DNA lab inquiry turns attention to savage Mackay murder
A probe into Queensland’s troubled forensic laboratory has resumed, with the lab’s failure to obtain useful DNA from the savage murder of a young woman in Mackay coming under scrutiny.
Murder victim Shandee Blackburn. Image: Facebook
Potential problems with the lab came to light due to The Australian’s podcast series about the investigation into the slaying of Shandee Blackburn.
The 23-year-old was stabbed more than 20 times on her way home from work in Mackay in February 2013.
Shandee Blackburn’s former boyfriend, John Peros, a champion amateur boxer, was charged with murder, but was acquitted in the Supreme Court in 2017.
In August 2020, the coroner found Blackburn died from injuries sustained during an incident involving violence with Peros, who used a bladed instrument.
The review of the lab’s failure to obtain useful DNA from Blackburn’s murder will be the focus of resumed hearings at the commission of inquiry into the Queensland government-run Forensic and Scientific Services lab on Thursday.
Evidence at the inquiry has revealed staff were concerned by serious testing shortfalls when significant changes to DNA threshold limits were introduced.
The unusual threshold adopted by the lab in 2018 was designed to save money and improve efficiency, but resulted in thousands of crime-scene evidence samples not being tested.
The probe, led by former judge Walter Sofronoff, has also been told of the toxic environment within the lab, and identified management failures at the lab’s most senior levels.
Two final days of public hearings have been set down, with a final report due within weeks.
