AUSTRALIA | 23 July 2020 - Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall bomber found guilty by Supreme Court

by jwleaks 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  jwleaks

  Leonard Warwick has been found guilty for a number of bombings committed during the 1980’s, including the Family Court bombing and the Jehovah’s Witnesses Casula Congregation Kingdom Hall bombing on 21 July 1985 which killed the public speaker, Graham Wykes, and injured 13 others.

  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-23/leonard-warwick-family-court-bomber-found-guilty/12483286

  Side Note: I have been closely following this story for 35 years now, including the past few years of Supreme Court hearings, much of which dealt with the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall bombing.
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  resolute Bandicoot

  Shame it took so long.

  RB.
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  FatFreek 2005

  Horrible cold case. Anything to indicate this perpetrator is or was a JW?
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  nowwhat?

  Sheesh talk about the wheels of justice turning slow!
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  Pete Zahut

  Odd that this KH bombing even happened and the guest speaker was killed seeing as how we’ve all heard stories of how Jehovah often intervened to cause literature to be smuggled into countries where JWs are banned or JWs are directed by the Holy Spirit to call on someone at the door who was about to commit suicide.

  How do they explain this one away?
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  First I've heard of it. Why on earth would it take over 30 years?
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  Earnest

  FatFreek 2005: Anything to indicate this perpetrator is or was a JW?
  

  In evidence given in 2018 it seems the motivation was that "members of the church had helped Mr Warwick's ex-wife move to northern New South Wales".

  It seems unlikely he was a JW (although I don't know) because the evidence against him was that "a week before that blast, the hall was broken into and bloodstains on carpet and cardboard boxes later became key in linking Warwick, via DNA, to the crimes."
  
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  under the radar

  Wow! I heard of this case several years ago, but had no idea it was still ongoing. Glad it appears to be settled now except for the sentencing. I don't know if Australia has the death penalty, but being locked up for life will at least keep him from doing something similar again.

  I do well and truly hate this cult for what it does to otherwise perfectly wonderful people and their families, but violence is not the answer. Far better to keep exposing the evil chicanery its leadership uses to keep their mind-control victims under their thumb. Especially in Australia, there's a chance their self-serving policies may cost them any government protections they now enjoy, especially their precious tax status. I hope the penalties and taxes finally make them go bankrupt. They're already morally bankrupt.

  Note: To be clear, my disdain and rancor is for the organization itself and the policies of its leadership, not the individual members. Many of the rank and file followers are true believers who are trapped in the Borg, for one reason or another. It's just too bad they can't or won't open their eyes to what is happening all around them.
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  smiddy3

  I remember when news came through that a bombing had occurred in a Kingdom Hall and one person died and there were many casualties .Wondering what`s next ? And is this the prelude to what`s more to come ?And I was living in a different state back then.

  It wasn`t long before the JW rumor machine pinned the blame on the sisters unbelieving ex? husband for blowing up the family law court as well as the KH explosion.,because he was incensed at the courts ruling and the help his wife got from members of the Jehovah`s Witnesses.He was no friend of the JW`s at all.

  Sure, 35 years is a long time for justice to be served especially for the victims family members to wait.

  I guess the law at the time just did not have enough evidence to make the charges stick back then ,because I do believe he was on there radar for a very long time as a prime suspect.
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  Corney

  In case you want to learn more about this case, here is the (extremely lenghty) judgment: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWSC/2020/926.html

  Honestly, I'm shocked. Just think about this: five bombings took place in 18 months, including three targeting the judiciary and one targeting a church, but the police investigation was effectively stopped just two years after the latest bombing, in July 1987, and "[n]o further substantive investigations occurred until July 2013, when a decision was made by the Officer in Charge of the Unsolved Homicide team to commence a further investigation". Perhaps this 26-years-long delay wasn't entirely unreasonable, but it doesn't seem to be entirely reasonable too.

  And as the result, the case against Mr Warwick was pretty weak. His bloodstains were the only strong evidence against him. He was convicted of five crimes other than the Kingdom Hall bombing just because he had motives and no alibis. There was no proof of "any qualification or experience in dealing with explosives", the bombs had little in common, and despite at least four searches in the defendant's house conducted between 1980 and 1985, literally no physical evidence was found linking him to the crimes.

  To be fair, the judgment isn't unreasonable and makes sense but it seems to me that the defendant's guilt hasn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt in respect of every charge. I still hope justice really has been served in this case, and he hasn't been wrongly convicted on any count..