A man accused of a string of murders and bombings in Sydney in the 1980s was motivated to commit the offences by Family Court proceedings not going his way, a court has heard.
The trial of Leonard John Warwick, 71, began today in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney. He is accused of committing four murders and a number of bombings in Sydney targeting the Family Court and its justices from 1980 to 1985.
Prosecutors say the alleged crimes are all related to a long-running Family Court custody and property dispute between Warwick and his ex-wife, Andrea Blanchard.
The court battle started in 1979 and ended in 1986 when Warwick was granted sole custody of their young daughter, Trudi, the court heard.
The “extreme violence” targeting justices or the Family Court itself did not occur before 1980, prosecutor Ken McKay told the court in his opening address.
“And no such happening has happened since the conclusion of the Family Court proceedings involving the accused in April 1986. The Crown case will be that, consistent with the evidence in all events, one person is responsible for all events, and the Crown case will be that is the accused.”
But Warwick stridently denies the allegations, with his lawyer telling the court: “He is a lover, not a murderer.”
Warwick fronted the first day of his trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney wearing a pale blue shirt and khaki suit jacket.
He stood and said "not guilty" in a clear, unemotional tone as each of the 24 charges against him were read out.
McKay took the court through a chronological version of the seven events from 1980 to 1985, arguing that each had a connection to the Family Court proceedings involving Warwick.
Warwick's charges relate to the following events:
1. The murder of Warwick’s brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard on a date between Feb. 20 and 27, 1980.
2. The murder of Family Court Justice David Opas on June 23, 1980.
3. The bombing of the home of Justice Richard Gee, March 6, 1984.
4. The bombing of the Family Court of Australia Parramatta complex on April 5, 1984.
5. The murder of Pearl Watson, via a bombing at the home of Family Court Justice Ray Watson on July 4, 1984.
6. An attempted bombing at a home in Northmead on Feb. 10, 1985.
7. The bombing of the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall, killing Graham Wykes and injuring 13 others, on July 21, 1985.
In his three-hour opening address, McKay argued that each of these events was linked to Warwick's Family Court dispute.
The three justices targeted in the events – Opas, Gee, and Watson – had all made decisions against Warwick in the course of the dispute, and the hearings occurred at the Parramatta complex that was bombed, the court heard.
The other three events – the murder of Blanchard, the attempted bombing in Northmead, and the Kingdom Hall bombing in which Wykes died – could also be connected to the dispute, the court heard.
McKay alleged that Stephen Blanchard had intervened in the dispute by confronting Warwick over breaching the terms of a visit with Trudi, and that bricks used to weigh down Blanchard's body had consistencies with bricks found during a search of Warwick's house.
A bomb placed in the engine of a car parked at a home in Northmead and discovered – without detonation – on Feb. 10, 1985, was in fact targeted at Andrea Blanchard’s solicitor, who no longer lived at that address, the court heard.
Garry Watts, who started representing Andrea Blanchard in 1982, had previously lived at the Northmead home but sold it and moved out in 1984. In February 1985, the current edition of the telephone book listed him as living there.
“On Sunday 10 Feb. 1985, Mr Peter Tall, one of the tenants of the new owner of [the house] went to his vehicle parked in the driveway of the house," McKay said. "Mr Tall opened the bonnet and observed a suspicious package and alerted police. Police attended and identified a bomb has been wired to the car that would detonate on turning the car ignition."
“The Crown case, and what we’ll be submitting, is that the target of this attack was Mr Watts.”
The court heard that some members of the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation who were in the hall when the bomb went off had assisted Andrea Blanchard and her daughter in a move to the north coast in February that year – effectively cutting off Warwick from his daughter, the court heard.
McKay said that blood DNA evidence, which emerged only in the last five years, links Warwick to a break-in at the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall a week before a bomb was detonated during a service there on July 21, 1985.
Warwick’s barrister, Mr Connolly, told the court his client was innocent and that Warwick simply did not have the skills to implement any of the bombings.
“The Crown evidence in that regard is flimsy beyond belief,” he said.
Connolly said that Warwick had been largely successful in his appearances before the Family Court and that there was “not one scintilla of evidence against this man except some DNA, which the defence will show has been very poorly cared for”.
“How could it be that one man did this?” he asked the court.
"The fearful, fearful reflection must be that he didn’t. And if that’s so, who did? And where are they to this very minute? This trial will be forced to examine that issue. It is frightening.
“Mr Warwick loved his daughter. Mr Warwick also loved his first wife. He is a lover; he is not a murderer."
The case will adjourn until mid-July, when the defence will deliver its full opening address and evidence will start to be heard.
The trial, before Justice Peter Garling, is expected to last six months.
Earlier on Tuesday, Warwick’s lawyers attempted to prevent the media reporting on the Crown opening until the defence gave its reply later this year, but Garling dismissed the application.