Paul Haigh

Career

1978Edit

1979Edit

In 1979, Haigh began killing people he believed knew too much about his crimes. Haigh also shot dead Gardner"s son Danny Mitchell, 10, who was sitting beside his mother in their car, to stop him identifying his mother"s killer. Haigh"s most brutal attack was committed against his girlfriend, Lisa Brearley, aged 19, whom Haigh stabbed 157 times after allowing another man to rape her at knifepoint.

1991Edit

Haigh"s last victim was sex offender Donald George Hatherley whom Haigh murdered in a jail cell at Pentridge Prison in 1991.

Haigh claimed he "assisted" Hatherley to commit suicide by placing a noose around his neck, kicking a cupboard out from under him then pushing down on Hatherley"s shoulders. A jury found Haigh guilty of Hatherley"s murder.

Haigh argued that the 2009 decision by Justice Betty King was flawed because it had been based on a 2005 pre-sentence report that was later withdrawn by the Victorian Parole Board and replaced in 2007. The appeal was rejected on 13 December 2012.

Achievements

• Won right to appeal On 19 April 2011, at a hearing before Victorian Court of Appeal justices Peter Buchanan, Geoffrey Nettle and Emilios Kyrou, Haigh won the right to have his sentence reviewed to determine whether he should be entitled to parole, after he appealed a 2009 Victorian Supreme Court (Trial Division) decision to deny his request to be given a minimum term.