Thompson v The Queen [1989] HCA 30

High Court of Australia Mason C.J. Brennan, Deane, Dawson and Gaudron JJ. Thompson v The Queen [1989] HCA 30

ORDER Application for special leave to appeal granted. Appeal dismissed.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

1989, June 8 Mason C.J. and Dawson J.

This is an application for special leave to appeal from an order of the Full Court of the Federal Court (Forster, Everett and Miles JJ.) dismissing the applicant's appeal from his convictions in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory on charges of murdering two sisters, Mirjana and Ljiljana Milosevic, on 30 December 1981. The application raises two questions for determination. They relate, first, to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory to entertain the proceedings and, secondly, to the admissibility of similar fact evidence relating to the applicant's participation in the killing of the four occupants of a house at Hemmings Crescent, Richardson, in the Australian Capital Territory on 28 March 1984. It is convenient to begin with an account of the circumstances in which the alleged offences took place.

On 30 December 1981 the bodies of the deceased Mirjana and Ljiljana Milosevic were found in a burned-out motor car which had collided with a tree adjacent to the Monaro Highway in the Australian Capital Territory. The applicant, who had been driving the car, gave an account to police that he was driving along the Monaro Highway with the two girls as passengers, that he was dazzled by the lights of an oncoming car and that, as a consequence, his car left the road and struck a tree when travelling at a speed of between 40 and 45 miles per hour. According to the applicant, the car burst into flames; he was able to get out but was unable to get the two girls out and they were burned to death. The matter was not then investigated thoroughly by the police and no steps were taken by the police against the applicant until some years later, after they became aware of his participation in the killing of the four occupants of the house at Hemmings Crescent, Richardson. The occupants of that house were Radmilla Milosevic, a sister of Mirjana and Ljiljana, her de facto husband and their two children. Each of these four persons was shot in the head with a .22 calibre rifle. An attempt was made, using petrol, kerosene and dieseline, to set fire to the house in which the bodies were found. The applicant admitted to police that he had murdered the four persons and he was later convicted of those murders. The applicant's connexion with these killings led the police to investigate the deaths of Mirjana and Ljiljana more thoroughly. Their bodies were exhumed and subjected to a comprehensive post mortem examination, the details of which will be mentioned later.