(Robert Farquharson leaves court.
Photo: Jason South )
Julia Medew
August 15, 2006
A FATHER accused of murdering his three young boys by driving them into a dam on Father's Day last year told an acquaintance he planned to kill the children that day so his former wife "would suffer every Father's Day for the rest of her life", a court has been told.
In a police summary tendered to Geelong Magistrates Court yesterday, Robert Farquharson, 37, allegedly told a resident in his home town of Winchelsea in June 2005 that he intended to take away "the most important things to" his former wife Cindy Gambino and nodded his head towards where his three sons were standing.
But Ms Gambino, told the court yesterday that she did not believe Farquharson had murdered the boys. "I believe with all my heart that this was just an accident and that he would not have hurt a hair on their heads. I don't believe this is murder," she said.
The witness, who will give evidence this week at Farquharson's committal hearing for the murder of Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, told police Farquharson had complained about having nothing after his separation in 2004, and that Ms Gambino would "pay big time".
"The accused spoke of an accident involving a dam where the children drown and he gets out and said it would be Father's Day so that everyone remembers it and that he would be the last one to have had the children, not Gambino," the summary said.
The witness thought Farquharson was "bullshitting" police were told. The alleged conversation took place three months before Farquharson careered off the Princes Highway and plummeted into a dam near Winchelsea during his Father's Day access visit on September 4 last year.
In documents tendered yesterday, Farquharson, who has repeatedly denied killing the children, told police he suffered from a coughing fit and "blacked out" before waking in water.
Dr Bruce Bartley, the physician who saw Farquharson on the night of the crash, said he had diagnosed him with "cough syncope" - a condition that can result in a sudden loss of consciousness.
The hearing continues today.
POLICE have charged Robert Farquharson with the murder of his three sons, who drowned when a car plunged into a dam near Geelong on Father's Day.
Farquharson escaped from the car before it sank in the dam off the Princes Highway near Winchelsea, but his children, Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, drowned.
Homicide squad detectives went to Farquharson's Winchelsea house yesterday morning to arrest him but he was not home. He later went to the Geelong police station with his solicitor.
He was taken to the Geelong Magistrates Court, where he was remanded in custody to appear on April 7.
In a police interview, Farquharson said he had a coughing fit and lost consciousness as the car left the road about 7pm on September 4. He said he woke when the car was in the dam.
He said he scrambled from the sedan but could not rescue his children before the car sank in seven metres of freezing water.
Detectives believe the older boys managed to free themselves from their seatbelts and released Bailey from his child restraint but they were unable to escape from the car as it sank nose-first into the dam.
In court yesterday, Farquharson sat impassively, looking at family members in the gallery. He did not speak during the hearing.
Bernie Cummins, representing Farquharson, told magistrate Max Beck that his client was "dumbfounded" when charged with the offences and would strenuously defend them.
He said his client believed he was "totally innocent" and indicated that Farquharson would apply for bail in the Supreme Court as soon as possible.
Mr Cummins also asked that his client be treated as "high risk" in custody, given the case involved three young children.
Police have consulted medical and road safety experts who have concluded that Farquharson's version of events is "highly unlikely at best". Doctors who examined Farquharson after he was taken to the Geelong Hospital immediately raised doubts about his story.
Mechanical experts have concluded that the steering wheel would have had to be turned significantly to the right for the car to have left the road in the direction of the dam.
They say if a driver lost control the angle would have been less severe and the car would have missed the water.
Doctors have also told police they doubt that Farquharson had a coughing fit that resulted in him fainting as he had no history of similar attacks.
Police road safety experts used a VN Commodore — the model driven by Farquharson — to travel the section of the highway where the accident happened. They could not work out how the car veered so dramatically to plunge into the dam.
The car has been checked and police say no mechanical or engineering faults that could explain the incident have been found. When police examined the car they found the lights had been turned off.
Police used a similar car in a dam near Ballarat to try to establish how long it would take the vehicle to sink. They found the car was likely to have floated until the driver's door was opened and the cabin filled with water.
The incident happened when Farquharson was driving the children home to his estranged wife's home after a Father's Day access visit.
After the crash Farquharson clambered back onto the highway where a motorist drove him to his ex-wife's home, about eight kilometres away, where the alarm was raised.
The crash was handled by the major collision investigation unit but was referred to the homicide squad when concerns were raised about Farquharson's version of events. He was interviewed by the homicide squad for three hours two days after the incident.
Red highlighting is mine – sentencing document attached - jane
Karen Kissane
November 17, 2007 The Age
THE courtroom was packed and buzzing, the public gallery full, but everyone instinctively fell silent when Robert Farquharson was led in to face his doom.
The first part of Justice Philip Cummins' address offended no one. He talked about the need for the law to protect vulnerable children. "If the law fails there, the law fails," Justice Cummins said.
Then he turned to Farquharson's conviction three weeks ago for killing his children: Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, who drowned when they were driven into a dam on Father's Day 2005.
He said to Farquharson: "You wiped out your entire family in one act. Only the two parents remained: you, because you had always intended to save yourself; and their mother, because you intended her to live a life of suffering."
At this, Farquharson shook his head. His two tearful sisters and half a dozen other relatives stood up and filed out of the courtroom in silent protest. They were not there to hear the quiet gasps when Justice Cummins finally came to his decision — a life sentence for each life taken, with no chance of parole.
Failing a successful appeal, Farquharson, 38, a man who was said to have dearly loved his children, will spend the rest of his life in jail for their murders.
Farquharson has always claimed he suffered a coughing fit and blacked out, resulting in the car veering off the road and into a dam.
He claimed he tried to dive in for his children but was unable to save them.
The prosecution at his trial alleged that he had planned the killings in revenge against his former wife, Cindy Gambino, for leaving him, finding a new man and making his life financially difficult.
An old friend, Greg King, testified that Farquharson had told him he planned to do something to the children, and that an accident would involve a dam and a special day, such as Father's Day, so that their mother would suffer on the anniversary for the rest of her life. As Justice Cummins repeated these claims yesterday, Farquharson looked shocked, as if he had not heard them before. He shook his head, puffed out his cheeks, and muttered over and over, "bulls--t!"
The judge pointed out that Farquharson had refused offers of help that night from others who wanted to dive for the children, and that he stood by while his former wife's new partner dived for them alone.
The judge said he believed the evidence of Mr King about Farquharson having formed "a dark contemplation".
He told Farquharson: "You had love for your children, but it was displaced by vindictiveness towards your estranged wife, which led you to these crimes. I do not find that you had a fixed intention over months to kill your children, but you contemplated it over months … You have no remorse for these crimes, although you do regret their consequences for you.
"You breached in the most profound way the trust which the law, and your children, placed in you as a father." Justice Cummins said it was most unusual not to set a minimum term and of no service to the community for the law to crush people.
But Farquharson had abused the trust of his children; had killed three; had killed victims who were unable to defend themselves; had planned the crime over time, and had done it all to inflict punishment on their mother.
"In all the circumstances, it is not appropriate to set a minimum term of imprisonment after which you will be eligible for parole."
Outside the court, Farquharson's brother-in-law, Ian Ross, read a prepared statement from Farquharson that said: "The court has found me guilty but I did not murder my children. I received a life sentence on the night my boys died, so I don't care much about what other people think about me.
"I do care about how people remember or think of Jai, Tyler and Bailey, because they are three special boys and their lives were very important to me and all their family.
"I will appeal the verdict because I will not have the public believe that Jai, Tyler and Bailey were anything less than the most important part of both my life and the lives of their family. I will fight to clear the names of my three boys.
"They are what keeps me going because there is nothing much else more important to me.
"I cannot change what people think of me now. But with all my heart, I ask you to respect my children, Cindy and both our families."
Farquharson's family walked away from the court wearing badges supporting his innocence. A young female relative's badge said simply, "Robbed".
One of Farquharson's sisters, Kerri Huntington, had one that said "Fact before theory".
His other sister, Carmen Ross, wore the one that best summed up the stance of his distraught family, a family described by the judge as good people. The green letters on her round black badge said: "In Rob we trust."