Foreword

Blackened Tanner is a magnificent book uncovering a disturbing miscarriage of justice that still resonates as one of Australia’s most compelling crime stories.

But was there a crime at all, or was the lonely death of a woman in a farmhouse a tragic case of suicide rather than murder? Ron Irwin’s forensic analysis of the Tanner case reveals a police investigation that went sadly astray as a result of tunnel vision − an obsession with proving one explanation at the expense of ignoring all others.

That Irwin, a respected former police officer, has spent ten years pursuing the real reasons for the death is a credit to him and those who have supported him through the long journey he has taken. There have been other books written about this case, but none that is so meticulous in its research and so carefully and logically argued.

This book is much more than simply an account of a miscarriage of justice. It reveals how a proper police investigation into an unexplained death should proceed and how forensic evidence must be evaluated and critiqued so that erroneous conclusions are not drawn. In the process it exposes the terrible personal and emotional turmoil that a flawed investigation creates for those who are swept up in it. In that sense, it is a riveting and highly emotional account of a crime story that still haunts the nation.

Just as importantly, though, the book should be required reading for all police investigators and others who wish to improve their crime analysis skills. I strongly recommend it to students of criminology, forensic psychology, forensic science and crime detection.

I have read many books about miscarriages of justice, but this is one of the most enthralling and most carefully researched I have ever read. This book will tell you more about how the justice system really operates than any textbook or thriller.

 

Paul Wilson, OAM

Professor Emeritus

Criminology and Forensic Psychology

Bond University