Two Killers in One Family? | Forensic Files

[Music] Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at
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confidential support, and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this
episode on your app or on our website. It was nearing 4:30 on the cold, misty morning of Saturday, August 28, 1993,
when married couple Ted and Jan Warner were jolted awake by a loud knock on their front door.
The Warers lived on Prince Edward Park Road, a quiet and leafy residential street in the southern Sydney suburb of
Waronora. Set on the waterfront of the Waronora River and surrounded by bushland, it was
highly unusual to hear a disturbance at such an hour. Ted got up to open the door and was
surprised to find his neighbor, 23-year-old Jeffrey Gillum, standing there dressed in nothing but a pair of
boxer shorts and smelling of smoke. Jeffrey lived next door to the Warers with his older brother, 25-year-old
Christopher, and their parents, Helen and Steven. The Gillums were a fixture of Prince
Edward Park Road, having lived in the neighborhood for over two decades. They were wellliked with locals viewing
them as a loving, warm, and sociable family, always keen to lend a hand to those in need or bring a plate of food
to the neighborhood barbecues. Ted had known Jeffrey Gillum his whole life and had never seen him in such a
state. typically neatly presented and wellspoken. His pale skin was covered in goosebumps and he appeared to be highly
agitated. He started speaking in a strange disjointed fashion, asking Ted to call
Trip0. They're all dead, Jeffrey mumbled. He's killed them. Set them on fire. Ted was stunned as he tried to make
sense of Jeffrey's semi-jibberish claims. Mom and dad are both dead. Jeffrey continued.
He's burned them. I've killed him for what he did. Ted ushered Jeffrey into his house and
dialed Trip0. As Ted tried to explain to the operator what was going on, the operator asked if
Jeffrey had been drinking. Ted lent over to smell Jeffrey's breath, noting that it didn't smell like alcohol, but
kerosene. He handed the phone to Jeffrey so he could explain things for himself.
In a halting and distracted manner, Jeffrey told the operator that his brother Christopher had killed his
parents and set their bodies on fire. He said that he had chased Christopher down the stairs and killed him for what
he did. He killed them. Killed them. Jeffree stammered. I don't know why. [Music]
Like most of the other homes in the area, the Gillums lived on a long narrow block that sloped downwards from Prince
Edward Park Road and towards the riverfront. External stairs led down from the street
and to their modest two-story home, which was surrounded by an assortment of towering trees and greenery.
The upper floor consisted of the combined lounge, dining, and kitchen space, which gave way to Steven and
Helen's bedroom. From the lounge room, a spiral staircase led to the downstairs bedroom belonging
to Christopher, which had an adjoining on suite and rumpus room. Jeffrey lived in the converted boat
shed, which was attached to the main house by a set of external stairs. At 4:43 a.m., a team of firefighters
arrived at the property to find smoke rising from the roof. Jeffrey Gillum was waiting for them at
the bottom of the external stairs in a highly agitated and emotionally distraught state.
He appeared to be disoriented and delirious. speaking incoherently about his parents being dead inside the house.
The firefighters ran along the side balcony to the rear of the house. Flames roared from inside Helen and
Steven's bedroom as well as from a second fire in the lounge room. The firefighters opened the sliding
glass doors that led to the upper living space, but were met with a wave of heat
so extreme that they couldn't enter. Then the window from Helen and Steven's bedroom shattered, shooting flames
outside. Within minutes, the team was able to get the flames under control. One of the firefighters entered the
smoke-filled lounge room and found Helen's badly burned body lying face down in the southern corner near the
front door. She had been stabbed 17 times with 13 of the wounds to the front of her chest.
The firefighter continued into the bedroom, fighting flames as he went. There on the bedroom floor, he found
Steven's body lying face down. He had sustained a total of 28 wounds, 16 of which were to the front of his
chest. Parallel to the bed was an axe. [Music] Police officers arrived at the scene and
accompanied firefighters as they kicked in the door to the downstairs rumpers room. The area was dark except for the
reflected light of a spot fire that continued to blaze upstairs. There they found Christopher Gillum's
body lying next to the billiard table naked except for a towing dressing gown. His body was unaffected by the fire, but
riddled with stab wounds. Like his mother, he'd been stabbed 17 times, a majority of the wounds to his
upper chest. Next to his body lay a knife. After being examined by paramedics at
the scene, Jeffrey Gillum was taken to Southerntherland Police Station, where at 8:22 a.m. he agreed to participate in
an electronically recorded interview. The traumatic events of the morning had clearly taken their toll on the
23-year-old. He sat wrapped in a blanket with a somewhat bewildered look on his face,
his eyes casted downwards as he quietly mumbled brief answers to all of the officer's questions.
According to Jeffrey, the previous evening had been an ordinary Friday. His girlfriend Haley had come over for
dinner, leaving at around 1000 p.m. After that, he watched television with his parents in the lounge room before
having a shower and then going to bed. He wasn't sure exactly what time this was, but thought it was sometime before
midnight. Jeffrey said he was fast asleep when suddenly he was awoken by the intercom
that connected the boatshed with the main house. It was his mother, Helen, screaming for
help. Jeffrey couldn't understand anything she was saying, but he wasted no time
thinking about it. He quickly pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and raced through
the garden to the staircase that led to the sliding glass doors upstairs. This took him less than a minute.
He unlocked the door and ran into the lounge room. There he found his mother's body lying
near the front door. A knife was on the floor nearby next to the piano and his brother Christopher
was standing over her with a match in his hand. Christopher looked at Jeffrey from
across the room and said, "I've killed mom and dad." With that, Jeffrey claimed that
Christopher set Helen's body on fire. As the flames quickly started spreading, Jeffrey looked towards the bedroom and
saw his father's Steven's body on the floor. Within seconds, the fire reached the
bedroom and set Steven's body ablaze. Unable to believe what he was seeing, an overwhelming feeling overcame Jeffrey.
All he could think was that he had to get his brother. He grabbed the knife from the floor and
lunged towards him. Christopher turned and ran down the spiral staircase with Jeffrey chasing
behind. Everything from there was a bit of a haze. Jeffree didn't know if he first
stabbed Christopher while they were on the stairs or once they reached the bottom. But by the time they were in the
rumpus room, Jeffrey had him cornered. He launched towards Christopher and began stabbing him repeatedly.
Christopher fell to the floor as Jeffree continued to strike him. He didn't know how many times he stabbed
his brother or what he did with the knife afterwards, but he eventually ran back up the stairs.
By then, the fire had spread throughout the lounge room, and the air was thick with smoke.
Jeffrey raced out the sliding doors and to the Warner's home next door to raise the alarm.
As word of what happened spread around Waranora, those who knew the Gillum family were left in complete shock.
To the outside world, they had always appeared to be a completely normal, stable family.
58-year-old Steven Gillum was a cheerful and easygoing bloke. He'd recently retired after decades working for the
New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority and spent his spare time sailing, playing golf, and working
casually at the local boat shed. His wife, 55-year-old Helen, worked as a school nurse with the Southern Sydney
Health Service. She was the more serious of the pair, known for her nononsense attitude when
it came to raising her two sons, but she also enjoyed a good laugh and was fun to
be around. Steven and Helen loved their two boys and had worked hard to give them a solid
upbringing. Life on the Warora River meant that Steven was able to share his passion for
sailing with his children. It was through their shared love of boats that Steven and Jeffrey
established a particularly close bond. They spent a majority of their weekends out on the water, honing Jeffrey's
sailing skills for competition. Such was his talent that he'd once won a national championship.
When he wasn't out sailing, Jeffree spent his time surfing, socializing with friends, and studying for his civil
engineering degree. He only had 6 months left before he was set to graduate and the future was
looking bright. While Jeffrey was known to be light-hearted and easygoing like his
father, Christopher Gillum was more shy and reserved. He often joined his family on their
boating adventures, but seemed happier to just hang around in the background. Christopher's passions lay elsewhere in
fencing, computers, and piano. He was such a talented pianist that neighbors often asked the Gillums to
keep their windows open when Christopher was practicing so they could hear him play.
One uncle described the Gillum brothers as impressive young men who had been well brought up with old-fashioned good
values. This made it all the more difficult for their friends and family to believe what
had happened. According to Jeffrey Gillum, that winter had been a bit rough on Christopher.
Having completed a degree in chemical engineering the previous year, he was struggling to find a job in the wake of
the recession that hit Australia in the early 1990s. His parents had urged him to study a
one-year teaching degree as backup, but Christopher wasn't particularly enjoying
it and also had doubts about his future employment prospects. He'd done some practical teacher
training at a tough Western Sydney high school and didn't feel particularly cut out for the role.
To make matters worse, Christopher's girlfriend had recently broken up with him.
He retreated further into himself, spending most of his time at home on the family's computer.
Jeffrey claimed that in the weeks leading up to the murders, Christopher had been acting strangely.
Tensions seemed to be boiling over between him and their father, and they'd been arguing constantly.
Jeffrey told his girlfriend Haley that Christopher had lost it and that he'd been going off at their parents throwing
things and pushing and shoving their father. About 2 weeks before the murders, Haley
was on the phone to Jeffrey when she overheard an argument in the background. When she asked Jeffrey what they were
fighting about, he responded, "I don't know what's going on, but I think it's to do with money. If there is
a fight, I'll have to break it up. At around 5:00 p.m. on the night before the murders, Jeffrey had gone to the
beach with his close friend Wayne to check out the surfing conditions. Jeffrey told Wayne that his brother had
been acting strangely and had been going off at the drop of a hat. Wayne had known the brothers for several
years and was shocked to hear that Christopher had been pushing and shoving Steven Gillum.
He asked what the fighting was about. Jeffree said he wasn't sure, but he thought it could be over money given
that Christopher wanted a new car. Jeffrey declined an invitation to watch a movie at Wayne's house that night. He
said his dad was due home from golf and he wanted to be there in case Christopher acted out again.
When Jeffree got home at around 8:00 p.m., his girlfriend Haley was there, having arrived unannounced.
While she'd been waiting for Jeffrey, Haley had briefly crossed paths with Christopher when he came out of the
computer room to grab a coffee. While Haley hadn't observed anything out of the ordinary, she thought she could
sense some underlying tension between Christopher and his parents. Jeffrey and Haley ate dinner together
and then played billiards before Jeffree walked Haley out to her car at around 1000 p.m.
Again, he repeated his concerns about Christopher's behavior. What am I to do about my brother?
Jeffrey asked. It's pretty serious. I've never seen him so psycho. He is pushing my father
around. I don't know what to do. In the bathroom attached to Christopher's bedroom, police found two
empty packets of Panadol brand paracetamol in the clothes basket along with a 25 mm syringe filled with a white
paste, a glass cup with a white substance on it, and a knife containing the same white substance.
Each of these items tested positive for paracetamol, leading to the presumption that Christopher had likely prepared
this highdosese mix of panadol ahead of time with the intention of taking his own life.
What he hadn't accounted for was his mother calling Jeffrey for help on the intercom, thus foiling his plans as he
died by his brother's hand instead of his own. Post-mortem examinations of Steven and
Helen's bodies were unable to determine in which order the two had died or their
times of death. All pathologists could say for sure was that the stab wounds had been inflicted
while the two were still alive and that they'd both died within minutes of being
attacked. Samples taken from the carpet of the upper floor of the Gillum's home tested
positive for mineral tarpentine or a similar flammable hydrocarbon liquid, indicating that Christopher had used an
accelerant to start the fire. Searchers of the property didn't turn up any such containers, but given that
mineral tarpentine was sold in lightweight plastic bottles, investigators reasoned that any evidence
relating to this would have been readily consumed by the fire without leaving a trace.
For the death of his brother, Jeffrey Gillum was charged with murder and denied bail.
He spent a month in the psychiatric unit of Long Bay Jail as he struggled to accept the magnitude of the situation.
Friends and family rallied around him, providing whatever support they could to get him through this tragic time.
Jeffrey was eventually granted bail on the condition that he undergo psychological counseling and move in
with a family friend who had been supporting him since his arrest. He faced trial for Christopher's murder
in April 1995, where he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Two psychologists found that Jeffree
suffered from no ongoing mental disorder, psychiatric condition, or violent tendencies.
He'd simply reacted, albeit in a very extreme manner, to the circumstances he was presented with at the time.
They were both of the view that there was minimal risk of Jeffree offending again, that he showed deep remorse, and
that his prospects for rehabilitation were excellent. The crown accepted Jeffrey's
manslaughter plea, and he was sentenced to a 5-year good behavior bond with the judge describing the whole situation as
a remarkable human drama. Two months later, a coronial inquest was held to formally solidify the
circumstances of Helen and Steven's deaths. The coroner found that the couple had
died by stab wounds inflicted by their son, Christopher, and the case was officially closed.
Jeffrey Gillum did his best to move on with his life, focusing on one small task at a time.
He completed his engineering degree with honors and secured a stable job. His relationship with Haley ended and he
started dating a friend of his from university named Rebecca. The two developed a deep bond and began
making plans for their future together with a house, marriage, and children on the horizon.
After everything Jeffree had been through, he worked hard to create the life he'd always envisioned for himself
prior to the tragedy. Many admired the way in which he was able to pick himself up and carry on.
But for Jeffrey's paternal uncle, Tony Gillum, things weren't sitting right. Ever since the funerals of Steven,
Helen, and Christopher, Tony Gillum had felt like something was a little off. He'd watched Jeffrey during the funerals
and was surprised to see that he hadn't shed any tears. Even the sight of his family's coffins
hadn't sparked any visible emotion. Tony had been in such a state of shock after the murders that he had taken half
a year off work. Meanwhile, he felt like a Jeffrey was carrying on as though he was unaffected,
completing his university degree so quickly and with flying colors. When it took a Jeffrey 6 months to
collect his family's ashes, Tony started to get really suspicious. Tony found the allegations that
Christopher had killed his parents over disputes about money to be completely without logic.
Although Tony lived interstate and didn't visit his half-brother and his family often, he had caught up with
Steven and Helen just 6 months before the murders, and everything had seemed perfectly fine.
If there had been tensions between them and their eldest son, they certainly hadn't shown it.
Tony was also a bit takenback by Jeffrey's claims that Christopher was the more shy and withdrawn member of the
family. As far as Tony was concerned, it was Jeffrey who had always been the aloof
one, whereas he'd always found Christopher to be friendly and talkative. If anything, Tony thought that Jeffree
was jealous of the extra care Christopher received from their parents and could be a bit of a bully.
When the crime scene was examined, investigators had found a 25 L jerry can containing roughly one L of petrol in
the small al cove at the front of the house where the bins were kept. There was also a freshly cut length of
garden hose which appeared to have been cut from a longer hose that ran from an outdoor tap to a boat in the carport.
Jeffrey explained that on the night before the murders, he and his father had cut the hose in an attempt to siphon
some petrol out of his car to use in one of their motorboats for an upcoming trip. They wanted to make two-stroke
fuel, but then realized the car contained the wrong kind of petrol, so they aborted their mission and put the
jerry can back near the bins. Tony found this hard to believe. Not only was it likely that Steven
Gillum would have the proper equipment needed to pump petrol without having to use this crude method, he had been
scheduled to enter a golf tournament that Saturday. If there was no sense of urgency to get
the boat ready, why would the two be outside so late on a cold winter night undertaking such an arduous task?
A thought began to form in Tony's mind. Was it possible that Jeffrey was actually responsible for all three
deaths and had created the story of his brother's so-called psycho behavior to set Christopher up for the crime?
Tony wasn't the only one who felt this way. Ted and Jan Warner, the couple who lived
next door to the Gillums, had been suspicious of Jeffrey's story ever since he knocked on their door on the morning
of the murders. Despite claiming to have just stabbed his brother to death, there didn't
appear to be any blood on him. Ted had looked Jeffrey up and down, and the only blood he'd seen was on the
little toe of Jeffrey's right foot and the shin of his left leg. There was also a spot of blood on one of
his fingernails. Jan had noticed this, too. In her view, the blood on Jeffrey's legs looked pale
pink in color, as though he had tried to wash it off. While Jeffrey had been at the Warner's
home waiting for the firefighters to arrive, he'd switched between sitting on their light colored leather couch and
lying on their kitchen floor in the fetal position. Jan gave him a jumper to wear, but
instead of putting it on, he just hugged it to his body. Afterwards, the Warers didn't notice any
blood residue on the couch floor or their white-colored telephone. After the police had taken Jeffree in
for questioning and cordoned off the house as a crime scene, Jan had turned to her husband and said, "I think he's
making it up." In 1996, after the Coronial Inquest had officially declared that Christopher was
responsible for the deaths of Steven and Helen, Jeffrey was able to apply for his
share of the family's estate. He was only entitled to 50% with his four grandparents entitled to the rest.
Given everything that Jeffree had been through, three of his grandparents wanted Jeffree to have their share to
help him rebuild his life. However, Steven's mother, Jeffrey's grandmother, Jesse Gillum, who lived in
a house under Steven's name, did not. Jeffrey sought further legal advice and discovered that he was actually entitled
to 100% of his parents' estate. This included their $900,000 home in Warora, his father's boats, as well as
Jesse's house in Marong. The paperwork was sent out to all of his grandparents to formally sign it over,
but Jesse refused to do so. Jesse called her son, Tony Gillum, in a state of distress, saying that Jeffrey
was trying to harass her into signing her entitlements back to him. It was at this point that Tony could no
longer ignore the red flags. He flew to Sydney and visited the detective who had
been in charge of the investigation. I've got my suspicions about Jeffrey. Tony said
what the detective told him next was shocking. During the initial police interview with
the Jeffrey Gillum on the morning of Saturday, August 28, 1993, the interviewing detectives weren't sure
what to make of his account. They had a hard time believing that two separate slayings could have occurred in
the same household at around the same time. If Jeffrey was capable of killing his
brother, they thought it stood to reason that he could also be capable of killing
his parents. They also thought it seemed highly strange that Jeffrey's first reaction
upon seeing his parents' dead bodies had been to attack his brother rather than check on his parents to confirm if they
were actually dead or try to stop the fire. One of the detectives put these questions to Jeffrey directly.
I don't know why I killed my brother, he responded. I was just chasing him. I don't know why.
The detective pressed on. You're saying that your brother has killed your mother
and father, and I'm just wondering whether it's just a convenient ploy on your behalf to tell us that when in fact
you've killed the whole three of them. Jeffrey kept his eyes casted downwards and mumbled back, "I haven't."
He also couldn't explain why he hadn't checked on his dad or tried to stomp out the fire first.
I don't know why, Jeffrey said. I just thought of other things and just did the wrong thing. Obviously,
during the interview, one of the detectives had also scribbled down a note for the other that read, "If he's
just stabbed his brother, where's the [ __ ] blood?" Their suspicions grew upon hearing
Jeffrey's explanation for the jerry can of petrol with its makeshift siphon that
was found in the Gillum's alcove. To the detectives, it sounded like Jeffrey had been trying to use the
petrol as an accelerant to start the fire with before finding it too hard and using mineral tarpentine instead.
They'd also been curious about the timing of the events. A woman named Christine Shaw lived on the opposite
side of the road to the Gillums on a slope that overlooked their property. In the early morning hours of Saturday,
August 28, 1993, Christine had been reading in bed at around 3:45 when she heard the screams of two people.
One was a man making a guttural sound that reminded Christine of someone being struck by lightning.
The other was a distressed sounding woman who seemed to be desperately trying to reason with someone.
Christine couldn't hear what was being said, but the voices alerted a neighborhood dog who started barking
incessantly. Eventually, at around 3:57 a.m., Christine went to the window to see what
was going on. But by the time she got there, the voices stopped, and she couldn't see anything.
The dog continued to bark, waking its owners at some point between 4 and 4:15 a.m. They got up to try and quiet him,
but didn't hear any other voices. It was presumed that Christine Shaw had overheard Steven Gillum in the throws of
death and Helen Gillum defending herself against her attacker. But if that was the case, it meant that
they had both been attacked at around 4:00 a.m. Jeffree claimed that upon hearing his
mother's cries for help over the intercom, he'd immediately raced to the house, which took less than a minute,
and everything had happened very quickly from there. Why then hadn't Jeffrey arrived at the
Warner's house next door to raise the alarm until around 4:30 a.m.? What had he been doing for that
unaccounted for period of around half an hour? While all of these factors were dubious,
it was when the autopsies came back that the detectives really started to question things.
Forensic examination had revealed that Steven, Helen, and Christopher Gillum had all been stabbed a similar number of
times, with a vast majority of the wounds concentrated on their chests and none on their abdomen.
If there had been two separate killers, what were the chances that both had struck in such similar manners?
Testing was done of the blood found on Jeffrey's left shin and right hand to determine who the blood came from, but
the samples weren't strong enough to make an identification. Then there was the knife, which
according to Jeffrey had been used in all three of the killings. The knife had been tested for
fingerprints, but none were found. Nor was there any blood on the handle of the knife, nor the blade. There hadn't been
any prints on the panadol filled syringe or any of the other items in Christopher's laundry basket, either.
Tony Gillum couldn't believe what he was hearing. He asked the detective why they
hadn't charged Jeffrey with Steven and Helen's murders if they believed he was guilty.
The detective said that they had actually recommended that charges be laid, but the director of public
prosecutions declined. Tony refused to accept this. I'll sort that out, he said.
[Music] After discussing the situation with his other brother, Tony rang Jeffrey and
asked him to meet with them. Jeffrey refused, questioning why and saying he wouldn't speak to anyone about the night
of the killings without his solicitor present. Tony then decided to take matters into
his own hands. He began writing letters to the Department of Public Prosecutions urging
them to charge Jeffrey for the murders of Helen and Steven Gillum. The DPP refused, citing a lack of
evidence. Tony began reaching out to journalists and other members of law enforcement
trying to raise awareness to the situation in any way possible. Eventually, his story caught the
attention of the production team at the Channel 9 television program 60 Minutes,
who launched their own investigation. Steven's mother, Jesse, told 60 Minutes she didn't believe Christopher Gillum
played a role in the murders at all. She described him as a lovely chap with a beautiful personality who had no malice
and was bullied by his younger brother. Jesse recalled, "Jeffrey could never walk past Christopher without thumping
him. They always did it. It was just a known thing. I don't think they liked each other at all. I really don't."
Neighbor Ted Warner expressed his disbelief about Jeffrey's story, too, saying to have two homicidal maniacs kind of
crack out of their egg in the one night in the one home in the one suburb is pretty scary stuff.
In Jeffrey's version of events, Christopher had lit his mother's body on fire and the house had blazed from
there. But 60 Minutes had four separate arson investigators look into the case, and
they found evidence to indicate that the fire had actually started in the main bedroom near Steven Gillum's body, thus
creating further doubts about Jeffrey's story. They also consulted a leading criminal
barrista who raised questions about Jeffrey's timing of the events. Jeffrey had told the police that
approximately 90 seconds had passed between him hearing his mother screaming for help on the intercom, racing
upstairs to the lounge room, and witnessing Christopher light her body on fire. If this was correct, it gave Christopher
just 90 seconds to stab Helen 17 times before running around the house pouring out mineral tarpentine in preparation
for the fire before Jeffree arrived. The 60 Minutes team reached out to renowned New South Wales forensic
pathologist Dr. Godfrey Oakley to examine the case on their behalf. After reviewing the crime scene photos
and autopsy reports, Dr. Oakley raised some questions about the lack of blood on Christopher's body. While the
dressing gown he'd been wearing was soaked in blood from his own wounds, it was free of any blood spatter, as were
his arms, legs, and face. If Christopher had been the one to attack his parents, Dr. Oakley expected
that his whole body would be splattered with blood. Only a few drops were visible on his
neck and a chin, and forensic experts agreed this could have come from his own wounds.
Looking at the crime scene photos, Dr. Oakley noted that the knife was lying underneath Christopher's left arm.
This positioning, coupled with the fact that there was no blood or fingerprints on the knife, led Dr. Oakley to conclude
that the knife had likely been washed and then placed there. As for the lack of blood found on
Jeffrey Gillum, Dr. Oakley reasoned this could only be explained by an attempt at
cleaning himself or having been in contact with water. Asked if he thought the crime had been
committed by one killer or two, Dr. Barley said, "I think the probability is that there was one killer. I think it's
reasonably probable and I don't think it is reasonably probable that two people killed in exactly the same way. I think
that the evidence which was shown on the dead brother demonstrated that he wasn't
involved. I think that he wasn't part of it." Jeffrey declined to be interviewed for
the program. Without his explanation for all of the evidence 60 Minutes had uncovered, the host of the segment
called for an official coronial inquiry to be held. He also said that DNA testing should be done of the blood
found on Jeffrey's body to determine which family member it came from. Steven Gillum's family, unwilling to
accept the fact that Christopher had gone to his grave condemned as a double murderer, strongly agreed.
One of Steven's brothers steadfastly stated, "All of these questions have to be answered."
The 60-minute segment reinvigorated interest in the case, and to Tony Gillum's relief, it was announced that a
second coronial inquest would be held to examine all the available evidence relating to the deaths of Helen and
Steven Gillum. Jeffrey refused to speak to the press, creating further doubt about his story
in the eyes of the public. After all, if he had nothing to hide, then why not share his side of the story?
The inquest commenced in late 1999 with hearings scheduled to be held over several months.
The council assisting the coroner presented the court with all of the questionable elements of the case with
significant focus on the blood evidence and the similarities between the stab wounds of the three victims.
Testimony was also delivered from various witnesses about Jeffrey's physical appearance at the time of the
crime. Some recalled that his hair had been wet or shiny looking, suggesting the
possibility that he could have washed it. But according to testimony from one blood spatter expert, the lack of blood
on Jeffrey didn't hold any major significance. Anyway, he told the court that it was a common misunderstanding to
think that the amount of blood on an attacker was linked to the level of violence they inflicted.
A detective who had attended the crime scene also gave evidence that he hadn't been surprised by the lack of blood on
Christopher or the murder weapon that was found lying beside him. A huge amount of water had cascaded into the
downstairs space due to the firefighting efforts on the floor above. A tarpolan had been placed over Christopher's body
in an attempt to preserve any evidence, but water had already dripped onto him before this occurred.
The detective therefore assumed that any blood on Christopher or the knife had been washed away.
However, DNA testing had since been done of samples taken from the drops of blood
on Jeffrey's feet. And while the results were below laboratory level after 5 years in storage, there were some
indications that the blood was Helen's. Of the four forensic experts who gave evidence, two believed that the number
and pattern of the stab wounds indicated that only one killer was involved in the
crimes. Dr. Christopher Lawrence, the pathologist who had conducted the Gillum family autopsies, was experienced in
dealing with triple homicides and told the court, "I honestly cannot recall a group of three sets of wounds that
looked this much the same. However, while he found this compelling, Dr. Lawrence said it didn't necessarily
prove that only one person was responsible. The forensic experts recommended that
the knife be formally re-examined, while Christopher's dressing gown and Jeffrey's boxer shorts should undergo
full chemical analysis. After all of the evidence and witness testimony was presented, the coroner
found that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Jeffrey Gillum could be
responsible for murdering his parents, and they recommended that the director of public prosecutions consider laying
charges. There was just one problem. [Music] After Jeffrey's manslaughter plea back
in 1995, key pieces of evidence including the knife, the clothing worn by all four
family members, carpet samples taken from around the bodies, the piece of freshly cut garden hose from the petrol
siphon, and Christopher's fingernail scrapings had all been destroyed by the police. Other items, like the jumper Jan
Warner had given to Jeffrey to wear after the killings, had never even been taken into evidence.
Anything that could be useful for further testing was no longer available. In July 2000, the director of public
prosecutions, Nicholas Cowry, notified his decision not to press murder charges against Jeffrey Gillum. Without these
key pieces of evidence, he felt there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction.
Jeffrey's uncle, Tony, was outraged. Refusing to accept this conclusion, Tony continued trying to attract attention to
the case in any way he could. He put a sign on the rear windscreen of his car that read, "The DPP is protecting a mass
killer by the name of Jeffrey Gillum." and parked it out the front of Nicholas Cowry's office in the city.
He even offered his own $200,000 reward for information. Tony continued the fight for 3 and 1/2
years, motivated by the blatant way in which Jeffrey continued to live his life, seemingly with no consequence for
his alleged actions. During this time, Jeffrey got married and bought a house in St. Ives, an
affluent suburb in Sydney's upper Northshore. He continued to enjoy sailing using the
sailboat he'd inherited from his father. In early 2004, thanks to Tony's persistent efforts, the New South Wales
Homicide Squad finally decided to reopen the investigation. With the key pieces of evidence no
longer available, their focus was on uncovering new and compelling evidence that could convince the DPP it was worth
prosecuting Jeffrey Gillum for his parents' murders. Looking back through the case file, they
noticed that several items of Jeffrey's clothing had been found in the burned wreckage of his family's lounge room.
Jeffrey's girlfriend from the time confirmed this was the same clothing he'd been wearing when she'd visited the
Gillum home on the night of the murders. Given that Jeffrey had shown up on the Warner's doorstep wearing nothing but
boxer shorts, investigators wondered what his clothing was doing in the lounge room.
An examination revealed there was no blood on any of the garments. This led them to theorize that Jeffrey
could have hastily undressed before attacking his family to avoid getting any blood on his clothing and had left
them behind, assuming they'd get burned in the fire. The location where Christopher Gillum's
eyelasses were found was also of interest. Christopher was shortsighted and had mild aigmatism, a common eye condition
that causes blurred or distorted vision. He wore glasses at all times except when
sleeping or showering. According to his ex-girlfriend and a former flatmate, Christopher always kept
his glasses next to his bedside because he needed them to move around, even wearing them to go from the bedroom to
the bathroom. But after the murders, his glasses were found on the window ledge in the
downstairs bathroom. Investigators thought it was highly unlikely that Christopher would have
walked upstairs in the dark to kill his parents without his glasses on. They deemed it more probable that
Jeffrey had waited until his brother was asleep before moving his glasses to put
him at a disadvantage. The reason Christopher wasn't wearing them was because he'd been roused from
his sleep upon hearing his parents being attacked and had run upstairs in a panic
without stopping to find his glasses first. Christopher's vision impairment also
highlighted another crack in Jeffrey Gillum's story. Those close to Christopher said he
wasn't very confident when it came to driving. He rarely borrowed the family vehicle
and refused to drive at night, therefore making it highly unlikely that his desire for a car would have been a
strong enough motive to kill his own parents. Detectives reintered the first responders who attended the Gillum
residence on the morning of the attacks. The firefighter who had been operating the pump at the rear of the fire truck
recalled that Jeffrey Gillum had been brought over to him by another officer. When Jeffrey was about a meter and a
half away, the firefighter could smell petrol on him. Given his experience in the field, he
was familiar with the smell of petrol and could distinguish it from any other accelerants.
Based on this statement, investigators felt that the odor Ted Warner had smelt on Jeffrey's breath, which he described
as kerosene, had actually been petrol. With a second witness backing Ted's recollection, investigators cast even
more doubt on Jeffrey's claims that he'd tried to siphon the petrol with his father earlier that evening.
Had he done so, the smell would have been washed away in the shower he claimed to have taken before bed.
They were more convinced than ever that Jeffrey had attempted to siphon petrol from his car by sucking on a garden hose
in order to set fire to the house. Another firefighter recalled that when he arrived at the Gillum's property with
breathing apparatus, Jeffrey was standing near the garage by himself in a highly agitated state.
He apparently said, "Don't go in there. Somebody's got a knife." Investigators believed this was
Jeffrey's final attempt to deflect the firefighting efforts in the hopes that the fire would obliterate all evidence
that proved the real killer was him. This just left the question of motive. If the case made it to trial, it wasn't
the prosecution's responsibility to prove motive, but it would certainly help strengthen the brief of evidence
before it was presented to the DPP. The detective leading the homicide investigation decided to search the
dusty storage unit attached to the Southerntherland Police Station where the Gillum family murders had first been
investigated. Along with Christopher Gillum's student diary, he found a box containing three
mini cassette tapes. It appeared that among other things, Jeffrey Gillum had used one of the tapes to record his year
12 English homework. In it, he gave an audio review of the book Stories from Suburban Road by
Australian writer Tom Hungerford in which he likened some of the characters in the book to his own life.
Jeffrey said that he had an older brother who was favored by his parents and that like one of the characters in
the book, he often got in trouble for things that his brother got away with. As far as investigators were concerned,
the tape proved that Jeffrey Gillum had a motive to kill his entire family. Uncle Tony Gillum agreed.
He had come to learn that Helen and Steven Gillum had apparently been very tight with their money. A longtime
friend of Stevens told Sydney Morning Herald journalist Shelley G that quote money was important in that house,
overly important, and there was no need for that. He recalled that when Helen and Steven
had lent Jeffree money to buy a car, they also charged him interest. While this was intended to be character
building, Tony believed it likely fueled Jeffrey's hatred of his parents. He had been spending time with the
sailing fraternity where most of the other members came from well-off families. And Tony thought that Jeffrey
came to resent his parents' financial habits. This was a hate crime, the lead detective told Shelley G with certainty.
A very passionate hate crime. Jeffree hates his family. With the motive established,
investigators believed they had a clearer picture of what transpired at the Gillum home in the early morning
hours of Saturday, August 28, 1993. Having spent the last couple of weeks voicing concerns about Christopher's
behavior to his friends and girlfriend, Jeffrey Gillum had essentially been laying the groundwork for the account he
later planned to give the police. The fact that Jeffrey had told his friend Wayne that he had to go home on
the night of the attacks to keep an eye on things between his brother and father
wasn't a premonition, but part of the plan to make it look like Christopher was in a disturbed mental state.
At home, the unexpected visit from his girlfriend Haley gave Jeffrey one final chance to proclaim Christopher's
so-called psycho behavior. After Haley left, Jeffrey then waited in the main house until his family was
asleep before creeping into his parents' bedroom shortly before 4:00 a.m. He brought an axe with him as backup,
just in case the stabbing was unsuccessful, or in case Christopher heard the struggle and came to
interfere. The position of Steven's body next to the bed and the lack of any defensive
wounds indicated that he'd been stabbed while he was still asleep. The location of Helen's body indicated
she had only managed to move a short distance from the bedroom to the lounge room before she too was attacked.
Once he had killed his parents, Jeffree went down to kill Christopher only to find him already coming up the stairs.
Seeing Jeffrey, Christopher immediately retreated back down where Jeffrey launched his third fatal attack.
Afterwards, Jeffree showered, cleaned the knife, and planted the panadol paste and associated items in Christopher's
laundry basket to make it look like his brother had intended to take his own life after committing the murders.
Jeffrey then attempted to siphon petrol from his car to use as an accelerant, but finding this too hard, he grabbed
some mineral tarpentine instead. He dowsed the bodies of his mother and father to destroy any evidence and then
set them a light. When Jeffrey arrived at the Warner's home next door, they noted that he
hadn't been out of breath and was cold to the touch. Yet, in the recording of his trip0 call made from the Warner's
phone, Jeffree sounded breathless as he spoke to the operator. To the police, this indicated that
Jeffrey had likely waited outside to make sure the fire had really taken hold before going next door to raise the
alarm. He fainted breathlessness on the trip call to make it look like he had immediately ran from the blazing house
to call for help. He then tried to prevent one of the first responders from fighting the fire by saying someone in
the house had a knife. While Jeffrey's story had remained mostly unchanged, there were some small
discrepancies. When he called trip0, he told the operator that when he first went
upstairs after hearing his mother's cries for help, his brother was standing there with a knife.
He told the same thing to a detective on the scene. However, during his police interview and
a subsequent video walkthrough of the crime scene, Jeffree claimed the knife had been on the floor near the piano.
Then there was the matter of Jeffrey's keys, which had been found on a table near the glass sliding doors upstairs.
In the video walkthrough of the crime scene, Jeffree initially told the police that upon hearing his mother's screams,
he'd locked the boat house behind him out of habit and had placed the keys in his pocket.
When shown the keys on the table, he said he must have placed them there upon entering the house, but had no memory of
doing so. The police found this hard to believe. If he really had walked in on Christopher about to set their mother's
dead body on fire, surely the keys would be the last thing on his mind. They thought it was more likely that the
keys were on the table because Jeffrey had stayed in the main house all night and had never even gone down to the boat
shed at all. Speaking about the case to ABC's Australian story, Tony Gillum explained,
"Jeffy's story was fanciful. We know neighbors heard guttural screams before 4:00 a.m. That was when the murders were
taking place. The trip0 call was made at 4:34 a.m. For Jeffrey's story to be true, his mother would have had at least
been alive for 20 minutes before making a call over the intercom to Jeffrey in the boat shed with serious stab wounds
to herself. Now, I don't think so. In 2005, the homicide squad submitted a brief of evidence to the Department of
Public Prosecutions to see if they had sufficient evidence to charge Jeffrey for the murders of Helen and Steven
Gillum. The DPP not only went ahead with the charges, but served Jeffrey with an
exeicio indictment, meaning that the case would go to trial without the need for a committal hearing.
By this point, Jeffree had married his girlfriend, Rebecca, and the two had one young daughter and another on the way.
He requested a stay on the indictment, arguing that a trial would be oppressive, unfair, or in breach of the
rule against double jeopardy. The request was rejected, and the trial went ahead in February 2008.
The prosecution's case was that Jeffrey Gillum had been financially motivated to
kill his parents and then frame his brother for the crime. They presented witnesses who testified
to Christopher's good character. None of them had ever seen him act aggressively towards his father or
anyone else for that matter. Christopher's ex-girlfriend spoke about him with a genuine affection, describing
him as a gentle person who didn't have a hostile bone in his body. Nobody close to Christopher could
imagine him fighting with his parents over money, particularly for the purpose of buying a car.
The prosecution submitted that Christopher couldn't have pulled off the attack without his glasses on.
Furthermore, video demonstrations were presented by a fire expert who said that if the fire had been started by
Christopher like Jeffrey claimed, it would have started out small, slowm moving, and easy to put out.
Jeffrey would have had 10 to 15 seconds to try and stop it. Yet, in his version of events, he did nothing.
The prosecution told the jury, "Jeffrey didn't do a thing to try to stop that fire, and that's not what an innocent
man, a man who had not killed his parents, would do in those circumstances." They also presented testimony from
various experts who said that it was very rare to see such a high number of stab wounds on all three victims,
particularly when the wounds were concentrated on the chests with none to the abdomen.
One expert noted a distinct pattern of injury in each of the victims that implied there was only one perpetrator.
The prosecutor told the jury that the similarities in the stab wounds were so remarkable that it defied logic to
believe that two brothers independently got into a homicidal rage using the same
knife in the same way. [Music] But the defense posited that the events had played out exactly like Jeffrey
Gillum had always maintained. They said the evidence didn't suggest this was a carefully planned crime, but
a frenzied attack committed by a deranged individual as the result of a spur-of-the- moment emotional or
psychiatric disturbance. With Christopher becoming increasingly withdrawn in the months leading up to
the murders, they put it to the jury that the person more likely to have snapped that morning was Christopher.
The fact that Christopher's glasses were in the bathroom wasn't a tactical move by Jeffrey, but indicated that it was
actually Christopher who had taken a shower after killing his parents. In one of the crime scene photos, it
appeared as though Christopher had a soap bubble in his ear, and a towel with his name monogrammed onto it was also
found rolled up into a ball in his bedroom. This suggested that Christopher had stabbed his parents and then gone
downstairs to shower under the assumption they were both dead. It was only when he heard his mother screaming
for help on the intercom that he realized she was still alive. He quickly threw on his dressing gown and raced
upstairs to stab her repeatedly in the back just seconds before Jeffrey arrived.
Christopher's ofthalmic surgeon testified that while Christopher's uncorrected vision was below average,
and he certainly would have benefited from wearing his glasses, he would have been able to negotiate a familiar
environment and perform everyday tasks quite well without them. The surgeon felt that Christopher would
have been capable of going upstairs, taking a knife out of a cutlery drawer, and distinguishing between his mother
and father. The defense said that any similarities in the stab wounds was pure coincidence.
If Helen's blood was on Jeffrey's feet, this was simply because he had come into
contact with her blood when standing alongside her body. A blood spatter expert also said it was possible that
Jeffree had brushed against something that was soaked in Helen's blood or that a drop of her blood had fallen from the
knife when he picked it up. He also said it was possible the blood spatter on Christopher's neck and chin
could have resulted from stabbing his parents. As for the lack of blood or fingerprints
on the knife, reports from first responders showed inconsistencies regarding the knife's original location.
Some said it was lying on the floor. Others said it was propped against Christopher's body.
Approximately 10,000 L of water had been pumped into the upper level of the house
during the firefighting efforts. Footage captured at the crime scene showed that Christopher's hair and body
were wet and that water was dripping through the roof and down the staircase to the floor around him.
Any blood from the knife or on Christopher's body had likely washed off. The knife was also handled extensively
by the police using cloth and paper prior to it being tested for fingerprints. But according to one police expert, the
material the knife handle was made of typically didn't show fingerprints. Anyway,
the knife was never forensically examined for the presence of blood before it was destroyed by the police
years later. Based on these various factors, the defense didn't believe the lack of blood
or prints on the knife proved anything. The same went for the lack of prints on the syringe filled with panadol paste
and associated items that were found in the laundry basket in Christopher's bathroom.
Testing had been done on other items around Christopher's room, such as his fencing swords, a beer bottle, billyard
balls, and the sliding doors. And these didn't have any prints on them either, nor did the laundry basket in which the
panadol kit was found. This suggested the prince had simply been eliminated as a result of the
firefighting efforts, or alternatively, that Christopher himself had washed his hands immediately before handling the
panadol. Testimony from one of the prosecution's own experts said that freshly washed
hands don't leave fingerprints. Other seemingly suspicious details like Jeffrey's clothing being found in the
lounge room could be explained by the simple fact that Jeffree had showered in the upstairs bathroom before going to
bed that night. He left his clothes there so his mom could wash them for him like he always did.
While this might show that Jeffree was an untidy young man, it didn't prove he was a killer.
The fact that he was cold to the touch when he arrived at the Warner's home wasn't a sign that he'd been lurking
outside waiting for the fire to take hold, but a common symptom of shock. One of the biggest weaknesses in the
prosecution's case was explaining why Christopher had stayed downstairs and done nothing to help his parents when
their screams could be heard by neighbors over 50 m away. Their case relied on Christopher having
never made it upstairs and being killed at least 15 minutes before Jeffree started the fire.
But during the autopsies, the carbon monoxide levels of all three victims had been tested to determine if they were
dead before or after the fire started. For a non-smoker, the normal level of carbon monoxide is between 0.5 and 2%.
None of the Gillums smoked, yet all three of them had higher levels of carbon monoxide than usual.
Helen's blood carbon monoxide level was 3%, Stevens was 4%, and Christopher's was 6%.
Such high levels suggested all three of them had inhaled smoke before they died.
But if Christopher died 15 minutes before Jeffrey allegedly started the fire, how could this be explained?
Testimony was delivered for the prosecution by forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Lawrence, who advised the
jury not to place any significance on this. He explained that even though the carbon
monoxide levels in all three of the deceased were higher than average, they were still within reasonable limits.
Dr. Lawrence stated in the normal course of things in looking at a person with stab wounds and
fire damage, a level of less than 10% would be assumed to be that the person had died before the fire started.
appearing on the stand. Jeffrey Gillum's original version of events remained unchanged,
but with the expert testimony indicating that Helen, Steven, and Christopher had
all been dead when the fire started, this effectively ruled out the possibility that anyone other than
Jeffrey could have lit the fire. The trial ran for several weeks before the jury were left to deliberate.
[Music] Members of the jury were unable to agree on a verdict and the case was dismissed
with a retrial scheduled for 2008. This time the evidence presented by both sides was essentially the same, but the
prosecution made no mention of Jeffrey's financial motive. The jury deliberated for eight days
before delivering the verdict for the murders of Helen and Steven Gillum. Jeffrey Gillum was found guilty.
Jeffrey, who had been attending the trial each day while out on bail, looked completely stunned. His wife, Rebecca,
let out a loud sob. At the subsequent sentencing hearing, the judge who had presided over both
trials called Jeffrey Gillum a consumate liar and a brilliant actor who had planned the killings over several weeks.
He told the packed courtroom, "There is no reasonable possibility that the killings were a spur-ofthe- moment
reaction to some unknown emotional or psychiatric disturbance that came upon the offender in the early hours of the
morning of 28 August. I have no doubt that the crown's scenario placed before the jury contains
the true account of what occurred. While the judge had instructed the jury to ignore the evidence about the panadol
paste as it wasn't helpful in indicating who had killed Steven and Helen, he said
that the guilty verdict indicated the panadol was part of a scenario manufactured by Jeffrey to paint
Christopher as deranged. Acknowledging the lack of motive, the judge also questioned the decision of
the prosecutor to accept Jeffrey's manslaughter plea back in 1993. He said that decision had to be seen in
the context that Jeffrey's entire extended family had been supportive of him and convinced of his innocence at
that time. The judge explained therefore the delay in the prosecution was not due to police or prosecutor
incompetence. The offender was so convincing in his behavior and so unlikely to have killed
his doting parents that initially he fooled everybody by his conduct and his extraordinary account of the events of
the night. It can be easily understood that the police and prosecutor found it impossible to believe that he could have
come up with such a plan to kill his family as has now been uncovered. So audacious, cunning, and evil was it.
The judge sentenced Jeffrey Gillum to the maximum penalty of life in prison for both murders.
Outside court, Jeffrey's uncle, Tony Gillum, appeared vindicated. With his 13-year long campaign for
Jeffrey's guilt paying off, he intended to have Jeffrey's inheritance recovered and redistributed among the family.
He also intended to seek compensation for the financial and psychological costs of pursuing Jeffrey's conviction
as his marriage had ended and he'd lost his job as a result. with a gold medal that Christopher
Gillum had won in fencing hanging proudly around his neck. Tony told reporters, "Christopher went to his grave as a
convicted killer of his parents, which is not true, and that's why I've been doing this, to clear Christopher's
name." Tony also wanted a full inquiry to be done into the initial police investigation and why it took so long to
secure a prosecution. He told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I want some answers why this whole fiasco
took place. I want an apology from the justice system. Sorry for wasting the last 13 years of your life. I want
someone in authority to apologize to me." For Jeffrey's wife, Rebecca, the conviction and sentence came as a
complete shock. Back in 1999, when it was announced that a second coronial inquest would be
taking place, Jeffrey had already served his good behavior bond for Christopher's
manslaughter and was relieved to be putting all of the legal proceedings behind him and moving on.
Jeffrey and Rebecca had been in the throws of planning their wedding, which went ahead while the inquest was
underway. It was as beautiful as the couple had envisioned, attended by all of their
friends and relatives. When Jeffree was served the exeicio indictment in 2006, Rebecca was 38 weeks
pregnant with their second daughter, and life had been looking good for the couple.
They had never realistically considered the possibility that Jeffree could be charged with his parents' murders, and
the indictment had left them completely shell shocked. While Jeffree was out on bail awaiting
his trial, the couple welcomed their third daughter. Rebecca genuinely believed that her
husband would be acquitted and free to return to the happy life they had worked hard to build together.
After all, the Jeffrey who Rebecca and their friends knew was nothing like the Jeffrey the prosecution painted him out
to be. For starters, Tony Gillum's suggestion that he'd been stone-faced at his parents' funerals was completely absurd.
Several other mourers who were there recalled Jeffree sobbing uncontrollably. A friend of Jeffre told Australian
story. He grieved deeply for them all. I remember going up to Jeff and giving him
a hug and letting him know that I was there for him. And I just remember he was crying and tears streaming down his
eyes and he couldn't even speak to me. He was just sobbing. Another friend agreed, saying I was next
to him, he was just in tears the whole time. The reason it had taken Jeffree so long
to collect their ashes was because he simply couldn't face the pain of it all. There was also no validity to Tony's
claims that Jeffree had moved on with his life unaffected after the murders. He hadn't breezed through his university
degree at all, but had fallen 6 months behind. He'd only persevered because he knew
it's what his parents would have wanted, and he couldn't have done it without the
help of his teachers. Jeffrey had struggled to get a job because of the criminal charge against
him. It took a lot of hard work to rebuild his life, including regular counseling and ongoing support from
family and friends. For those close to Jeffrey, the suggestion that he'd been financially
motivated to kill his family was ludicrous. Jeffrey had never cared that much about
money, and the money he did inherit was mostly used to pay for his legal fees. Far from living lavishly, he'd used the
rest to buy a house that was near Rebecca's family. It was a small, run-down property that
needed lots of work. He then invested the remainder. He'd kept his family sailboat because it
was his father's pride and joy, and it held a lot of significant memories for him.
Jeffrey had never tried to harass his grandmother, Jesse, into signing over her portion of the estate.
In fact, it was the very opposite. Steven Gillum's will clearly stated that he wanted Jesse to be taken care of in
the event that she outlived him. He wanted Jesse to stay in the home he had bought for her with Steven's trustee
paying all of her rates, taxes, and outgoings. Jeffrey had happily honored his father's
wishes. He'd continued paying all of Jesse's bills and for the maintenance of her home until she eventually moved into
a nursing home. At this point, Jeffree wrote to Jesse's solicitors offering to sell the house to
pay for her new living arrangements. He never got a response. It was only after Jesse passed away that
Jeffree sold the house in 2007 to help pay the legal costs of his first trial. As for all of the other claims that Tony
had made against him, Jeffree barely knew his uncle. His refusal to get together with Tony hadn't been because
he was hiding something, but because he didn't have a close relationship with that side of the family, and his lawyer
had advised him not to discuss the case with anyone. There was no sinister reason for Jeffrey
avoiding the media either. Jeffrey was simply a very private person. He had no desire to relive the traumatic events
unless forced to by the courts, and he also wanted to protect his family's privacy.
Furthermore, Jeffrey's legal team had advised him not to engage with the media, which in turn allowed the press
to create a false image of him that fit the prosecution's narrative. Those close to Jeffrey knew him to be
kind, honest, generous, and quick-witted. He adored his wife and daughters and prioritized family.
After he was handed his life sentence, Rebecca told their eldest daughter that there had been a dreadful mistake and
daddy wouldn't be coming home for a long time. But Rebecca refused to accept the guilty
verdict. She knew Jeffrey better than anyone, and she had no doubt that he'd been telling
the truth about what had happened all along. Rebecca told Australian story, "I have a
relationship that many people probably wouldn't have the chance to know in a lifetime, and it's incredibly special.
If I believed that Jeff was guilty, I'd be the last person to support him. And in fact, I think I'd be the person most
angered by having been misled for all these years. I guess I reject outright the
possibility that he could never be released. I don't think I'll ever be able to accept it. I never will accept
it. [Music] Jeffree had always had a large group of supporters, but they'd predominantly
stayed silent, convinced that he'd be found not guilty. When that didn't happen, Rebecca
enlisted the help of a friend named Jill, who had a legal background, and asked her to read over the trial
transcript. Jill also read over all of the available evidence that the jury hadn't been
allowed to see. The first thing Jill noticed was this was no clear-cut, straightforward case.
If it was, the first trial never would have resulted in a hung jury, and the second jury wouldn't have needed 8 days
to deliberate. Rebecca and Juul gathered several of Jeffrey's friends and created the Jeff
Needs Justice Support Group. Together, they started going through the case in detail and sharing all of the
information they found online. The more they uncovered, the further convinced they were that Jeffrey had
been the victim of a severe miscarriage of justice. At Jeffrey's trial, despite the
defense's objections, three experts for the prosecution had been allowed to express their opinions about the
similarities in the stab wounds sustained by Steven, Helen, and Christopher Gillum.
These opinions were provided without reference to any existing scientific research.
One of the experts had shown the jury diagrams that supposedly showed the similarities between the wounds.
The Justice for Jeff's support group studied these diagrams and found they weren't even accurate to the wounds the
victims had sustained. There were also some important differences between Christopher's wounds
and those of his parents, which were never highlighted to the jury. Steven and Helen's stab wounds were more
or less vertical, while the majority of Christophers were horizontal and closer together.
Steven and Helen also had wounds to their necks while Christopher did not. The group reviewed over 70 scientific
research papers on stab wounds and discovered that the expert opinions presented at trial had no scientific
merit. The stab wounds were no more similar to each other than they were to stab wounds
sustained by victims of multiple stabbings in unrelated cases. There was also nothing unusual about the
lack of wounds to the victim's abdomen. According to the research, the chest is the most common site for stab wound
injuries. It turned out that the prosecution had also sought opinions from an internationally recognized leading
forensic pathologist named Professor Steven Cordner. He had given evidence at the second
coronial inquest, saying the only thing similar about the stab wounds was the number of wounds and the fact they were
likely all inflicted with the same knife. Professor Cordner had said, "I do not think it is safe to conclude that the
three deaths were by one hand." The prosecution had refused to call Professor Cordner at Jeffrey's trial,
claiming he was unreliable. Jeffrey's support group got hold of this report and discovered that Professor
Cordner argued that aspects of the prosecution's evidence was both factually wrong and scientifically
unsound. He also expressed the view that the prosecutor's arguments based upon that
evidence were unfounded and misleading. To the group, the prosecution's decision
not to submit Professor Cordner's evidence had been a calculated move, as it would undermine a significant
argument of their case. [Music] One of the things that most astonished the group was the prosecution's claims
that there was nothing significant about the higher carbon monoxide level in Christopher Gillum's bloodstream. His
level of 6% was significantly higher than that of his parents and over four times the upper limit of normal.
All the scientific research on carbon monoxide suggested that Christopher had been alive near the fire and inhaled
smoke before he was killed, just like Jeffrey had described. They sought an opinion from a specialist
American toxicologist named Professor David Penny who had been studying the effects of carbon monoxide for over 30
years. He found that the levels of carbon monoxide in the bloodstreams of all three members of the Gillum family
indicated they had all still been alive when the fire started. Professor Penny provided an affidavit
discrediting the evidence presented by Dr. Lawrence at trial, stating it was preposterous to assert that the person
died before the fire started. Based on Christopher's 6% carbon monoxide level, Penny said he would have
been inhaling smoke for between 2 to 4 minutes prior to his death. The group examined the video
demonstrations presented by the fire expert who claimed that Jeffrey would have had up to 15 seconds to try and
stop the fire if it had indeed been lit by Christopher like he claimed. The demonstrations were made using bare
timber and PVC pipes to represent Helen and Steven's legs. They didn't take into account the
clothing they were wearing, which would have acted as a wick and accelerated the
fire. In the demonstrations, mineral tarpentine had been poured around the bodies rather than directly on them, and
the fire was lit some distance from where the tarpentine had been poured. In Jeffrey's version of events,
Christopher had poured the tarpentine directly onto his mother's body and then lit her directly.
The group consulted some fire experts who added that the body temperature of the victims would also play a
significant role in how the fire developed in its initial stages. They conducted their own demonstrations
taking these missing elements into account and found that the fire traveled quicker, further, and higher than in the
demonstrations shown to the jury and fit with Jeffrey's description of what happened.
As for the jerry can of petrol, the group had no doubt about Jeffrey's claims that he and his father had tried
to siphon it the Friday night before the murders. While they didn't plan on going boating
that Saturday, they did have plans to take the boat out on Sunday. With both of them already tied up with other
arrangements on Saturday, Friday night had been their only chance to get things ready.
The prosecution claimed that Jeffree gave up on siphoning the petrol after it became too hard. Yet, the jerry can
contained one liter of petrol. If Jeffrey had really wanted to start a fire, he could have easily used this
rather than sourcing the mineral tarpentine. Also, if he had been responsible, it
didn't make sense that he'd have left the jerry can out in full view for investigators to find.
The fire officer who claimed he had smelt petrol on Jeffrey hadn't come forward with this information until
2005, 12 years after the fact. This statement had been one of the fresh pieces of evidence that contributed to
Jeffrey being charged with his parents' murders. Yet, petrol hadn't even been used in the fire. So, what relevance did
it hold? The same went for the allegation that Jeffree had warned one of the firefighters not to enter the house
because someone inside had a knife. Again, this statement wasn't given until 2005, and it directly contradicted the
original statements from witnesses back in 1993 who said that Jeffrey was largely incoherent when the firefighters
arrived. Two other firefighters had told police that when they arrived, it was actually
neighbors who warned them not to go into the house because someone was down there
with a knife. The prosecution had never disclosed that they intended to present this evidence
at the trial, which meant the defense had no opportunity to counter this point. The cassette tapes found by the homicide
squad that allegedly captured Jeffrey Gillum talking about his disdain for his older brother had been ruled
inadmissible at trial because they'd been recorded at least 5 years before the deaths.
However, they'd formed an important part of the DPP's decision to charge Jeffree
with the murder of his parents in the first place. It took 2 years before Jeffrey's support
group were finally allowed to listen to them for the first time. As they pressed play on the book review
of stories from Suburban Road that supposedly suggested Jeffrey's motive, they were dismayed to realize that the
voice on the tape didn't sound even remotely like Jeffrey. Furthermore, Jeffrey had no memory of
ever reading stories from Suburban Road by Tom Hungerford, nor did any of his classmates from the time.
Later on in the tape, a second male had recorded himself talking about his job as a road safety engineer.
The group managed to track this man down, and he confirmed the voice was his. He had absolutely no link to the
Gillum family. Justice for Jeff members discovered that the tapes hadn't been entered into
evidence during the crimes in 1993 and that none of the original investigators recalled having seen them. Therefore,
the tapes could have come from anywhere. Another piece of evidence that had been
deemed inadmissible was a statement from one of Helen's work colleagues. She stated that on the afternoon of
Thursday, August 27, 1993, the day before the killings, Helen had seemed agitated.
She expressed concerns about one of her sons, saying she was very worried about him and didn't know what to do.
Helen was uncharacteristically abrupt with one of her clients and left work 2 hours early, presumably to go home and
meet with this son. The prosecution had wanted to call Helen's colleague as a witness,
believing it was evidence that Helen had been worried about Jeffrey's behavior in
the leadup to her death. The evidence was ruled inadmissible because Helen had never mentioned which of her two sons
she was worried about. Rebecca Gillum sent out a group email to a large number of former students who
had studied engineering at university with the Jeffrey. One of them found an old timet that
confirmed they had a lecture scheduled between 1:30 and 4:30 on Thursday afternoons in August 1993.
A friend of Jeffre recalled that both he and Jeffrey had attended the lecture together on Thursday, August 27,
indicating that the son Helen had voiced concerns about was in fact Christopher.
A member of the Justice for Jeff support group named Paula was tasked with going
over some of the scientific evidence. She sat down and watched the crime scene video for the first time.
As Paula watched the glove investigator point to key items, she noticed something next to the call button on the
intercom of the Gillum's lounge room. It was quite obviously a bloody fingerprint.
The investigator in the video swiped right past it without mentioning a thing, and the intercom was not taken
into evidence or subject to any form of testing. To Jeffrey's support group, this bloody
fingerprint was clear evidence that Jeffrey's story was true. Helen had been stabbed in the chest, neck, and arm,
meaning she had seen her attacker. So, if Jeffrey had been the attacker, there would have been no need for her to use
the intercom to call for his help. In 2011, Jeffrey's legal team used the new evidence uncovered by the Justice
for Jeff Group to appeal against his conviction on 18 different grounds. At a subsequent hearing at the New South
Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, Dr. Christopher Lawrence, the forensic pathologist who told the jury there was
no significance to the carbon monoxide levels in the victim's bloodstreams, admitted he was not fully qualified to
give evidence when it came to carbon monoxide levels. According to Dr. Lawrence, he had warned
the prosecution that it would be more appropriate to have a toxicologist give this evidence.
He said that he'd changed his view over time and now believed it was possible that Christopher had been alive for at
least a short amount of time after the fire was lit. The panel of three judges was highly
scathing of the prosecution's carbon monoxide claims. With this evidence discredited, it called their entire
timeline into question. The new evidence that disproved that similarity of the stab wounds as
indicating there was only one killer also significantly weakened their case. In December 2011, having spent over 3
years behind bars, 42-year-old Jeffrey Gillum's double murder conviction was quashed and he was released on the
condition of a $100,000 shorty. A statement released by the panel said, "It is inevitable that a miscarriage of
justice has occurred. Jeffrey walked out of the courthouse arm in-armm with Rebecca as a 50 strong
group of his supporters applauded wildly. His aunt Clare, who had supported him since the beginning, told reporters,
"We can't quite believe this has happened, that Jeffrey is actually free and here with us. This has been a black
cloud hanging over us for nearly 20 years. Today, that cloud is lifting." But his ordeal wasn't over as the court
of appeal still had to decide whether he would be subject to a retrial. It was a painful 6 months for Jeffrey
and his supporters as they awaited the decision. As the panel deliberated in late June
2012, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald stated, "An a quiddle decision would mark the
end of a 19-year long saga that has involved nearly a dozen court cases and coronial hearings occupying hundreds of
hours, thousands of newspaper column inches, and an extraordinary emotional roller coaster for the members of the
extended Gillum family and their friends. It would also raise further questions about the way alleged offenders are
tried in New South Wales. In particular, it would raise questions about the use of forensic scientific
evidence to prove a person's guilt or innocence and the ability of juries to understand this evidence and its
fallibility. The panel was divided, but with a majority decision of two against one,
Jeffrey Gillum was acquitted of all charges and officially declared a free man. Tony Gillum was outraged.
As Jeffrey was leaving the court, Tony yelled, "It's not over yet, Jeffrey. I'll fix you."
But Jeffrey was unfazed. Squeezing Rebecca's hand, he told reporters. This has been a horrendous experience
for us. I'm glad today that I have been acquitted of the charges. I would just like to thank all the supporters that
stuck by me, most importantly my wife Rebecca and my children and everyone that's fought for the truth to be told.
I am very happy to be going home a free man and that's just all I want to do. Go
home. 3 weeks after Jeffrey's acquitt, Tony Gillum died of a heart attack at the age
of 60. A close family friend told reporters Tony was completely burnt out after the
legal fight. He'd spent too many hours going over the case in painstaking detail, chain
smoking and downing beer after beer. Several members of law enforcement and the legal world attended Tony's funeral
to pay their respects, where he was remembered as a compassionate, caring, and tenacious man.
The lead prosecutor from Jeffrey's trial read a psalm to the packed chapel that said, "Here, Lord, my plea for justice.
Pay heed to my cry." She told reporters, "In the face of the tragic loss of his three beloved family
members, Tony Gillum had the strength of character, integrity, and decency to apply all his energies toward honoring
their lives. Tony's crusade had not only deeply impacted his health, but it also cost
Jeffrey Gillum 3 years of his freedom. Golden Jail, where he'd served his time, was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from his home
in St. Ives. While Rebecca and their three daughters had visited him on most weekends,
Jeffrey had missed out on so many milestones, including many of his daughter's firsts.
After his aqu quiddle, Jeffrey remained as tight-lipped as ever with the media, eager to move on and live a quiet, happy
life with his family. For those who knew the Gillum family, the entire saga was difficult to
comprehend regardless of the legal outcome. With the Jeffrey being acquitted, the
horrifying reality was that the seemingly normal Christopher really had snapped and killed his parents and that
Jeffrey's instinct had been to kill his brother in response. His auntie Clare had discussed the case
with her former doctor. She told journalist Shelley G that she'd asked him, "How could this possibly have
happened in a normal family?" The doctor's response was abrupt. Normal people don't kill people.
But when Shelley G spoke to a forensic psychiatrist about the case, they disagreed.
Anybody can do anything. He said, "Whenever I start lecturing a new bunch of students, I always say, don't for a
moment think you're immune from being a criminal or that your father or your mother or your sister won't end up in
jail." Our motives vary, but that aptitude to kill is within us all in the right
circumstances. [Music] [Music]

23-year-old Jeff Gilham showed up on his neighbours’ doorstep in the early morning hours of August 28 1993, with a shocking claim. His older brother Christopher Gilham had just killed their parents, Stephen and Helen, and set their bodies on fire. In return, Jeff had stabbed Christopher to death.

The tragic news left residents of the Sydney suburb of Woronora in disbelief as they struggled to comprehend how this could happen to such a normal, happy family. But as the years went by, it emerged that all was not as it seemed.

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-325-the-gilham-family

Brief Summary

The episode details the Gillum family murders, Jeffrey's conviction, and eventual acquittal amid conflicting evidence and emotional turmoil.

Key points

A Shocking Confession. Jeffrey Gillum confessed to killing his brother Christopher after a night of horror.
The Firefighters Arrive. Firefighters found smoke rising from the Gillum home, revealing a tragic scene inside.
Tony's Growing Suspicion. Tony begins to suspect Jeffrey's involvement in the murders after hearing concerning details.
The 60 Minutes Investigation. A television program investigates the case, raising new questions about Jeffrey's guilt.
Evidence Disappears. Key evidence in the case is destroyed, complicating the possibility of prosecution.
The Firefighter's Testimony. A firefighter recalls smelling petrol on Jeffrey, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He's burned them. I've killed him for what he did.

Jeffrey's frantic declaration to Ted.

2:34WatchAug 16, 2025

Tension

80/ 100High tension

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