sex lives as they could, taking the spotlight away from facts, witness testimony and other unanswered questions about the case at the time.
There are many intriguing unanswered questions with this case, including a scandal around the then Coroner. There is also the question of who is Gino Gambardella and what was he doing at Stevenson’s house on the night of the murder?

I will be looking at both of these men in the coming blogs.

Do you believe David Szach’s is guilty or innocent of the murder of Derrance Stevenson? Tell us over on our Facebook page; The Haunts of Adelaide (https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/?fref=ts)




Next Week: The Parkside Body in the Freezer Case: Gino "Luigi" Gambardella (part 3)
(Bibliography in the final blog post of this series)