The murder that shocked the Cat Protection Society | Forensic Files

[Music] from audioboom studios and woodcut media what makes a killer returns for season
four i'm jennifer natoso and i'll be your host as we examine 13 new killers this season we'll take a look at
infamous killers including diane downes gary ridgeway the green river killer ted
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website on sunday march 1 1998 crime scene
examiners gathered at a residence on main avenue in the upscale queensland suburb of wilston
the two-story cream-colored weatherboard home sat on a sloped hill that overlooked brisbane's cbd which was five
kilometers away it was far from a remote location yet the property's position against the
alden hill reservoir granted it a bushland backdrop akin to a rural homestead the house itself was barely visible from
the street practically hidden amongst the thicket of trees and shrubbery that defined the front garden
a path wove between the forest-like surrounds to a set of timber stairs that led to the front door of the upper level
inside the house boxes and paperwork were strewn across the carpet which was also covered with old newspapers cat
cages and upended furniture an antique bechstein piano took pride of place in the lounge room
a music book was open on its stand when a detective saw which composition the page was turned to a chill ran
through him was it a message the famous piece by polish pianist frederik chopin was titled
the funeral march [Music] [Music] [Music] 52 year old doctor kathleen marshall was
a well-respected veterinarian in willston renowned for her devotion to animal welfare
she worked out of her main avenue home having converted the lower level of her two-story house into a small clinic that
was completely independent from the living space on top situated between two single-car garages
she used the space to do the occasional vaccination or health check for friends and acquaintances but it mainly served
as a center for her to care for her own pets while kathleen loved all animals she had
a particular affinity for cats she owned 16 of them earning her the reputation of willston's catwoman
three dogs as well her home was in a constant state of disarray but she was comfortable there
kathleen's front garden was in a similar state equally passionate about the environment
kathleen had turned the space into a small overgrown forest yet the abundance of foliage couldn't
obscure everything that went on behind it by friday february 27 1998 witnesses had
noticed a light emanating from kathleen's veterinary clinic that never turned off
[Music] that night kathleen had organised a dinner in the city for seven o'clock
as a means of expanding her social circle she had founded a group named elepha for professional singles aged 35
and over twice monthly members would meet at an upmarket restaurant in brisbane for a
night of fine dining and conversation kathleen orchestrated the group's events meticulously and agonized over every
detail with attendees having to rsvp and pay for the meal in advance therefore members were left confused
when kathleen's seed at the table that night remained empty they dialed kathleen's phone to see
where she was but their calls went straight to the answering machine this wasn't unusual for kathleen but her
unexplained absence certainly was [Music] no one saw kathleen over the weekend then just after 3 p.m on sunday three
members of the cap protection society of queensland arrived at kathleen's home the organization was one of the many
charitable ventures that occupied kathleen's spare time as one of its directors kathleen had
been expected to attend an important meeting earlier that day but she never showed
a second smaller meeting between directors was then scheduled to take place afterwards at kathleen's house
which served as the society's headquarters as the other cat protection society members exited their car and made their
way towards kathleen's house that afternoon they were immediately struck by a foul
stench several outside bins were overflowing with rubbish which they assumed was to
blame for the odo the trio made their way up the driveway noticing that several deliveries
including three newspapers and two cartons of milk had been ignored they ascended the stairs to the front
door an envelope was stuck against it with brown packing tape leaving it be they knocked and called
out for kathleen but there was no response kathleen suffered from a medical condition known as cushing disease which
often caused her to feel tired and unwell her friends worried that she might have
fallen severely ill or had some other health emergency and was unable to answer them
one of the women rushed to the rear of their house where they knew kathleen kept a spare key
as she approached the first smell wafting around her intensified and flies started buzzing around her head
she moved past the frosted glass door that led into kathleen's vet clinic and paused
blood was smeared on the glass alarmed the woman called out to the others and they gathered around the door
it wouldn't open [Music] beyond the obscured glass they could make out something on the floor inside
it was an outstretched arm the police were called and officers arrived within minutes
it appeared as though a struggle had taken place right outside kathleen's clinic
blood was splattered onto some foliage near the door and the rubber door mat was also heavily blood-stained but there
were no bloody shoe prints leading to or from the area more police were summoned to the house
and just as they were about to begin a thorough examination of the property's exterior an automatic sprinkler
activated washing away possible evidence from the driveway and surrounds the clinic below kathleen's home had two
access points the frosted glass door which acted as its entry and a sliding glass door at its rear
there was no internal access point from the upstairs residence and the frosted glass door was sealed shut
as an officer circled the property they came across a small window in the garage
that looked into the clinic it featured a series of horizontal glass slats that could be opened and shut in
unison to control airflow some of the slats had been snapped off as though someone had broken in
but the pieces lay at the officer's feet meaning someone had actually broken out
looking through the window the officer saw kathleen marshall lying face down in a pool of blood
she was positioned beside the consultation table in the middle of the room with her head turned to one side
and her hands clutching at her shoulder-length brown hair her blue and white striped sundress was
gathered around her chest exposing a stab wound that pierced the back of her bloodied bra
officers soon realized that the clinic door was actually unlocked but a heavy cat cage had been pushed up against it
a crime scene examiner managed to force his way in and found so much blood that stepping equipment had to be placed on
the floor to prevent investigators from contaminating the area it appeared the altercation that it
started outside the clinic had continued indoors with defence wounds indicating that kathleen had put up a fight
a white bucket underneath a sink contained bloody water a dishcloth kathleen's glasses and one running shoe
the matching shoe sat next to the bucket there were also droplets of watered down
blood on a plastic bag next to the sink it looked as though the killer had tried
to clean themselves in the crime scene before fleeing a collapsed cardboard box was propped
against the wall beneath the broken window depicting their exit route it too had blood on it leading
investigators to wonder if the killer had injured themselves during the attack a total of 26 swabs were taken
throughout the space in the hope that they had left their dna at the scene [Music]
kathleen had been stabbed with a sharp tipped knife 52 times throughout her upper body
her abdomen chest and head had all been struck with her face brutalized in such a manner that left her features
unrecognizable yet the wounds themselves were shallow with the deepest measuring roughly four
centimeters investigators speculated that kathleen's attacker had either been a woman or a
physically weaker man in fact only one wound was found to have been fatal the severing of kathleen's
carotid artery in her neck resulted in her bleeding to death had she received intervention prior to
losing consciousness she might have survived [Music] kathleen didn't keep any opioids on site
and none of the prescription medications or other veterinary supplies had been touched ruling out the possibility that
the murder was motivated by theft the focus turned to kathleen's upper-level residence which was in such
disarray that police initially thought it had been ransacked and was part of the crime scene
kathleen's friends clarified that this was just how her house always looked there were no signs of forced entry into
that area of the home and nothing had been stolen amongst the clutter on kathleen's dining
table was her daily planner the last entry was made on thursday february 26 1998
three days before her body was discovered kathleen had jotted down at 12 30 p.m veterinary appointment for client
matthew thompson and his dog jazz investigators spoke to matthew who noted nothing out of the ordinary with
kathleen that day it appeared as though she was attacked soon thereafter with the decomposition
progression of her remains showing that she had lain undiscovered in her clinic for days
professor russell luke the head of the parasitology reference laboratory at queensland health scientific services
examined maggots that had infested kathleen's wounds based on the state of their development
he estimated kathleen was killed sometime between 9 p.m on thursday and 3 a.m on friday
several of kathleen's beloved cats were locked in cages within the clinic unable
to access food or water over the weekend one suffered kidney disease as a direct
result and subsequently had to be euthanized the others were unfed and distressed
upstairs kathleen's dogs were found secured outside on her balcony which led some to
believe kathleen had placed them there prior to her murder in preparation for company
this theory suited the nature of the crime itself knife-based attacks are considered
intimate and personal violence and the fact that kathleen was targeted in her own home meant the killer knew she lived
there alone 52 stab wounds was a particularly frenzied overkill hinting at a perpetrator who harbored deep hatred for
kathleen who that person could be wasn't easy to answer as it was no secret that kathleen
had rubbed many people the wrong way described as having a dominant personality kathleen also had incredibly
high standards and wasn't afraid to speak her mind some members of lepiccure were unhappy
with her selective membership criteria which required male participants to have a university degree and female members
to have too kathleen had also drawn the ire of a neighbor who'd petitioned the brisbane
city council to cut back overgrown trees in kathleen's front yard that were restricting access to the footpath
fiercely protective of the environment kathleen had to be forcibly restrained by police so that workers could cut down
the offending foliage kathleen had also fallen out with her family after being the sole beneficiary
to her father's will after his death 20 years prior her siblings had tried to mend the rift
but kathleen had refused every family gathering invite and had never met any of her nieces and nephews
and her marriage had ended in divorce seven years earlier yet there was nothing to suggest that
any of these people were out to kill her while forthright and straightforward at
her core kathleen was a selfless and generous person her murder came as a shock to all who
knew her as night fell on the crime scene members of the cap protection society gathered
in kathleen's front yard to console one another as they spoke amongst themselves one
officer heard a loud gasp they approached to the group and asked what was wrong glenda whitmore one of the three women
who discovered the crime scene told the officer kathleen's murderer has just driven past
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beam dot com slash case file and use code case file for up to 35 off virginia houston and kathleen marshall
met towards the end of 1996. both women lived in homes that boarded the ireland hill reserve and had
petitioned to preserve the natural space like kathleen 45 year old virginia was not one to shy away from causes she
believed in and it was little surprise that the pair initially hit it off when virginia found out that kathleen
was a veterinarian who loved cats she invited her to join the cap protection society of queensland
virginia was one of the directors and also the treasurer the society had been slowly degrading
due to members fighting and accusations of money going missing and virginia saw kathleen as a valuable ally who could
help investigate the alleged corruption that was plaguing them kathleen accepted virginia's offer but
their relationships soon soured kathleen lost side of the reason why she was brought into the fold and focused
her attention on advocacy instead of mediation she used her position to implement
changes that would benefit the local stray and injured cat population as opposed to settling the group's inner
conflicts and financial issues [Music] virginia was disappointed and by mid-1997
the society had splintered into two factions those who supported kathleen and to those who supported virginia
kathleen supporters were appreciative of her efforts to steer the ship back to promoting feline welfare
while her critics viewed her as rude abrupt insulting and demeaning kathleen and virginia fought constantly
and made no effort to hide their dislike of one another then in august 1997 virginia was ousted
as director and treasurer at a vote of 42-2 kathleen on the other hand rose to the
role of director virginia was devastated by her demotion and set about reporting the society to
the australian securities and investment commission on allegations of vote rigging
[Music] meanwhile tensions within the group heightened weeks before kathleen's murder virginia
arrived at her doorstep wanting her to review some paperwork but kathleen refused to let her in
the two got into a scuffle pushing shoving and pulling each other's hair kathleen called the police to report
that she quote had a mad woman in her house she claimed to have hurt her hand in the
altercation but declined to press charges against virginia afterwards kathleen began looking over
her shoulder and told a fellow society director that she was certain she was being stalked
one day she had smelled cigarette smoke while out on her back veranda and suspected a smoker had been trespassing
at the rear of her property kathleen told others that she was scared of virginia houston and had even
expressed her belief that virginia was capable of taking a knife to her in the words of kathleen they had to
quote get the [ __ ] [Music] on the day kathleen's body was discovered an envelope was found stuck
to her front door with brown packing tape it was from virginia houston and contained information for the cat
protection society meeting that was due to be held that day held at a local school hall that was
pitched as a talk fest wherein members could address and resolve issues impacting the group
as a director kathleen was expected to attend and her conflict with virginia would no doubt have been discussed
despite being one half of one of the group's major conflicts virginia houston had no desire to attend to the talk fest
given her demotion she was also not invited to the director's meeting planned immediately afterwards at
kathleen's house yet that night virginia was spotted driving by the crime scene when speaking with police virginia
houston was frank about her dislike of kathleen but maintained she would never kill her
in fact she intended to sue kathleen for defamation so according to virginia kathleen's untimely death had lost her a
lot of money while she denied stalking kathleen she openly admitted to often driving past
her house to see if the cat protection society was meeting a fellow society member vouched for
virginia's whereabouts on the thursday night it was estimated that kathleen was killed
the pair were together from 5 pm organising a mail out for society members virginia left at 11 pm and had no alibi
for the remaining hours kathleen could have been targeted she said she visited kathleen's
residence with a friend at around 4 10 pm on friday to drop off the information pertaining to sunday's meeting
she decided to tape the documents in an envelope to the front door because she knew kathleen would never open the door
to her later that night virginia had driven past to see if the envelope had been
taken but it was still there she didn't drive by again until sunday evening expecting to see the meeting
underway but instead finding kathleen's house cordoned off by police virginia houston's confidence and
honesty led detectives to believe that she had taken time to consider rehearse and perfect her responses in
anticipation of being questioned virginia maintained quote because of the type of person kathleen
was she created a lot of enemies and it could have been anyone in any of the compartments of her life
a fierce supporter of virginia's told the courier mail the police have got it all wrong
virginia didn't do it kathleen was a very strong woman it would have taken a man
police interviewed 70 other members of the cap protection society nearly all of whom were certain that virginia houston
could have murdered kathleen marshall six days into their investigation detectives arrived at virginia's home
with a search warrant her car was seized and her property thoroughly examined thirty state emergency services
volunteers also scoured the ireland hill reservoir as detectives believed virginia could have crossed the bush
land to gain access to kathleen's property from behind a suspicious stain in virginia's home
hinted at a possible breakthrough but lumenal testing determined it wasn't blood
investigators were unable to uncover anything to link virginia to the murder of kathleen
the bizarre case had garnered significant media attention with members of the press comparing it to an agatha
christie murder mystery virginia houston didn't shy away from the attention often giving interviews
from the front of her home which she kept locked up with the curtains drawn virginia told reporters that she'd gone
into hiding believing kathleen was targeted because of money as the former treasurer for the cap
protection society virginia held concerns that she would be next she said she knew too much about the
group's financial affairs and feared for her life because of it her assertions weren't without merit
sixteen years earlier in october 1982 a cat protection society member named frank castanola was shot and killed
while sitting on his front porch he'd only joined to the group earlier that year and six months before his
murder he left the society his entire estate in the event of his death which amounted to just over two hundred
thousand dollars in his forthcoming book a history of the queensland cat protection society a
story of infighting money and murder author ted doos explained that frank had been encouraged to leave his estate to
the society by one of the group's acting chairpersons glenda whitmore glenda was one of the three people that
discovered kathleen marshall's body and had also identified virginia houston as kathleen's killer
secretary barryestic had also persuaded frank to hand over his money as he had realised the society's potential as a
business rather than a charity a coroner's inquest into frank castanola's murder failed to identify
the person or persons responsible a case was made against frank's neighbor who wasn't associated with the cat
protection society but the murder remained unsolved a cloud of suspicion lingered over the
society although kathleen marshall hadn't left any of her own estate to the group
[Music] it took over a month for the 26 swabs taken from kathleen's clinic to be fully
analyzed dna couldn't be extracted from 11 of them and one of the samples had gone
missing of the remaining 14 nine were found to contain kathleen's dna five swabs which were collected from
blood staining on the cardboard box under the broken window a wall the floor and the plastic bag by the sink featured
the dna profile of a second individual a male this stunned investigators completely
shattering who they believed to be their main and only suspect the discovery removed virginia houston
from the scene but didn't necessarily rule her out wondering if she had enlisted the help
of a male accomplice investigators zeroed in on the men in virginia's life their efforts took them hundreds of
kilometers interstate and by the end they had collected 42 dna samples they also collected samples from the men
who kathleen marshall was known to dna testing in australia was still in its infancy and the large-scale testing
effort was a lengthy and costly endeavor but in the absence of any other leads it
seemed the most likely way to catch kathleen's killer the search led to the inner brisbane
suburb of fortitude valley just a few kilometers from wilston police had tracked down an ex-boyfriend
of virginia houston's named shane not his real name who resided at a boarding house there
shane became combative when asked about kathleen marshall's murder and he refused to provide a dna sample
given that he wasn't legally required to provide one investigators surreptitiously followed shane through
the streets to see if an opportunity would present itself when he spat on a footpath the
detectives seized their chance and swooped obtaining a saliva sample for testing
whilst awaiting the results investigators were alerted that shane had abruptly left his boarding house
carrying packed suitcases and gotten into a taxi concerned that he was trying to flee a
detective phoned the taxi company who revealed shane was on his way to the brisbane transit center
the detective raced to the center and spotted shane waiting for a train to sydney
he was promptly taken into custody and once at police headquarters shane complied with all requests providing
fingerprints and a blood sample his belongings and clothing were also confiscated for testing
when the results of the dna tests came back detectives were once again shocked shane wasn't a match to the sample found
at the murder scene nor were any of the other men known to virginia houston or kathleen marshall who provided samples
there was a significant man in kathleen's life that police had yet to find kathleen's daily planner listed her
final vet consultation dated thursday february 26th after the 12 30 appointment with matthew
thompson kathleen was scheduled at 1pm to see john wilson and his unnamed cat despite police appeals efforts to locate
john wilson had so far failed no one by that name had come forward leading investigators to assume it was a
fake name identifying john via his cat seemed an impossible task until police spoke with
cat protection society members married couple victor and pauline lechardi victor and pauline had paid kathleen a
quick visit shortly before 1pm that thursday as they chatted with her out the front
of her house a man approached carrying a white and fawn coloured cat it was a sealpoint siamese breed and the
man was holding it against his chest not wanting to impede on kathleen's work victor and pauline immediately left
based on the timing investigators were certain this man was the john wilson kathleen had been expecting
the fact that he was holding the cat in his arms indicated that he was a local as traveling a long distance with an
unrestrained cat would have proven difficult detectives had doorknocked the local
area on the lookout for owners of seal point siamese cats but it wasn't until they saw a photo of one such cat
published in the courier male newspaper that their intrigue peaked the cat was featured alongside an
article titled occult joins hunt it described how various clairvoyants were trying to identify kathleen
marshall's killer through techniques such as automatic writing one clairvoyant named in the article was
ruth bennett a reverend organist and marriage celebrant for the spiritualist church in windsor
she was also a member of the cat protection society the spiritualist church was founded on
the belief that spirits of the dead want to communicate with the living it was a popular place amongst members
of the cat protection society including virginia houston who attended the church
regularly to receive spiritual direction in the courier mail article reverend ruth bennett had offered her opinion on
kathleen's murder saying she'd picked up indications that it was motivated by money or outstanding debts
a photo of ruth was featured in the story in it she was holding one of her pet cats
a seal point siamese although it was the breed of cat detectives had been searching for ruth
could not have been john wilson still the investigative spotlight was now on the spiritualist church
investigators collected dna samples from men who worked with or were known to the
institution during one such visit a detective bumped into a frail looking bespectacled man
who walked with a hunch he introduced himself as 49 year old andrew fitzherbert a professional palm
reader who carried out readings at the church most significantly he was the de facto
partner of reverend ruth bennett according to all accounts andrew was a mild mannered pacifist though slightly
odd and eccentric he had many friends and no history of violence or prior convictions
the detective told andrew why he was there and asked if he'd be willing to provide a blood sample
when told it was voluntary andrew abruptly refused as the only witnesses that had crossed
paths with the mysterious john wilson victor and pauline lechardi were handed a photo lineup that featured nine men
the couple immediately recognized photo number nine as the man who had visited kathleen's house with a sail point
siamese cat before her murder they'd gotten a good glimpse of him when they drove out of kathleen's driveway as
they had to wait for him to move out of the way the photo the couple pointed out was
that of andrew fitzherbert narrowing their sights on andrew investigators learned that he and ruth
bennett had met in 1990 at the theosophical society an organization that promotes the idea that a deeper
spiritual reality can be established through techniques such as meditation andrew dedicated his time to advancing
his spiritual awareness and had learned to detach himself from material possessions only earning what he needed
to live comfortably through their shared spiritual beliefs andrew and ruth grew close
they ran a tea shop together that also offered turret readings it was there the pair met virginia
houston who became a regular customer and frequented the shop almost weekly in 1995 andrew and ruth began working at
the spiritualist church in windsor and the following year virginia urged them to join the cat protection society of
queensland ruth's application was processed after the six-month waiting period for reasons unknown andrews was not
detectives visited andrew fitzherbert at his home and noted his physically weak demeanor suited the shallow stab wounds
that were inflicted on kathleen marshall when andrew refused to accompany detectives to the station for an
interview they were forced to place him under arrest in custody andrew said he'd never even
met kathleen marshall and had no idea where she lived he only knew who she was because
virginia houston complained about her constantly in lieu of a clear motive investigators
wondered if andrew's rejection from the cat protection society had prompted him to violently confront kathleen
he vehemently denied this allegation deeming it ridiculous and those who knew both kathleen and andrew weren't aware
that the pair had ever met andrew explained he wasn't john wilson because he was doing palm readings from
his office in brisbane at the time john arrived for his 1pm appointment at kathleen's clinic
andrew's schedule for thursday february 26 which was filled out by his partner ruth featured the name rose and a friend
at 1pm for an hour each when asked to provide their contact details andrew couldn't
he claimed to only keep limited details about his clients because he didn't want
to know any of their personal information prior to giving them a reading andrew and ruth were provided a partial
alibi by ruth's ex-husband who visited their home on the afternoon of thursday february 26th
he remained there until 11 pm when he said andrew and ruth went to bed kathleen could have been confronted as
late as 3 am but ruth maintained that andrew was asleep the entire time she questioned that if kathleen had led
andrew into the clinic in the middle of the night why was she found murdered in a blue and white sundress and not her
pajamas although he continued to profess his innocence andrew still refused to provide a dna sample
in the six hours he was held by police he avoided going to the bathroom or drinking any water
detectives applied for a court order that would allow them to forcibly obtain andrew's blood but their request was
denied on the basis that there was insufficient evidence against him however they were granted a warrant to
search his home three months had passed since kathleen marshall's murder when detectives
approached andrew fitzherbert's residence with a search warrant in hand they appealed to him one last time
calling him a reasonable man and insisting that all his troubles could be solved in a matter of seconds if he just
gave them a blood sample andrew remained defiant he was then asked if he had ever spoken
with kathleen marshall on the telephone andrew answered no the detective made a surprise revelation
phone records had shown that a 64-second call placed to kathleen's house on the tuesday before she was killed had
originated from andrew's residence the following day four calls had been made to kathleen's house from the
spiritualist church at a time when andrew was the only person present detectives believed andrew had made
these calls to stage a veterinary appointment with kathleen using the fake name john wilson
although kathleen only offered her veterinary services to friends and acquaintances her phone number was
readily available as she listed it in the courier mail newspaper each week when advertising her lepicua social
dinner group andrew fitzherbert turned pale and started to tremble but he maintained
that he'd never called kathleen he then changed his mind conceding that he had called her to check on his
application to the cat protection society detectives carried out their search warrant specifically on the lookout for
anything that could be used to obtain andrew fitzherbert's dna they confiscated his toothbrush
hairbrush pillowcase coffee mug and a handkerchief all the while being screamed at by a visibly angry ruth
bennett testing of andrew's dna samples were fast-tracked allowing the results to
come back the next day samples taken from his handkerchief and one of his socks were compared with the
profile of the male dna found inside kathleen's clinic it was a match case file will be back shortly thank you
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you support case file to continue to deliver quality content andrew fitzherbert was placed under
arrest and investigators were finally allowed to obtain a sample of his blood it reinforced previous findings that it
was his dna in kathleen's clinic investigators concluded that andrew had likely injured himself during the attack
causing his blood to drop throughout the scene he attempted to clean it up afterwards
but during this process a few droplets of watered down blood had splashed out from the sink and onto a nearby plastic
bag he then bled onto the cardboard box used to prop himself up and out of the window
[Music] while police ran with this theory andrew refused to offer any explanation as to
how his blood wound up in kathleen's clinic he stood by his story that he had never
been there nor ever met her he kept quiet and appeared unemotional as he was formally charged with
kathleen's murder his partner ruth bennett also chose to remain silent andrew pleaded not guilty and faced the
brisbane supreme court in july 1999 in the absence of any witnesses murder weapon or clear motive the presence of
andrew fitzherbert's dna at the scene of the crime was fundamental to the prosecution's case
they argued that the dna alone was enough to implicate him as the killer as such they didn't feel the need to
address the cap protection society and its internal conflicts or the mysterious circumstances surrounding john wilson
of primary importance was the sample of andrew's blood found on the plastic bag by the sink
it was the only sample that also contained kathleen's blood this combination could have only
occurred if both were injured at the same time ruling out the possibility that andrew had bled there on another
occasion the prosecution asserted that the chances of the dna at the crime scene
matching someone other than andrew fitzherbert was one in 1400 million the defense highlighted the lack of
motive as a major flaw in the prosecution's case they also pointed out that the excessive
amount of blood at the crime scene meant the killer would have been soaked red which would have surely attracted
attention the possibility that andrew had fled in his car to avoid witnesses couldn't be
proven as it was never forensically examined in his testimony andrew said he'd never
attacked anybody in his entire life and was not responsible for kathleen's murder
he maintained he had no explanation for how his blood came to be in kathleen's veterinary clinic
the prosecution emphasized that this mystery only seemed to implicate him further
they argued it would have been a smarter move if andrew had just admitted to being in the clinic and had come up with
an explanation from there instead of avoiding the indisputable evidence it took the jury four and a half hours
to reach a verdict for the murder of kathleen marshall andrew fitzherbert was found guilty
it was the first time in australia and only the third in the world that someone had been convicted of a crime based
solely on dna evidence andrew was visibly devastated a victim impact statement from kathleen
siblings was presented to the court it read in part [Music] kathleen was estranged from us for some
years after the death of our parents we went our separate ways however we never wished her any harm or
unhappiness in fact we prayed that she would in fact achieve a very happy and harmonious life
although kathleen seemed to have been a difficult woman she had also championed great causes and like any person she
deserved to have lived a full and rich life free from criminal violence her murder was savage and brutal and the
person responsible deserved a hefty punishment during sentencing the judge told andrew
fitzherbert this is a crime of which you would not have been convicted but for the recent
explosion in knowledge in the field of genetics he added that the motive would remain
unknown unless andrew chose to reveal it throughout the trial andrew had shown no
remorse and he would quote now suffer the consequences of a conviction if not your conscience for
what you have done andrew fitzherbert was sentenced to life imprisonment which in queensland carried
a minimum term of 15 years kathleen's friends and fellow members of the cap protection society spoke of
their relief that justice had been served but the wider reaction to andrew's guilty verdict was mixed
some believed that his blood at the crime scene made it an open and shut case others weren't so sure
arguing that dna evidence alone wasn't enough to convict one of andrew's supporters expressed
disbelief that his mild-mannered and gentle friend could be ruled a violent killer
saying it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious the question was raised as to why andrew
was so reluctant to voluntarily provide a blood sample if he was innocent andrew maintained this was simply
because he didn't trust the police according to entomologist professor russell luke kathleen marshall was
murdered sometime between thursday february 26 at 9 pm and 3 a.m friday february 27th
professor luke later adjusted this time frame after six independent witnesses claimed to have seen kathleen 11
separate times going about her business in wilston throughout friday wearing the blue and white striped
sundress she was later killed in none of these witnesses knew andrew fitzherbert
professor luke accepted the decomposition of kathleen's remains and the developments of maggots found in her
wounds could have been affected if the temperature inside her clinic was higher than he had originally estimated even by
a single degree it could have also been impacted by the light in the surgery as quote
flies don't normally overposit in the dark therefore he ultimately concluded that
she could have been attacked sometime on friday but by 3pm at the absolute latest
however there was something that didn't fit this timeline warren smith knew kathleen marshall very
well the pair had lived across the street from one another for two decades and warren had become so accustomed to
kathleen's presence that he recognized her car by the pup putt sound it emitted he could even tell when someone entered
or exited her front door by the distinctive noise of its knocker at 4 45 on the friday afternoon warren
heard kathleen's toyota station wagon approaching as he collected his bins and mail out the front of his house
he turned towards it noticing kathleen as she drove towards her home just over an hour later at around 6pm
warren heard kathleen's front door slammed shut at this time several other neighbours
were standing out in the street chatting to one another all of a sudden two screams pierced the
quiet night air it sounded as though they came from the direction of kathleen's house but nobody
followed up on the noise then at 8 pm warren smith heard kathleen's front door close again
by this stage kathleen had failed to show up to the dinner planned for her lepicure social group in the city
two days later she was found murdered criminologist and forensic psychologist professor paul wilson would later
highlight this discrepancy in his book five drops of blood murder in the cat protection society
andrew fitzherbert was convicted on the basis that he could have carried out kathleen's murder in the time frame
presented by professor russell luke yet if witness accounts were to be believed kathleen was killed the
following night at around 6 p.m with her killer possibly staying at her house until 8 pm
andrew fitzherbert had spent that friday visiting thrift stores with ruth they returned home just after 4 pm as
confirmed by ruth's son who lived with the couple he said andrew didn't leave the house
again until 6 45 pm at that time andrew and ruth left to attend a meditation and a seance session
with five others at the home of a friend the couple arrived 45 minutes later this time was consistent with the
distance they had to travel it took 20 minutes to drive from andrew's home to kathleen's
professor wilson didn't think andrew was capable of detouring to confront and kill kathleen attempt to clean the crime
scene and himself then make it to his meditation group on time author ted doos spoke with the woman who
hosted the event to determine if there was anything about andrew that night that was markedly suspicious
she said he was his usual calm and cheerful self professor wilson wasn't the only one
raising doubts about the science used to implicate andrew fitzherbert leading dna expert professor barry
bochar was no stranger to wrongful conviction cases he had provided expert witness testimony
that helped exonerate lindy chamberlain in the death of her baby daughter azaria
as covered in episode 136 of case file professor bocha disagreed with the prosecution's assertions that andrew
fitzherbert's dna was a match to the kathleen martial crime scene sample at odds of 1400 million to one
he said this was based on one scientist's interpretation of the data reports claimed the odds were closer to
one in one hundred thousand quote [Music] there is just no possibility of determining the accuracy of the figure
given to the jury but it would have sounded highly impressive to them upon reviewing the laboratory results
from the crime scene professor bocha concluded that the male blood samples had degraded faster than the others
taken from kathleen's clinic he theorised that it could have been planted there earlier while also
questioning how you would pick five drops of blood from the amount of blood from a forensic
attack i don't know [Music] in response the forensic expert responsible for the original laboratory
results said that the possibility of evidence having been planted could only be considered in conjunction with an
extreme conspiracy theory [Music] in march 2000 andrew fitzherbert lodged an appeal claiming that the results of
dna testing were falsified in order to convict him in their ruling the court of appeal
concluded that the blood-based evidence implicating andrew in kathleen's murder while unexplained was enough to support
the conviction they found no evidence that the recorded results of the dna testing were
fraudulent or faked as such the appeal was rejected four years later in february 2004 andrew
applied to have the crime scene samples retested at another facility in western australia
he requested other items such as the shoes found under the clinic sink also be re-examined
the shoes were originally taken for analysis and dried blood was swabbed from them but no further testing was
ever conducted they were assumed to have been kathleen's shoes but this had never been
confirmed the testing would be funded by a support group who believed in andrew's innocence
he was backed by the innocence project a non-profit organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted
individuals through the use of dna testing andrew's request was denied by queensland's attorney general on the
grounds that andrew supporters had failed to quote raise any justifiable doubt about the
correctness of the sampling or testing of the dna material andrew had also been given the chance to
have these samples retested at the trial and his appeal at the government's expense but failed to do so
he claimed he was not aware of this right his lawyer said that the attorney general had missed the point of the
application stating that their issue wasn't with the testing of the material but the analysis of the results
she also cited the improvements in dna testing since the trial prior to andrew's trial major
shortcomings were uncovered in the handling of the kathleen martial murder investigation
they included poorly documented records unsealed evidence unrestricted access to
lab specimens and potential specimen contamination in 2002 the center that handled the
case's dna testing was worn to improve its standards or risk losing its accreditation after issues were raised
regarding record control methodology handling of exhibits and reports of results
then there was the matter of investigative leads that were unexplored overlooked or ignored
they are detailed in ted due's book crucial errors in murder investigations and include the following
at 2 15 pm on friday february 27 1998 kathleen was seen driving away from her house with a male passenger
her dogs were also in the car kathleen's friends claimed that her dogs only tolerated two males
one was a man who lived with kathleen for a brief period of time in 1997 whom she was still friendly with
the other was someone who did odd jobs around her place upon examination after her murder
kathleen's car was noted to have been thoroughly cleaned neither of these two men were explored
as significant suspects in kathleen's murder additionally two cars were seen parked
outside of kathleen's home late on friday one was a resprayed dark brown 1976 ford
falcon station wagon spotted at 4 10 pm the other was a small blue car cited at 6 pm
multiple witnesses saw these vehicles but they were never questioned by police cars matching these descriptions were
owned by other members of the cat protection society specifically those who later discovered kathleen's body
they denied having any communication with kathleen that weekend whatsoever ted dews wrote in his book quote
why hasn't andrew fitzherbert been set free the answer is simple fitzherbert's dna was found at the
murder scene and he can't explain how it got there regarded as an exemplary prisoner in
2014 at the age of 65 andrew fitzherbert was released on parole after serving 16
years for kathleen marshall's murder in an attempt to get his life back on track he resumed his regular activities
including palm reading andrew said he had no anger about the past but was still interested in
clearing his name current parole conditions forbid him from discussing his case with the media
the only other person who was publicly suspected of killing kathleen and subsequently vilified by the media was
her arch-nemesis virginia houston andrew's conviction had essentially vindicated virginia but his assertions
of innocence prevented complete closure acknowledging it would take her years to
recover from the traumatic experience virginia stated truth is the daughter of time and i
think the truth will emerge with time andrew fitzherbert has caused enormous trouble and trauma to dozens and dozens
of innocent people and i have not a flack of sympathy there is one alternative theory that
could exonerate both andrew and virginia according to author ted dews there was one possibility that hadn't been
explored by investigators dues cited an earlier case in quebec where a cat owner lost a pint of blood
after being attacked by their pet dues pointed out that kathleen's cushing disease caused her skin to become
fragile and tear easily he theorized that after attacking kathleen a cat could have jumped out of
the broken window left a blood on the foliage outside and wandered off into the night explaining why no footprints
had been found at the crime scene and why there was an empty cat cage on the floor
this theory was refuted by the experienced pathologist who conducted kathleen's autopsy
he determined that kathleen's wounds were caused by a sharp instrument as a cat's claws or teeth would have produced
wounds with the jagged edges in october 2000 the cap protection society of queensland went into
voluntary liquidation they had been plagued by further infighting missing funds and to the
irreparable damage done during the trial of andrew fitzherbert disgruntled members sought a probe into
the society's financial affairs claiming that 90 000 had disappeared in an 18-month period
virginia houston opposed the liquidation claiming that the organization still had
a role to play in cat welfare eventually on february 7 2017 the cap protection society of queensland was
deregistered by a supreme court order [Music] catherine stevenson was on her way to
work on the morning of friday february 27 1998 when she spotted her old school friend kathleen marshall
she recognized kathleen easily as she hadn't changed much since they went to school together 30 years prior
catherine wrote about the chant sighting in her personal diary unaware that within hours kathleen would be dead
as one of the six witnesses to see kathleen in the hours before then catherine's recollections played a
significant part in extending the time frame of the attack it was around 10 15 am when she observed
kathleen's toyota station wagon pull up to a stop behind her own car at the wilston shops
while they didn't interact catherine watched kathleen as she headed into the nearby news agency dressed in her blue
and white striped sundress kathleen then affixed a poster to the front window of the shop
it featured the details of a missing pregnant cat phone records would later reveal that on
the following day of saturday february 28 reverend ruth bennett had placed a call to animal welfare organization the
rspca to report that her pet cat had gone missing it was a pregnant sale point siamese
named zilla [Music] andrew fitzherbeck claimed that zilla had vanished from home two days earlier
on thursday the 26th he said he had spent some time in the garden calling her name but his search
effort didn't extend beyond that the day zilla went missing was the day that john wilson later identified as
andrew fitzherbert visited kathleen marshall's clinic he was seen carrying an unrestrained
sale point siamese cat was it possible that zilla had run away while under kathleen's care and a
devastated andrew then returned to confront her in retaliation although a missing cat seemed like an
extreme motive for murder it wasn't out of the realm of speculation [Music] as her final act of charity kathleen
marshall bequeathed 100 dollars to the university of queensland school of veterinary science
the same facility she herself had graduated from with honors in 1968 aided by the funds from kathleen's
estate the university unveiled a new conference and meeting venue named the kathleen lamborn building which was
kathleen's maiden name the modern brick structure sits in a leafy and quiet part of the campus
it is a meeting place for students studying their veterinary degree as kathleen marshall did before them
250 mourners had attended kathleen's funeral to pay their respects even though she could be a difficult
woman her acquaintances still admired her she was after all a passionate campaigner and powerful advocate for
animal welfare during her funeral service music by her favorite classical composers johann bark
and frederik chopin were played on string quartet and piano aside from her love of animals kathleen
also had a love of classical music until her death she studied piano at the queensland conservatorium
there she used her friendships with prominent musicians to organise fundraising concerts for promising young
musicians to study overseas as a young woman kathleen lived briefly in london it was there that she purchased one of
her most beloved possessions an antique bechstein piano unable to part with it kathleen had it
shipped back to australia when she returned home where it took pride of place in her lounge room
it was never determined whether the songbook on its stand that was turned to chopin's the funeral march was a clue
left by her killer or just a morbid coincidence [Music] [Music] you

Case 217: Kathleen Marshall

In March 1998, members of the Cat Protection Society in Brisbane, Australia were shocked at the murder of one of their own, a 52-year-old Veterinarian named Dr Kathleen Marshall. An outspoken crusader for animal rights, Kathleen seemed an unlikely target for such a brutal assault...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-217-kathleen-marshall

Brief Summary

The episode details the murder of Kathleen Marshall and Andrew Fitzherbert's DNA-based conviction, raising questions about justice and evidence reliability.

Key points

The Victim's Background. Kathleen Marshall, a well-respected veterinarian, was known for her love of animals.
The Crime Scene Discovery. On March 1, 1998, a group discovered a gruesome crime scene at Kathleen Marshall's home.
Tensions Rise. Kathleen's relationships soured, leading to conflicts within the cat protection society.
Virginia's Alibi. Virginia claims she was with a friend during the time of Kathleen's murder, but lacks an alibi for later hours.
DNA Breakthrough. Investigators discover male DNA at the crime scene, removing Virginia as the main suspect but not ruling her out.
Andrew Fitzherbert Arrested. Andrew is arrested after refusing to provide a DNA sample, raising suspicions about his involvement in Kathleen's murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Was it a message?

A detective's chilling realization at the crime scene.

2:18WatchJul 2, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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