Halfway to Justice by Ken Turner

Author:Ken Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Halfway to Justice
ISBN: 1741102499
Publisher: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Published: 2010-04-02T16:00:00+00:00

Jacqueline Schilling was next to testify. She was the girlfriend of Chris John Thallas and when visited by police they were unaware she had information relevant to the inquiry. The Prosecutor established that in 1993 her social life revolved around occasional Saturday night outings because she worked afternoon shifts. She stated that she met Mercuri in Melbourne while she and Thallas visited a friend, Ricardo Berti. She said Thallas associated in the main with his cousin Chris George Thallas (Little Chris), Julian Berti, Scott Schinella and Mercuri.

Schilling saw Mercuri on a few occasions at the apartment, once at the pool hall and on a couple of occasions downtown. The witness explained that she was a ‘night owl’ and rarely arrived downtown before 10 pm. On the night in question she and Thallas saw Mercuri in Rosina Street, near the Hindley Street end. Mercuri was with a woman who was leaning against a wall. Schilling hung back a little because she didn’t want to talk to Mercuri at all. Thallas was well aware of her feelings about associating with Mercuri.

Schilling described the woman with Mercuri as ‘in her early twenties with big boofy hair, dark blonde with highlights and a little below the shoulder in length. The hair was clipped up at the sides with combs or clips. She was wearing a black top and a dark coloured skirt and she noticed a cross or necklet of some kind at her throat.’ She described the woman’s make-up in some detail.

Thallas spoke to Mercuri for about five minutes. They left the downtown area at around 4 am and did not see Mercuri or the woman again. Defence Counsel asked for a description of Mercuri in 1993. ‘He was bigger, more muscular and had more hair. The colour was the same. He had really short receding hair’. She guessed his age at about twenty-two years and seemed to remember a thin moustache. ‘I can’t recall if he always had the moustache but I remember he had one at some stage. I don’t really follow fashion but Frank wore his hair shorter than most men.’

Schilling described the woman’s clothing. She said the top was black but wasn’t sure about the skirt because of the lighting. ‘I imagine it was a dark colour because if it had been white or yellow it would have stood out as a lighter colour.

‘The woman mumbled a lot but I didn’t take notice of what she said. Nothing special stands out about that night except it was cold. I saw the publicity about the murder in newspapers but didn’t immediately connect the photo with the woman I saw with Frank.

Schilling went on to say that she went with the police to Darlington and spoke with them for several hours. She said that other than saying how terrible it was, Chris had never spoken to her about the murder and Frank Mercuri in the same breath.

‘Are you saying the first time you were asked to recall seeing Mercuri in the city with a woman was by the police?’ the Prosecutor asked.

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