Case Study: The Simon Gittany Murder Case
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Type of Homicide
Simon Gittany was charged with the murder of Lisa Cecilia Harnum on 30 July 2011, was later found guilty on 27 November 2013 and sentenced to 18 years imprisoned without parole. At the time of Lisa Harnum's death, she and Simon Gittany were living together and were engaged to be married. Their apartment was on the 15th floor of a block of apartments in Sydney. Miss Harnum fell to her death from the balcony of that apartment. Simon Gittany was found to have deliberately lifted Miss Harnum over the balustrade and "unloaded" her body over the edge where she then fell to her death.
The type of homicide featured in this case was murder. The intention to
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(AustLII 2015)
At the age of 21 Mr Gittany was convicted of two offences of receiving stolen property and assaulting a police office in the execution of his duty and malicious wounding. He was sentenced to a total of 2.5 years to be served by periodic detention. The circumstances of the assault and malicious wounding was on 23 March 1993 two police officers attended Mr Gittany’s home after he failed to appear at Parramatta Local Court in relation to the two charges of receiving stolen property and on being told the purpose of the visit Mr Gittany became agitated and during a struggle he bit Detective Constable Bristow on the ear severing a portion of it. (AustLII 2015)
At the time of the murder Simon Gittany claimed he was running his own business, though it is unclear whether he actually was. He has a number of friends and family willing to do character references for him. (AustLII 2015)
Offender Characteristics And General Patterns
Simon Gittany was a male perpetrator. In almost 4 out of 5 intimate partner homicides the perpetrator was a male (Australian Institute of Criminology 1998).
Simon Gittany committed the murder in the home (AustLII 2015), the majority of intimate-partner homicides occur in the intimacy of the home where the amount of external social control is very limited (Australian Institute of Criminology 1998).
Simon Gittany did not appear to be working at the time of the
Making their way around the community, the detectives were still on the hunt to solve the crime one day after the murder. They questioned other friends and neighbors, and because it was Sunday, they waited until church ended and questioned church members. But they kept getting the same information; she had no known enemies, everyone loved her, and she would give you the shirt off of her back.
From approximately 8:15 to 8:30 a murder occurred at the Ellis household and Paul Dudden is the victim. Paul was ruthlessly murdered with a knife. He abruptly left dinner and walked right out the front door. After reviewing all the evidence it is clear that Miss Pettigrew committed the act.
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it, (Lapham, 1985). Unfortunately, such acts of rampage have become a prevalent factor in the Canadian culture. As a result of endless media coverage, Canadians now are constantly bombarded with countless images of violence. Many of which often portray a victim avenging their opponent by force. Thus, indoctrinating individuals to believe that it is only through aggression that problems are resolved. Rather than being punished for acts of violence, those who commit such offenses are often praised for their “heroism”. In addition,
Bath, N.Y. (WENY) -- An Elmira man who served as the 'look out' the night of Kelley Stage Clayton's death will be sentenced on Monday.
The exact cause of the deceased to fall was not known, however both the appellant and LM were charged with his murder in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Women have fought for equality with men in the United States since the mid 1800s with the initiation of the woman’s rights movement. Not for special treatment, not for better opportunities, just equality. When it comes to killing, they are simply not viewed as aggressive creatures. They were forced to do it, they are the victims. Most people's initial reaction to a woman taken into custody for murder is “She must have been abused.” There is very limited research on female serial killers, and even less so as women in partnerships with men since they are rare cases. However, according to a study produced by Hickey (2006), 31% of the 64 female serial killers between 1826 and 2004 were in a partnership. Women who enter these partnerships either want to be taken seriously as an offender (Thompson 2009), or want to “please their murdering mates” (Fox and Levin 2012). De Beauvoir claims that a woman in love ‘‘tries to model herself on her lover’s desire… giving herself blindly’’ (1970). Women will try to preserve a relationship by doing whatever they can to please their partner.
In the early 1900s, the murder case of Stanford White would shock the world and would soon be named the “crime of the Century.
When looking at First-degree murder in the State of Tennessee, the first expectation for evaluation for the criminal offense is there must be evidence of premeditation or the foresight that the act will take the life of another person (TCA 39-12-202). There can also be perpetration to commit the murder with the combination of another violent criminal act taking place before the murder such as rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes (TCA 39-12-202). Another element of first-degree murder in Tennessee is the use of devices that are known to be deadly when used that when deployed in a criminal act will knowingly take the life of a person (TCA 39-12-202). There must also be sound intent in the rational understanding that the illegal actions used to take the life of another person; meaning that the individual must have the full knowledge of their actions before, during, and after the event (TCA 39-12-202).
The case that I chose that I believe has produced change within society and/or law enforcement as it relates to race and cultural issues is the recent release of the Gardena PD shooting. This case took place on June 2, 2013 and it would take place at 2:30 am. The reason the officers were called was because there was a report of a stolen item in which turned out to be a stolen bike. The bicycle was stolen from the front of a pharmacy, the officers were responding to a so called robbery. The dispatcher gave the officers the wrong information. This entire situation would lead to a major altercation between officers and victims from the start.
A woman’s body lies on the floor near a refrigerator. Around her are typical kitchen items—a bowl and rolling pin on the table, a cake pulled out from the oven, an iron on the ironing board. What happened to her? Was it an accident? Suicide? Natural causes? Murder?
CCIB LPA received a call from Rose Fontanilla who stated yesterday 12/30/15 resident Carlos Servin stole his roommate's 32" television. According to Rose this is not the first time that Carlos has taken other resident's belonging. LPA asked who was present at the time and was told that she (Rose) and two other staff were present at the time. Rose stated the incident happened at approximately 4:15PM while she (Rose) was in the dining room, one staff was in the kitchen and the other staff was cleaning the facility. Rose stated that Carlos removed the television and exited through the emergency exit door in his room.
A felonious murder is an official decree that increases the meaning of taking the life of someone. This type of homicide relates when a person or persons commit a crime and if someone decreases during the progression of the offense. The main difference between assault and battery is the authentic occurrence and intimidation of harm on a person. Somebody can be incriminated with battery charges if he or she causes bodily injury to a person, while the accusations of the battery are when another individual can be accused of assault if a little danger of harm exists.
You are the Juror. Render a verdict. Guilty or Not Guilty. If guilty, then of which crime listed in the instructions to the jury?
This Law and Order episode brings up an interesting question as to how far corporations are responsible for how their products are used. After fifteen women are killed in a shooting using a gun that is easily converted from semi-automatic to full automatic, McCoy tries to convict the gun manufacturer, Rolfe Firearms. I don’t believe Rolfe Firearms was guilty of Second Degree Murder.
Ms Harnum was murdered at the age of 30 which is out of the mean and median age of victims of intimate partner homicide as shown in the Australian criminology institute report (Chan & Payne, 2015). At the time of Ms Harnum’s death she was in a de facto relationship with Mr Gittany which along with marital relationships are most common to experience intimate partner homicide were a male is the offender and the female is the victim; according to the journal article Homicide between Intimate Partners in Australia (Carcach & James, 1998). Furthermore, Ms Harnum action to end the relationship moments before her death. Separation causes domestic arguments is a common factor in intimate partner homicide; Homicides are more likely be committed immediate