Appendices
Appendix A: Summary of the observations in the statements of all who attended Jennifer Tanner’s death
1 There was a television in the near right-hand corner; ambulanceman Gerry O’Donnell’s sketch shows it as being turned off, but his statement said it was on.
2 A gas heater was centrally located along the right-hand wall.
3 There was an ironing board and with an iron standing on it situated near the heater.
4 On the floor under the ironing board was a soiled disposable nappy and a tin of baby powder. (The police statements are obviously wrong because Jennifer didn’t use disposable nappies; this point was corroborated by Jennifer in her conversation with Angela McCormack on the same night, by her mother in a later taped conversation with Kerr, and by June and Laurie Tanner.)
5 Kerr and Fraser say that on the far side of the heater there was a cup and saucer and a small plate with two or three biscuits, but in a statement taken by Fraser two days later (16 November 1984), Dr Gilham described these objects as a cup and a biscuit barrel.
6 There was also an ashtray on a nest of three coffee tables with cigarette butts and a single cigarette with the ash intact that had burnt its entire length in the ashtray.
7 There were two fresh nappies and a baby’s bottle on the floor immediately in front of the deceased; they weren’t disturbed or upset.
8 Jennifer was seated in a slumped-back position on a two-seater couch in front of the window of the far (north) wall.
9 The head was tilted forward and to the left of the body.
10 The right leg was straight out, the left leg bent with the left foot on the floor approximately under the right knee joint.
11 The feet were bare. Moccasins and socks were on the floor beside her.
12 The right arm was extended down on the right side of the body, with the palm of the hand over the stomach, just below the navel.
13 The left arm was extended down the left side, with the elbow bent, resting on the seat of the couch; the hand had the thumb and index finger partially wrapped around the barrel of a .22 Brno rifle, which was pointing toward the ceiling and resting on the front of the wooden stock.
14 The top button of her jeans was undone with the zip partly open; this was something that she normally did if she didn’t have visitors.
15 The butt of the rifle was resting on the floor between her legs, to the rear of her left heel, with the barrel furthermost from the body.
16 There was a white bath towel on the left side of the seat of the couch; it was heavily bloodstained and had what appeared to be two powder-burn markings on it.
17 There were bloodstains on the back of the couch behind the head of the deceased and down the left side of the head onto the back cushion.
18 There was a large amount of congealed blood along the left hip and upper leg in the seat cushion caused by the depression of the body.
19 There were other bloodstains (spatters) along the length of the couch.
20 A square cushion on the far end of the couch, to the left of the body, was lightly bloodstained as though something had been wiped across it to remove the blood.
21 There was a wound in the centre of the forehead.
22 On the floor near the butt of the rifle, behind her left heel abutting the couch, was a spent .22 cartridge case.
23 The rifle was a .22-calibre Brno rifle of bolt action with a ten-bullet magazine feed.
24 There were two live hollow-point bullets in the magazine.
25 On opening the breech, Kerr ejected a spent cartridge.
26 There were bloodstains down the length of the rifle from the muzzle to the butt, inside the trigger guard and on the face of the trigger.
27 There was a droplet of blood on the lens of the telescopic sight.
28 The lower extremities of the body were showing post-mortem lividity – a bluish, bruised colouring – and the upper part of the body was pale, yellowish and without colour.
29 There were wounds to the fleshy part of the webbing between the thumb and forefingers of each hand.
30 Her infant son, Samuel, was asleep in the bedroom across the hall from the lounge room.
Fraser later made further observations on Andrew Rule’s SBS documentary:
31 ‘The blood at both ends of the couch was smeared, indicating that Jennifer had gone from both ends of the couch, as though she had laid down at one stage and then sat up in a manner indicating that process had gone on for a while.’
Ambulance driver O’Donnell made this observation in his police statements and inquest evidence:
32 ‘Blood and some brain tissue on the curtains or wall behind her sprayed upwards to my left.’
Appendix B: Observations of blood on the rifle
Ballistics expert Adrian Barry
1 There was a deposit of partly burnt grains of powder in the bore.
2 The trigger pull measured 1.8 kg (4 lb), which is within the normal range for a weapon of this type, and the safety was effective. The only method by which I was able to discharge this weapon after it was loaded and cocked was by applying pressure to the trigger.
3 There was a large deposit of what appears to be dried blood on the muzzle end of the barrel and in the bore of the weapon at the muzzle end.
4 There were further deposits of what appeared to be blood on the foresight and the shroud covering the foresight.
5 There was a heavy deposit of what appeared to be dried blood on the outer surface of the barrel at the front of the wooden forend.
6 There appeared to be a portion of a palm print on this heavy deposit.
7 There were smears of what appeared to be blood on the wooden forend of the stock and on the inner and outer metal areas of the metal trigger guard and on the front of the trigger.
8 There was a further smear of what appeared to be blood above the trigger and trigger guard on the right hand side of the wooden stock.
9 There were drops of what appeared to be blood on the front lens of the Bisley telescopic sight.
Senior Constable Bill Kerr
1 Bloodstains down length of rifle from muzzle to the butt.
2 Bloodstains inside the trigger guard.
3 Bloodstains on face of trigger.
Senior Constable Don Fraser
1 Blood spot on lens of scope.
2 Blood on bolt.
3 Blood on stock.
Blood on rifle
