Vic: Marathon trial ends with guilty verdict for police killers

00-00-0000
Vic: Marathon trial ends with guilty verdict for police killers

By Catherine McAloon, Stuart Walsh and Susan Murdoch

MELBOURNE, Dec 31 AAP - A Melbourne courtroom erupted with cheers, clapping and tearstoday as two men were found guilty of the 1998 shooting murders of police officers GarySilk and Rod Miller.

Bandali Michael Debs, 49, of Narre Warren and Jason Joseph Roberts, 22, of Cranbournecould face life imprisonment after a Supreme Court jury found them guilty of the murdersof Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller.

Putting an end to one of Victoria's most intense criminal investigations, the juryof seven women and five men delivered their verdict to a courtroom packed with relatives,friends and colleagues of the murdered officers.

The silence in the court was broken by gasps of relief, sobbing and applause as thegrey-haired middle-aged jury foreman delivered the verdicts.

The families of the two policemen were present in the courtroom when the verdicts werehanded down at about 10.40am (AEDT).

The jury had indicated about 10am, an hour after resuming its deliberations at thestart of a seventh day, that it had reached its verdicts.

Debs and Roberts showed no reaction as the jury's decisions were handed down.

Debs, dressed in a navy jacket and light blue shirt and tie, looked across the courtto where members of the police taskforce which tracked him down were seated with familyand friends of the victims.

Roberts, in a light coloured suit and maroon shirt and tie, looked straight ahead.

Sgt Silk, 35, and Sen Const Miller, 34, were gunned down on August 16, 1998, duringa police surveillance operation set up to trap two men responsible for a series of armedrobberies in Melbourne's south east.

The officers were shot after pulling over a suspect car during a stakeout of the SilkyEmperor Chinese restaurant in Moorabbin.

The Crown said Debs and Roberts were the men who carried out the armed robberies.

Neither of the two accused gave evidence during the trial, but through their barristerstated they were not at the scene of the shootings and were not involved in the armedrobberies.

Speaking outside the court, Sen Const Miller's widow Carmel said the guilty verdictwas a relief after a trial lasting more than four-and-a-half-months.

Mrs Miller said she always knew justice would be served.

"We never, ever doubted that we would get the outcome that we got today, never doubted,"

she said.

Flanked by family members, including Sergeant Gary Silk's mother Val and detectivesinvolved in the case, Mrs Miller said the guilty verdict was the only possible outcomethe families could live with.

"It means we can move forward and really embrace the future," she said.

Gary Silk's brother Ian Silk said the verdict would help his family move on.

"Something like this doesn't bring closure," Mr Silk said.

"Any dramatic or tragic death never finally leaves you, but it's certainly the endingof a chapter of a book and good place for all of us to move on."

Mrs Miller said she felt extremely proud of her husband after hearing of his heroicefforts the night he died, giving vital evidence to police as he lay fatally wounded.

Detective Inspector Paul Sheridan, head of the Lorimer taskforce in charge of the murderinvestigation, congratulated all the police involved in the case, one of the largest investigationsin Victoria's criminal history.

"It's been a particularly long road and very difficult for those involved," he said.

Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said the murders had been an agonising chapter inthe history of Victoria Police, and the verdict would be a positive step in the healingprocess.

"The cold-hearted murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rod Miller werea despicable act of violence against police and an attack on the very fabric of our society,"

Ms Nixon said.

Debs and Roberts will appear before a pre-sentence hearing in February.

AAP clm/clr/jlw/csd/bwlL

KEYWORD: DEBS NIGHTLEAD