Battle over bandana DNA could free killer Stephen Jamieson

The bandana, an important piece of crime scene evidence, has been subjected to DNA testing seven times in the last 20 years. Jamieson was never profiled and there is no other forensic evidence linking him to the crime.

“I just want them to test; that’s all we’ve ever asked for, to compare,” Breen told the outlet. 60 Minutes.

“And if Wells is not excluded as a contributor, that is enough for us to launch a criminal investigation into Jamieson’s conviction.”

Forensic scientist Dr. Kirsty Wright described the lack of testing against Wells as a “very critical failure”.

This imprint does not allege Wells committed any crime; He claims that simply comparing his DNA to the DNA on the bandana is now a matter of significant public and legal debate.

Wells became a person of interest in the case at Jamieson’s first trial in 1989, when Bronson Blessington, a co-defendant, told the court it was Wells, not Jamieson, who was in the group.

In an interview with NSW Police shortly afterwards, schizophrenic Wells, who was known to wear a bandanna and had previously falsely confessed to a crime, also admitted being present on the night Janine Balding was killed.

He recalled a blonde woman being pushed over a “barbed wire fence.” “They took him into the bush and I stayed in the car,” he told police.

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Wells told police that when they returned “someone was wet.”

Wells, who stood at 150 centimeters, the same height as Jamieson, accurately recalled the make of car driving down the highway, the use of a knife and rope, the victim being thrown over barbed wire and the car breaking down. .

But he also got important facts wrong, such as who was driving the car, the color of the car, and the color of the knife used to threaten the 20-year-old bank teller.

Wells also nominated Jamieson, an acquaintance, as one of the killers. Investigators dismissed Wells as a suspect due to “lack of details.” Still, the “wrong Shorty” issue caused the first hearing to be cancelled.

At the second trial in 1990, all four Jamiesons testified that it was “Shorty” Wells, not “Shorty” Jamieson, who was with them when they were randomly targeted for kidnapping at Balding Sutherland railway station.

Wells, who was called to testify, confirmed that his nickname was “Short”.

Asked if he knew someone called Janine Balding, he told the court: “I don’t want to answer any of these questions because they might blame me.”

Jamieson was convicted on the basis of his confessions and the evidence of two new eyewitnesses who contacted police after the original trial was cancelled. Jamieson has long maintained that his confession was fabricated by police.

In 2002, this allegation sparked an investigation by the Police Integrity Commission, which examined the claim that “Jamieson was not involved in the crimes against Janine Balding”.

During that six-year investigation, codenamed Cerduna, investigators examined the details of the case, repeatedly interviewing all five criminals and members of the NSW homicide squad who led the murder investigation. No serious misconduct was detected.

The minutes of the secret hearings were seen in this article, and it may be revealed that Wells made some confessions under police interrogation in 2005.

Wells, who initially denied being at the scene of Balding’s crime, said he was.

Wells was asked: “Were you there, Mark?”

Wells replied, “Yes,” before confirming his answer, nodding and saying, “Yes.”

“That’s right, I was there. They drove him over the fence. I stayed where the car was.”

Officers asked for more details to verify his admission.

“Well, that highway, where am I? “Yes, there is a small pasture next door, thick bushes and a tall barbed wire fence,” he said.

“So they pushed him and jumped over him, grabbed him, walked into the bush and (that was) the last time I heard anything. “I didn’t even hear you scream.”

Officers told Wells he was telling conflicting stories and it was “obvious” he was confused. They noted that Wells was wearing a bandana in his interview.

Jamieson’s other accomplices, Blessington, Matthew Elliott and Wayne Wilmot, reiterated that he was not with Balding when he committed the crime against them.

Blessington, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for Balding’s murder, gave evidence to Operation Cerduna that he was “determined” Jamieson was not with them.

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“I’m prepared to take a polygraph test or something like, I’m 100 per cent determined that Stephen Jamieson is innocent,” he told investigators. “He was not there during the murder. He was at the police station the morning of the murder, but he had nothing to do with it.”

Former homicide detectives maintained the integrity of their investigations. The NSW attorney general’s office and NSW Police declined to comment on the case this week.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison is expected to rule next month (December 13) on whether to launch a criminal investigation into Jamieson’s case.

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