Ceotel

Woman found not guilty of murder

Loud applause has greeted a court verdict that cleared a South Australian woman of the murder of her lover.

Clapping and cheering supporters of Francis “Frankie” Marshall shouted “we love you” and the 63-year-old accused dropped her head in relief when Justice Margaret Nyland delivered her not guilty verdict in the Supreme Court on Friday.

Ms Marshall had been accused of the frenzied killing of Bernadette Liston at the victim’s Victor Harbor home, south of Adelaide, in 2002.

The prosecution alleged the 46-year-old was stabbed, had her throat cut and was bashed and shot five times because she was planning to run off with Ms Marshall’s brother, Daryl Purcell.

Justice Nyland said the crown case was circumstantial and she was satisfied Ms Marshall had a motive to kill Ms Liston.

She said there were several suspicious circumstances but also a number of inconsistencies with the evidence.

“At the end of the day I am left with motive combined with a number of items of evidence implicating the accused which are suspicious,” Justice Nyland said in her reasons.

“But suspicion piled upon suspicion does not equate to proof beyond reasonable doubt.”

The judge said delays in bringing a case against Ms Marshall had affected the reliability of some of the evidence and she could not rule out the killing being the result of a robbery gone wrong.

“I am therefore obliged to return a verdict of not guilty,” she said.

A critical element of the case against Ms Marshall was some bloody australia ugg-boot footprints found near Ms Liston’s body.

The prosecution said it could be inferred from the evidence that it was Ms Marshall who left the footprints.

But Justice Nyland said while Ms Marshall had told police she had never owned any such boots, even though she had been pictured wearing some, the judge was unable to find the accused deliberately lied.

The judge said she gave little weight to evidence of two single hairs found in Ms Liston’s hands, though she accepted they came from Ms Marshall.

There was also nothing linking Ms Marshall to the type of homemade or modified gun used in the killing.

After the verdict, Ms Marshall was rushed to a taxi outside the court and left without comment.

Relatives of Ms Liston also declined to comment as they left the court.