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Supreme Court 8 December 2016

R v Crickitt

[2016] NSWSC 1738

Homicide
CRIMINAL LAW MURDER TRIAL BY JUDGE ALONE CIRCUMSTANTIAL CASE VERDICT OF GUILTY.

Citation: R v Crickitt [2016] NSWSC 1738
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Date: 8 December 2016
Judge: Hoeben CJ at CL

Background

The accused, a general practitioner practising near Campbelltown, was charged with murdering his wife on or about 1 January 2010 at Woodbine, NSW. The couple had been together for 21 years and married for approximately 19. In the period before the deceased's death, the marriage had deteriorated significantly, and the accused was conducting a relationship with another woman with whom he had discussed marriage.

The Crown's case was that the accused deliberately injected his wife with fast-acting insulin on the night of 31 December 2009 or the early morning of 1 January 2010. Because the deceased was not diabetic, the Crown submitted that any such injection could only have been administered with murderous intent. The accused's alleged motive included his desire to be with his new partner and to obtain the financial benefits flowing from the deceased's life insurance policy of approximately $568,000.

Critically, the Crown conceded that it could not establish the cause of death through clinical or post-mortem evidence alone. The case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence. The accused elected to be tried by judge alone, and the Crown consented to that application under section 132(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW).

  • Whether the circumstantial evidence, taken as a whole, established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused caused the deceased's death by administering an insulin injection.
  • Whether the absence of clinical evidence capable of confirming insulin as the cause of death was fatal to the Crown's case.
  • Whether the photographs of the deceased's left buttock established the presence of an injection site.
  • Whether positional (postural) asphyxiation could be excluded as an alternative cause of death.
  • Whether the accused had improperly obtained a supply of insulin by generating a fraudulent prescription in a patient's name.

Decision

Hoeben CJ at CL found the accused guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt. The conviction rested on the cumulative weight of several interlocking strands of circumstantial evidence, none of which was sufficient on its own but which, taken together, excluded any reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence.

A central finding concerned the accused's acquisition of insulin. The evidence indicated that on 31 December 2009, the accused generated a prescription for fast-acting insulin (NovoRapid) in a patient's name, despite the patient having no need for it at that time. The patient's existing supply, obtained from a specialist prescription, was sufficient for months. The court found beyond reasonable doubt that the accused improperly obtained a supply of insulin that day, outside the ordinary course of his medical practice. This finding was described as having important implications for the other circumstantial evidence in the case.

In the two days preceding the deceased's death, the accused conducted internet searches relating to insulin overdose symptoms and intentional insulin overdose, including accessing an academic article analysing 25 patients who had been overdosed or self-overdosed with insulin. Photographs of the deceased's left buttock were found to show an injection site, though the court acknowledged that exactly how the injection was administered remained unclear. The court considered it more likely that the accused used some form of subterfuge to secure the deceased's acquiescence.

Although no clinical evidence could establish insulin as the cause of death, the court concluded, on the whole of the evidence, that death by insulin overdose was established beyond reasonable doubt. The alternative hypothesis of positional asphyxiation was rejected beyond reasonable doubt. The court was satisfied that the injection was a deliberate act done with an intention to cause death, satisfying the elements of murder.

Orders Made

  • The accused was found guilty of the murder of Christine Crickitt.

Key Takeaways

  • A murder conviction can rest entirely on circumstantial evidence even where the cause of death cannot be established by clinical or post-mortem examination, provided the combined weight of the evidence excludes reasonable hypotheses consistent with innocence beyond reasonable doubt.
  • The Supreme Court confirmed that individual strands of circumstantial evidence need not each be individually conclusive; it is the cumulative effect of the evidence considered as a whole that determines whether the criminal standard is met.
  • Evidence of pre-offence internet searches directed at the mechanism and effects of a suspected murder weapon was treated as a significant indicator of planning and intention.
  • Where an accused held a professional position giving access to a potential murder instrument, evidence of an improper or irregular use of that professional access immediately before the offence formed a critical link in the chain of circumstantial proof.
  • Photographic evidence of a suspected injection site, considered in combination with other circumstantial evidence, was capable of supporting a finding beyond reasonable doubt even though the existence of the site was initially assessed only as a possibility.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), s 132(2)
- Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 79, 165(1)(a), 184

Cases
- Azzopardi v The Queen [2001] HCA 25; 205 CLR 50
- Edwards v R [1993] HCA 63; 178 CLR 193
- Green v The Queen [1971] HCA 55; 126 CLR 28
- Kuehne v R; Humphries M v R; Humphries A v R [2012] NSWCCA 270
- Lane v R [2013] NSWCCA 317; 241 A Crim R 321
- Peacock v The King [1911] HCA 66; 13 CLR 619
- Penza and Di Maria v R [2013] NSWCCA 21
- Plomp v The Queen [1963] HCA 44; 110 CLR 234
- R v Cook [2004] NSWCCA 52
- RPS v The Queen [2000] HCA 3; 199 CLR 620
- Ryan v The Queen [1967] HCA 2; 121 CLR 205
- Shepherd v The Queen [1990] HCA 56; 170 CLR 573
- The Queen v Baden-Clay [2016] HCA 35; 90 ALJR 1013
- The Queen v Hillier [2007] HCA 13; 228 CLR 618
- Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions (1935) AC 462