Quo Vadis Victim?

Thomas Andrew Kier murdered his first wife, and then his second wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now he's suing the state of New South Wales for $750,000 to compensate him for post-traumatic stress he suffered when he was held at Mount Druitt police station for seven hours for questioning. Apparently, Thomas didn't realise he was even a suspect, even though he was handcuffed to a pole for over 3 hours and asked to hand over his clothes and shoes for forensic testing. I have to admit I never realised being questioned by the police was such a high-paying job, I thought only doctors, politicians and lawyers got over $75,000 per hour.

Apparently, Thomas is of the opinion that when he murders someone, he should still be allowed to go about his normal daily life, and sees questioning over the matter as a bit of a nuisance. Presumably, he's pretty busy trying to find someone new to fall in love with so he can once again exchange that precious vow, "till (your) death (at my hands) do us part". Or reviewing his other legal cases and lottery tickets to see if one of them has hit the jackpot yet. This, you see, is the third time he's tried to make money from the police doing their job. When excavators dug up his first wife's bones, he sought compensation for damage to his house's foundations. He also lodged an application with the Victims of Crime Compensation Tribunal after he was acquitted of his second wife's murder, who was strangled with a cord and laid on a mattress which was then set on fire.

Did Thomas kill his wife or wives? Well in 1993, he was acquitted of killing the second one who died in 1991, hence the "I'm a victim of crime so give me some money" application (someone perhaps needs to explain to him that the victim of the crime is the person who died, not the guy who was accused of it - whatever suffering he claims to have been through as a result of being accused, I think its a fair bet that he wouldn't want to swap places with the second wife right now). And as to the first wife, who was killed in 1988, he was charged with her murder in 1998, convicted by a jury, had that conviction quashed, retried, convicted by another jury, had that one quashed too, and then convicted in a third trial. That decision is currently under appeal.

Confused? Perhaps you'd better sue for post-traumatic stress brought on by the mental contusions necessary to try and grasp this whole sad and sorry story. Two or three million should set your mind at rest. And don't forget to sue for wear and tear on your mouse button as well while you're at it.

News.com.au Story