Murder of Caroline Byrne
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| Date | 7 June 1995 |
|---|---|
| Location | The Gap, Watsons Bay, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°50′38″S 151°17′06″E / 33.843803°S 151.284998°ECoordinates: 33°50′38″S 151°17′06″E / 33.843803°S 151.284998°E |
| Cause | Death by falling |
| Deaths | Caroline Byrne |
| Coroner | John Abernethy |
| Suspect(s) | Gordon Wood |
| Charges | Murder |
| Verdict | Guilty, overturned on appeal |
Caroline Byrne (1970–1995), an Australian model, was found at the bottom of a cliff at The Gap in Sydney in the early hours of 8 June 1995. Her then boyfriend Gordon Eric Wood (b 1962), who at the time of her death was chauffeur and personal assistant to successful businessman Rene Rivkin, was convicted of her murder on 21 November 2008 and spent three years in Goulburn jail. He was acquitted of the conviction in February 2012.
Born on 8 October 1970, Byrne had been in a relationship with Wood since 1992. She was a model but principally worked as a modelling instructor for Sydney deportment and etiquette educator June Dally-Watkins. On 7 June 1995, she failed to turn up for work and for an appointment with a psychiatrist. There would come to be three claimed sightings of her near The Gap at Watsons Bay that afternoon and evening, in the company of two men, one of whom matched Wood's description. Two of the sightings – at 1 pm and 3 pm – were by local cafe owners, Craig Martin and Lance Melbourne. In 1998 John Doherty an Irish artist who had been out of the country in the intervening years, came forward to say that around 8.30pm that evening he too had sighted Byrne outside his studio window arguing with one man while another man stood nearby.
Wood denied being present at Watsons Bay that afternoon. Evidence was sworn at both inquests by Wood's friends Brett Cochrane and Nic Samartis that they lunched with him briefly around 1:15 pm in Potts Point before he was called away after a call from Rivkin. Wood claimed that he was asked by Rivkin to chauffeur prominent lobbyist and ex-federal minister Graham Richardson to an appointment and then spent the afternoon doing regular chores for Rivkin before going home around 7 pm. The Richardson alibi was compromised by Richardson when he was interviewed by police in 2001, when he advised that he had lunched that day with rugby league identity Peter Moore.
Wood's movements in the afternoon have never been reported prior to the late evening, when Wood said he awoke on his couch having fallen asleep in front of the television and was immediately alarmed that Byrne was still not home. Wood has said he did not know Byrne's whereabouts but was led by what he termed "telepathic communication" to The Gap. He had first driven to the beachfront car-park at Bondi Beach where he and Caroline had spent much time and then to a favourite park at Camp Cove where they had often picnicked. Heading back from Camp Cove he spotted Byrne's white Suzuki Vitara parked in a lane at The Gap. It was when running about the cliff-top and shouting her name that Wood encountered two rock fishermen who verified his appearance around midnight.
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