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

The House

The house in which Mr Stevenson was murdered was located in Parkside, across from the South Adelaide Parklands. A very distinctive house with a slanting roof, it was bulldozed in 2008 and is now an empty space alongside the Transcendental Meditation headquarters. I doubt anyone waiting for a bus right at the front of the property would have any idea that almost 40 years ago, a horrendous murder took place there.

189 Greenhill Road, Parkside - circa 1970s

 

189 Greenhill Road, Parkside - 2007

189 Greenhill Road, Parkside - 2017

The Appeal

David Szach’s is a free man after serving his time for a murder, he (possibly) did not commit. He may be free, but he will forever have that conviction recorded against him in the annals of law. He has claimed right from the start that he did not murder his lover Derrance Stevenson, and now evidence would suggest that he is telling the truth, However, Government officials will not Mr Szach’s appeal the conviction, even though there are laws in place that give him the right to do so.
Mr Szach’s is now fighting not only for his right to clear his name but for his life, with a diagnosis of motor neurone disease that will eventually rob him of his freedom yet again.
In 2016 Maurice Blackburn Lawyers launched a challenge to David Szach’s murder conviction under South Australian legislation that permits convicted criminals to launch an appeal if there is compelling new evidence to clear their name.
In Szach’s case that compelling new evidence is the manner in which Dr Manock conducted his forensic pathology testing, and his non-scientific reasoning when substituting data or methods to gain an end result. (Dr Manock’s testing methods are being brought into question in a number of different cases in South Australia).
There is also the compelling evidence of a young man who turned up at the South Australian Legal Aide Commission the morning after the murder, that had been with Mr Stevenson the night he was murdered. This young man was never sought for the court case, nor was the staff member he spoke to sought as a witness.


I will be watching the outcome of Mr Szach’s appeal, and no doubt will write about the result sometime in the future.

As an interesting side note, and a look into Adelaide’s mythology, and urban legends, could the murder of Derrance Stevenson be, in part, where the origins of Dr Schneider/ Schneider’s Alley haunting began?
 In my original research into Schneider’s Alley, way back in 2008, there was talk of the time of a nearby doctor chopping someone up and putting them into the freezer…considering the notorious park is only 5.8km’s away from the murder scene in Parkside, I believe this, in some weird way, helped propagate the Alley’s notorious (but fake) reputation and origins – a case of misinformation, and urban legend storytelling!

rear view of Derrance Stevenson's house 2007

side view of Derrance Stevenson's house 2007

front view of Derrance Stevenson's house 2007

researched and written by : Allen Tiller - 2017
www.allentiller.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia/
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/

Bibliography

TV & Radio:

Archer, G, 2007, Szach Polygraph, Today Tonight, Seven Network, Adelaide, South Australia, aired 12 Mar 2007, viewed 10 Mar 2017, https://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/szach-polygraph

Carrick D, 2016, The body in the freezer, ABC Radio, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2016-09-18/7848700#transcript

Mann A, 2015, 'Shonk' forensic expert could trigger legal crisis in South Australia, 7:30 ABC Network, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4368496.htm

Books:

Mann, Tom 2015, Body in the freezer: the case of David Szach, [Gawler East, South Australia] Tom Mann

Orr, Stephen 2011, The cruel city : is Adelaide the murder capital of Australia?, Sydney Allen & Unwin

Newspapers:

1979 'Lawyer's body hidden in freezer, court told', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 7 August, p. 10. , viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110573111

1979 'Lawyer's death: man for trial', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 15 August, p. 17. , viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110575069

1979 'Lawyer's death: man for trial', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 15 August, p. 17. , viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110575069

1991 'Murphy visit to death house alleged', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 14 April, p. 3. , viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122356759

1993 'Convict's life sentence to end in July', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 27 March, p. 18. , viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127204589

Carrick D & Story-Carter J, 2016, The body in the freezer, ABC News, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-16/david-szach-and-the-body-in-the-freezer/7851166

Hunt N, 2014, Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes murder by The Family, The Advertiser (online), viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/lost-diary-gives-south-australia-police-new-lead-into-alan-barnes-murder-by-the-family/news-story/eaf66c4823f20f55981177c02d2bb657

Loussikian K, 2016, Lionel Murphy’s misbehaviour: inquiry documents released, The Australian, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/lionel-murphys-misbehaviour-inquiry-documents-released/news-story/541db65962e1432b27b7fad110b7cbe9

Manock CH, 1979, Autopsy Report, The State Coroner, Forensic Science Centre, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://netk.net.au/Szach/AutopsyReport.asp

Mata M, 2016, Maurice Blackburn launches David Szach’s body-in-a-freezer appeal, Australasian Lawyer, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.australasianlawyer.com.au/news/maurice-blackburn-launches-david-szachs-bodyinafreezer-appeal-223715.aspx

Sydney Morning Herald, 2013, I didn't do it, I wasn't there, Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-didnt-do-it-i-wasnt-there-20131215-2zfwf.html

Urban, AL, 2014, David Szach: denying a dying man, Civil Liberties Australia, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.cla.asn.au/News/david-szach-denying-a-dying-man/

Vaughan, J, 2008, Body-in-freezer murder house demolished, The Advertiser, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/body-in-freezer-murder-house-demolished/news-story/10b1d5a4673ace5791be3a969cbd2d1b

James C, 2014, How the death of Anna-Jane Cheney stopped South Australia in its tracks, The Advertiser, viewed 10 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/how-the-death-of-annajane-cheney-stopped-south-australia-in-its-tracks/news-story/0ecd38982fa994ae88e20dda1eb94eaa