Paul Steven Haigh, 49, was jailed for life with no minimum term after murdering seven people, starting in the late 1970s.
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His victims included a nine-year-old boy and his mother executed in their car.
Haigh is applying in the Supreme Court to have a minimum term set so he can one day apply for parole.
Haigh told his psychiatrist he had to kill the boy because he could identify him.
He also claimed the mother had used the boy as a shield.
Haigh said he couldn't see why that crime was seen as more heinous than the others and he hadn't liked the boy.
"You see I have never had children," he said.
But the court heard he did admit the boy had done nothing to merit dying by his hand.
Haigh has also written a book called "A house of blue light" which analyses his crimes and the character of his victims.
The Sentencing Act says a non-parole period must be set by the court unless it considers that the offending is so serious a minimum term would be inappropriate.
Prisoners sentenced to the maximum term can apply for a minimum, and other lifers, including Frankston triple murderer Paul Charles Denyer, have made successful applications.
But notorious sex fiend Raymond ``Mr Stinky'' Edmunds and ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Russell St bomber Stanley Taylor were refused.
The hearing before Justice Betty King continues.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
US Justice Department has charged a Los Angeles couple with bribing a Thai official
The US Justice Department has charged a Los Angeles businessman and his wife with paying a bribe of $1.7 million to the former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for the rights to manage the Bangkok International Film Festival.
Gerald Green, 75, and his wife Patricia, 52, were arrested after a criminal complaint was filed in Los Angeles on December 7.
The charges allege that the couple conspired to pay more than $1.7 million dollars in bribes -- about 60 million baht at the time.
They claim the money was paid to a woman identified as the governor of the TAT in order to win the film festival contract and other deals worth more than $10 million.
The complaint did not directly name Thai official allegedly involved but said "she" was president of the Bangkok International Film Festival and governor of the TAT.
The only person apparently meeting that description is Juthamas Siriwan. She is currently contesting the December 23 parliamentary election with the Puea Pandin party.
Ms Juthamas denied any involvement in the scandal.
She said she would sue the US Justice Department if it attempted to tie her to the case. Her statement was difficult to reconcile since the US authorities have already directly tied her to the case.
Ms Juthamas said the bid to organise the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2003 had been implemented according to rules and regulations.
"All the procedures involving the case had been done according to the regulations and with fairness and transparence to all agencies concerned," she told a press conference Wednesday. She did not address the alleged payments by the Greens.
A press release by the US Justice Department released early Wednesday (Thailand time) said the indictment:
"... alleges that from 2003 and continuing into 2007, the Greens conspired with others to bribe a senior Thai government official who was, at the time, the President of the BKKIFF and the Governor of the TAT. As a result of her position at the TAT, the Governor was able to influence the awarding of the BKKIFF contracts as well as other TAT contracts. More than $1.7 million in payments were allegedly made for the benefit of the Governor."
Click here to view the US Department of Justice press release in PDF format.
Click here for the FBI's full affadavit of charges, also in PDF format.
The statement by the Justice Department said the Greens set up a company - Film Festival Management - in 2003 to bid for the rights to stage the Bangkok International Film Festival.
Between 2003 and 2007, the Greens allegedly funneled cash to the Thai tourism official, who used the money to influence the awarding of the contracts for the film festival, which is run by the TAT.
The recipient of the alleged bribes was not identified in the Justice Department statement.
The Greens face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the statement said.
The Bangkok International Film Festival has been held annually since 2002. (BangkokPost.com, from Agency reports)
Gerald Green, 75, and his wife Patricia, 52, were arrested after a criminal complaint was filed in Los Angeles on December 7.
The charges allege that the couple conspired to pay more than $1.7 million dollars in bribes -- about 60 million baht at the time.
They claim the money was paid to a woman identified as the governor of the TAT in order to win the film festival contract and other deals worth more than $10 million.
The complaint did not directly name Thai official allegedly involved but said "she" was president of the Bangkok International Film Festival and governor of the TAT.
The only person apparently meeting that description is Juthamas Siriwan. She is currently contesting the December 23 parliamentary election with the Puea Pandin party.
Ms Juthamas denied any involvement in the scandal.
She said she would sue the US Justice Department if it attempted to tie her to the case. Her statement was difficult to reconcile since the US authorities have already directly tied her to the case.
Ms Juthamas said the bid to organise the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2003 had been implemented according to rules and regulations.
"All the procedures involving the case had been done according to the regulations and with fairness and transparence to all agencies concerned," she told a press conference Wednesday. She did not address the alleged payments by the Greens.
A press release by the US Justice Department released early Wednesday (Thailand time) said the indictment:
"... alleges that from 2003 and continuing into 2007, the Greens conspired with others to bribe a senior Thai government official who was, at the time, the President of the BKKIFF and the Governor of the TAT. As a result of her position at the TAT, the Governor was able to influence the awarding of the BKKIFF contracts as well as other TAT contracts. More than $1.7 million in payments were allegedly made for the benefit of the Governor."
Click here to view the US Department of Justice press release in PDF format.
Click here for the FBI's full affadavit of charges, also in PDF format.
The statement by the Justice Department said the Greens set up a company - Film Festival Management - in 2003 to bid for the rights to stage the Bangkok International Film Festival.
Between 2003 and 2007, the Greens allegedly funneled cash to the Thai tourism official, who used the money to influence the awarding of the contracts for the film festival, which is run by the TAT.
The recipient of the alleged bribes was not identified in the Justice Department statement.
The Greens face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the statement said.
The Bangkok International Film Festival has been held annually since 2002. (BangkokPost.com, from Agency reports)
A date with a princess, ..................................................and i mean a real one
Yes arent i lucky, now for those who arent in the know the king of thailand and his family are still quite active in the country, and now it might not even happen, but one of daughters of HM the king is coming in about a week to open a building that we have already been using for the last year, the buildings are getting painted again, gardens are being made, and even the road outside of the school is getting a makeover, its all gotta be beautifullllllllllllllllllllllllll, for the lady, a once in a life time oppurtunity to be sick and miss the whole thing Im not really looking forward to it but we will see how things go
UK has left behind murder and chaos, says Basra police chief
Blunt assessment delivered as British hand over security to Iraqis (Warning: The film below contains graphic images which some viewers may find distressing) Mona Mahmoud, Maggie O'Kane and Ian BlackMonday December 17, 2007The Guardian
The full scale of the chaos left behind by British forces in Basra was revealed yesterday as the city's police chief described a province in the grip of well-armed militias strong enough to overpower security forces and brutal enough to behead women considered not sufficiently Islamic.
As British forces finally handed over security in Basra province, marking the end of 4½ years of control in southern Iraq, Major General Jalil Khalaf, the new police commander, said the occupation had left him with a situation close to mayhem. "They left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world," he said in an interview for Guardian Films and ITV.
.. This site/section combo is not set up to show MPU's -->Khalaf painted a very different picture from that of British officials who, while acknowledging problems in southern Iraq, said yesterday's handover at Basra airbase was timely and appropriate.
Major General Graham Binns, who led British troops into the city in 2003, said the province had "begun to regain its strength". He added: "I came to rid Basra of its enemies and I now formally hand Basra back to its friends."
But in the film, to be broadcast on the Guardian Unlimited website and ITV News, Khalaf lists a catalogue of failings, saying:
· Basra has become so lawless that in the last three months 45 women have been killed for being "immoral" because they were not fully covered or because they may have given birth outside wedlock;
· The British unintentionally rearmed Shia militias by failing to recognise that Iraqi troops were loyal to more than one authority;
· Shia militia are better armed than his men and control Iraq's main port.
In the interview he said the main problem the Iraqi security forces now faced was the struggle to wrest control back from the militia. He appealed for the British to help him do that: "We need the British to help us to watch our borders - both sea and land and we need their intelligence and air support and to keep training the Iraqi police."
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, who attended the handover ceremony, acknowledged that the territory was not "a land of milk and honey" and promised Britain would remain a "committed friend" of Iraq.
But he insisted it was the right time to hand back control. "The key conditions for the transfer of security responsibility to the Iraqi security forces are whether they are up to it: do they have the numbers? Do they have the leadership and training to provide leadership for this province? And the answer to those three questions is yes," he said.
After the handover Des Browne, the defence secretary, praised British forces - 174 of whom have died since the start of the war in March 2003. "Their contribution has been outstanding and their courage inspiring," he said. A scaled-down UK force will remain in a single base at Basra airport, with a small training mission and a rapid reaction team on "overwatch".
Britain now has 4,500 troops in Iraq. The prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said numbers would shrink to 2,500 by mid-2008 though those released may be redeployed to Afghanistan.
Khalaf, who has survived 20 assassination attempts since he became police chief six months ago, said Britain's intentions had been good but misguided. "I don't think the British meant for this mess to happen. When they disbanded the Iraqi police and military after Saddam fell the people they put in their place were not loyal to the Iraqi government. The British trained and armed these people in the extremist groups and now we are faced with a situation where these police are loyal to their parties not their country."
He said the most shocking aspect of the breakdown of law and order in Basra was the murder of women for being unIslamic. "They are being killed because they are accused of behaving in an immoral way. When they kill them they put underwear and indecent clothes on them."
In his office Khalaf showed the Guardian a computer holding the files of 48 unidentified women. "Some of them have even been killed with their children because their killer says that they come out of an adulterous relationship," he said.
Vince Cable, the acting Lib Dem leader, called for a timetable to bring all British troops home from Iraq, adding: "If we are handing power back to the Iraqis, why are 4,500 British troops needed for what is essentially a training mission?"
· The General's Last Stand: a Guardianfilms/ITV News investigation can be seen now on the Guardian website and later tonight on ITV News at 6.30pm and 10.30pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2228690,00.html
The full scale of the chaos left behind by British forces in Basra was revealed yesterday as the city's police chief described a province in the grip of well-armed militias strong enough to overpower security forces and brutal enough to behead women considered not sufficiently Islamic.
As British forces finally handed over security in Basra province, marking the end of 4½ years of control in southern Iraq, Major General Jalil Khalaf, the new police commander, said the occupation had left him with a situation close to mayhem. "They left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world," he said in an interview for Guardian Films and ITV.
.. This site/section combo is not set up to show MPU's -->Khalaf painted a very different picture from that of British officials who, while acknowledging problems in southern Iraq, said yesterday's handover at Basra airbase was timely and appropriate.
Major General Graham Binns, who led British troops into the city in 2003, said the province had "begun to regain its strength". He added: "I came to rid Basra of its enemies and I now formally hand Basra back to its friends."
But in the film, to be broadcast on the Guardian Unlimited website and ITV News, Khalaf lists a catalogue of failings, saying:
· Basra has become so lawless that in the last three months 45 women have been killed for being "immoral" because they were not fully covered or because they may have given birth outside wedlock;
· The British unintentionally rearmed Shia militias by failing to recognise that Iraqi troops were loyal to more than one authority;
· Shia militia are better armed than his men and control Iraq's main port.
In the interview he said the main problem the Iraqi security forces now faced was the struggle to wrest control back from the militia. He appealed for the British to help him do that: "We need the British to help us to watch our borders - both sea and land and we need their intelligence and air support and to keep training the Iraqi police."
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, who attended the handover ceremony, acknowledged that the territory was not "a land of milk and honey" and promised Britain would remain a "committed friend" of Iraq.
But he insisted it was the right time to hand back control. "The key conditions for the transfer of security responsibility to the Iraqi security forces are whether they are up to it: do they have the numbers? Do they have the leadership and training to provide leadership for this province? And the answer to those three questions is yes," he said.
After the handover Des Browne, the defence secretary, praised British forces - 174 of whom have died since the start of the war in March 2003. "Their contribution has been outstanding and their courage inspiring," he said. A scaled-down UK force will remain in a single base at Basra airport, with a small training mission and a rapid reaction team on "overwatch".
Britain now has 4,500 troops in Iraq. The prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said numbers would shrink to 2,500 by mid-2008 though those released may be redeployed to Afghanistan.
Khalaf, who has survived 20 assassination attempts since he became police chief six months ago, said Britain's intentions had been good but misguided. "I don't think the British meant for this mess to happen. When they disbanded the Iraqi police and military after Saddam fell the people they put in their place were not loyal to the Iraqi government. The British trained and armed these people in the extremist groups and now we are faced with a situation where these police are loyal to their parties not their country."
He said the most shocking aspect of the breakdown of law and order in Basra was the murder of women for being unIslamic. "They are being killed because they are accused of behaving in an immoral way. When they kill them they put underwear and indecent clothes on them."
In his office Khalaf showed the Guardian a computer holding the files of 48 unidentified women. "Some of them have even been killed with their children because their killer says that they come out of an adulterous relationship," he said.
Vince Cable, the acting Lib Dem leader, called for a timetable to bring all British troops home from Iraq, adding: "If we are handing power back to the Iraqis, why are 4,500 British troops needed for what is essentially a training mission?"
· The General's Last Stand: a Guardianfilms/ITV News investigation can be seen now on the Guardian website and later tonight on ITV News at 6.30pm and 10.30pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2228690,00.html
I can already tell why u suffer, why u r in pain and why our world is dying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FEAR, there isnt a person that doesnt suffer from it, and its the only thing that will destroy us all, the "how" may vary, and the time could be short or long, but in the end its fear that will end us, and its what drives us to fill our lives with rubbish that means nothing, spending our lives working and making money for nothing, the only way to beat fear is to loose everything and have nothing, but hey a lot of people will loose even more amounts of money, so they arent gonna tell how the shits going down, but they only need it cause they are afraid, if people werent afraid they would never need jobs or homes, because they would know that there is nothing u can obtain that will take away your fear, its what causes addicts and each of the seven sins, it just comes down to FEAR. and the sooner u deal with it the sooner u will know happiness u have known before, and true freedom, u think u live in the land of the free, yet u have never even known what freedom is, just cause u think u can vote ha ha ha oh my god the fools
Can Thailand survive the death of King Bhumihol, or will it crumble???
Now regardless of whether u like the man or even the monarchy, u cant deny that the current king of thailand, is the only string that holds this whole country together. So when he moves on, what will happen to Thailand. Some are worried that there are many different factions which will go for gold, those who are for the prince, and those that are for the princess, also even those who are just plain greedy and want to rule the whole country on their own. Now to be honest neither of the first two have shown real leadership qualites, the princess is intelligent, calm and carin but can not command, and the prince is neither of those three things but can command. Also what will happen to the politicians there will be no longer any one for them to obey or listen to, when ever the shit has gone down, everyone turns to the king for guidence. Now to be honest I am a little worried, because i can promise that there will be another coup no matter on the political situation, and i fear that there will never be peace, unless of course the government are able to be more transparent and honest, but hey im not expecting pigs to fly, or money to freakin grow on trees
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