Casefile True Crime - Case 217: Kathleen Marshall

Episode Date: July 2, 2022

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... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn This episode's sponsors: DoorDash – Get $10 off and FREE delivery for your first order of $20 or more with promo code ‘CASEFILEAUS’ Beam Dream – Get up to 35% off of Dream Powder with promo code ‘CASEFILE’ BetterHelp – Get 10% off your first month of professional counselling with a licensed therapist Best Fiends – Download Best Fiends for free For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-217-kathleen-marshall

Have you ever tried BBQ on BBQ? Picture this. Freshly prepared crispy seasoned chicken that's tossed in a smoky BBQ glaze and topped with a creamy BBQ sauce. Can't picture it? Well you can try it now at Tim's. Get our new BBQ crispy chicken loaded bowls and wraps for a limited time. Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local Crisis Centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, 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-coloured weatherboard home sat on a sloped hill that overlooked Brisbane's CBD, which was five kilometres away. It was far from a remote location, yet the property's position against the old and 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 Beckstein 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 Frédéric Chopin was titled The Funeral March. The Funeral March 52-year-old doctor Kathleen Marshall was a well-respected veterinarian in Wilston, 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 centre 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 Wilston's catwoman. With 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. That night, Kathleen had organised a dinner in the city for 7 o'clock. As a means of expanding her social circle, she had founded a group named a Lepicure 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 agonised over every detail, with attendees having to RSVP and pay for the meal in advance. Therefore, members were left confused when Kathleen's seat 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. No one saw Kathleen over the weekend. Then, just after 3pm on Sunday, three members of the Cat Protection Society of Queensland arrived at Kathleen's home. The organisation 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 odour. 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 foul 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. 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 bloodstained. 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 bloody debra. Officers soon realised 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 had started outside the clinic had continued indoors, with defence wounds indicating that Kathleen had put up a fight. A white bucket underneath the 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 and 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.

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 brutalised in such a manner that left her features unrecognisable. Yet, the wounds themselves were shallow, with the deepest measuring roughly four centimetres. Investigators speculated that Kathleen's attacker had either been a woman or a physically weaker man. In fact, only one wound was farmed 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. 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 a 12.30pm 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 a victim of theft. 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 9pm on Thursday and 3am 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 harboured 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 LEPIQA were unhappy with her selective membership criteria, which required male participants to have a university degree and female members to have two. Kathleen had also drawn the ire of a neighbour 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 Cat 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 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. Virginia Houston and Kathleen Marshall met towards the end of 1996. Both women lived in homes that bordered the Isle and 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 Cat 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 relationship soon soured. Kathleen lost sight 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. Virginia was disappointed, and by mid-1997 the society had splintered into two factions, those who supported Kathleen and those who supported Virginia. Kathleen's 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. 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 bitch. 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, it 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 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 5pm, organizing a mail-out for society members. Virginia left at 11pm 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 4.10pm 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 Cat 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. 30 state emergency services volunteers also scoured the Isle and Hill Reservoir, as detectives believed Virginia could have crossed the bushland to gain access to Kathleen's property from behind. A suspicious stain in Virginia's home hinted at a possible breakthrough, but luminal 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 Cat 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. 16 years earlier in October 1982, a Cat Protection Society member named Frank Castagnola was shot and killed while sitting on his front porch.

He'd only joined 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 $200,000. In his forthcoming book, A History of the Queensland Cat Protection Society, A Story of Infighting, Money and Murder, author Ted Douze 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 Barry Eastick had also persuaded Frank to hand over his money as he had realized the society's potential as a business rather than a charity. A coroner's inquest into Frank Castagnola's murder failed to identify the person or persons responsible. A case was made against Frank's neighbour who wasn't associated with the Cat Protection Society, but the murder remained unsolved. Still, a cloud of suspicion lingered over the society, although Kathleen Marshall hadn't left any of her own estate to the group.

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 bloodstaining 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 into state, 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 Centre. The detective raced to the centre 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 26. 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 Lachardi. 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 seal point 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 travelling a long distance with an unrestrained cat would have proven difficult. Detectives had door-knocked 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 Korea Mail newspaper that their intrigue peaked. The cat was featured alongside an article titled, A Cult 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 Korea 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 Lachati 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 seal 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 tarot 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 demeanour 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 front 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 26. He remained there until 11pm when he said Andrew and Ruth went to bed. Kathleen could have been confronted as late as 3am, 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 pyjamas?

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 lapicua 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. 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 water 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.

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 Cat 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. He 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 emphasised 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's siblings was presented to the court. It read, in part, 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 Cat 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 9pm and 3am Friday, February 27.

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 over-posit 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 slam shut. At this time, several other neighbors 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 8pm, Warren Smith heard Kathleen's front door close again. By this stage, Kathleen had failed to show up to the dinner planned for her Lepicua 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 timeframe presented by Professor Russell Luke. Yet, if witness accounts were to be believed, Kathleen was killed the following night at around 6pm, with her killer possibly staying at her house until 8pm. Andrew Fitzherbert had spent that Friday visiting thrift stores with Ruth.

They returned home just after 4pm, as confirmed by Ruth's son, who lived with the couple. He said Andrew didn't leave the house again until 6.45pm. At that time, Andrew and Ruth left to attend a meditation and 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 Deuce 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 Botcher 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 Botcher disagreed with the prosecution's assertions that Andrew Fitzherbert's DNA was a match to the Kathleen Marshall crime scene sample at odds of 1400 million to one. He said this was based on one scientist's interpretation of the data. Other reports claimed the odds were closer to one in 100,000. 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 Botcher concluded that the male blood samples had degraded faster than the others taken from Kathleen's clinic. He theorized 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 frenzied attack, I don't know. 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. 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's 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 organisation 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's 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 Marshall murder investigation. They included poorly documented records, unsealed evidence, unrestricted access to lab specimens, and potential specimen contamination. In 2002, the centre that handled the case's DNA testing was warned 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 Doe's book, Crucial Errors in Murder Investigations, and include the following. At 2.15pm 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 claimed. 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 4.10pm. The other was a small blue car sighted at 6pm. 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 Doos wrote in his book, quote, Why has an 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 had 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 Doos, there was one possibility that hadn't been explored by investigators. Doos cited an earlier case in Quebec where a cat owner lost a pint of blood after being attacked by their pet. Doos 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 jagged edges. In October 2000, the Cat Protection Society of Queensland went into voluntary liquidation. They had been plagued by further infighting, missing funds, and 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 Cat Protection Society of Queensland was deregistered by a Supreme Court order. Catherine Stephenson

Catherine Stephenson 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 chance siding 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 10.15am 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 seal point Siamese named Zilla. Andrew Fitzherbert 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 seal 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.

As her final act of charity, Kathleen Marshall bequeathed $100,000 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 Bach and Frederic 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 organize 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 Beckstein 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. It was there that she purchased one of her most beloved possessions, an antique Beckstein piano.

It was there that she purchased one of her most beloved possessions, an antique Beckstein piano. It was there that she purchased one of her most beloved possessions, an antique Beckstein piano. You