Appoche production.
In the last episode of Our Little Lady, you heard from Amber Wilson, the Tasmanian crime journalist from the Hobart Mercury, and she mentioned the case of Jari Wise. It's a case I've heard a bit about but didn't understand how this case and the fight for truth and what Jari's family went through was similar to Jason and Amanda's fight.
I did say this morning that if I heard the word inconclusive, then I'll be pushing again.
I'm faith is Jari's mum, and ever since twenty twenty, she's been fighting, much like Jason and Amanda, for a coronial inquest into her son's death. We're going to speak to her in a moment, but for now, let me give you some of the facts around how Jari died. It was early morning of February twenty nine, twenty twenty. Jari was struck by a car in the middle of a dark road in Tasmania.
Jerry Wise was twenty six when he was hit by a car and callously left to die on the roadside. Incredibly, the person driving the vehicle wasn't a stranger. In fact, it was his girlfriend of three years drunk and speeding at one hundred and ten k's an hour. Most of claims Jarry's death was his own fault, but he in fact jumped out in front of her speeding car.
I am faith to Carlos, very hard one for mostly to pronounce.
I'm the mother of Jarry. Wise.
I think someone actually mentioned to me about Little Lady quite some time back before the podcast even and I had a bit of a look at her story just because I was already quite aware of I call it corruption down here in Tasmania.
And just thought I wanted to have a little bit of a look for myself.
And then Sam outcame your podcast, and that's what's.
The most interesting piece of the similarities between what happened to your son and what happened or what Jason and Amanda Westbrook are going through at the moment in Tasmania. We'll get to that in a moment, but firstly, can you tell me about Jarry's personality and what he was like as a person.
Pretty much, he was super shy, super super shy. Well managed. I'm quite proud of that. Brilliant managed and everyone always said that, and I still get people that tell me how well manned. He was a real handy man. He also very protecting with the underdogs, always was, even from when he was little. If there was anyone sort of let's just say with a mild learning disability or on the wrong side of the tracks, Jarry wild sort of take them under his wing.
I mentioned he was.
Very shy, had three or four beers, and he was the life of the party. Not many people in hum and Bill in our town didn't know Jari or didn't meet Jarry because of that reason. He noted to sort of have a great time on the weekend.
The circumstances of Jari's death, what you initially heard around what.
Happened, I always say between two three in the morning, I've got a knock on the door, which wasn't unusual because Jari had been brought to my house many times.
By the police.
To be safe away from her as the perpetrator of the perpetrator of the violence. Anyway, So I've got the knock on the door, opened the door, there was a police officer without Jari. I fell on my knees. I knew already, spring out to my husband and said Jarry's dead.
Before the officer and.
Said anything and I remember him saying, there's been a motor vehicle incident. Unfortunately, Jarry is deceeasd so I knew before he even had to say words.
Straight away from that moment, you believe that Jari. It wasn't an accident. Jari's life had been taken.
I knew.
I knew extract the I knew. I didn't even need to know any circumstances at all. Once I'd already known that Jarry was with her that night and there was alcohol involved. Now there's an officer at my door. My son's not there, she's killing There was no there's no infaw, but so I knew call it mother's into his intuition. I don't know, But at that time I was also
on the ground feeling like I was dying. But at the same time I got up several times to hug this officer because he was probably about, I want to say, about twenty six, which is the age Jerry was when he was murdered. Who sends a young copper to tell a parent that sort of information. I was just I remember saying to him, I'm so sorry that they sent you to do this week And it wasn't one of our officers from our town that knew Jarry or knew me. They sent a younger guy, a rookie cop, down to
tell a parent this info. I think that's a pretty I've spoken of many coppers and they said that's one of the biggest moments in their career. And just someone so young to have to witness that and to give that news, I think it's I think it's pretty horrendous.
Did they rule that suspicious or did they rule it as an accident? From the outset.
When I got the full brief of evidence, it was written manslaughter. Two of the documents said manslaughter. One of them had a circle mark around it.
I want to ask about that brief of evidence. So this is the evidence that police gather, which they end up then presenting to a coroner, handing over to a coroner for the coroner to make a finding. It's tough for someone to be able to get a brief of evidence. How did you go about that?
I sent off to the RTI sent off to them, I got declined, initially, tried again. I just wanted to say that I wanted specific pieces, so they said that you couldn't receive it all. And then they were sort of once again refused. So then I'm a lawyer. He actually obtained it for me when that took quite some time as well, and I remember he just sent me a screenshot.
Of this little sandwich bag with.
The USC in it, because for both of us it was like, oh, you know, why are they not why can't we see this? You actually are allowed to see that. There's no reason why you cannot as.
A parent, as them singing next to kin.
That is that was mine. To have to have to fight to see that in itself is traumatic as a parent because you need you are allowed to know every little detail about what's having to child.
Was anything in that brief of evidence redacted? I e? Wiped out so you couldn't see it? Or was did you have access to everything?
Yeah?
No, full access to everything here. Yeah, and I know that there's I have met other people and well not so much meant, but I've spoken.
To plenty of people. Actually have an full of people that I sort.
Of working with and helping them through this process where they do have lots of things redacted, and they do have things that are missing, and they do have certain documents that you are not allowed to have. That's just not true. That's not right, that's not fair on so many levels.
That's wrong. But why why not providing why redact is there?
The only reason that can be is there's either live in there or nothing there, or they don't want you to see it.
Well, did you get the brief of evidence before it was handed to the coroner or was this after the coroner.
Made after after?
Because I just assumed because Jari's death was a reportable death. But there's so many arms in the criteria. I think he picked three of the boxes where he deserved to have an inquest and coroner said no, no inquest needed. I obviously disputed that, and I needed to know that the police had done their job correctly, already knowing that they hadn't because I actually myself point did the door knocking.
I did my own investigating investigation down here in Hillville, and I know that there's so many things that they didn't do that they should have. So many people that came to them that wanted to speak up. They wouldn't listen because they were they already made their mind up. They wanted a quick and easy, open and shutcase.
What evidence did you uncover while looking through that brief of it. Was it through the brief of evidence or through other means that you found out.
Well, the brief, just the brief confirmed to what I'd already suspected the whole oat. The sentence was based on the fact that Jari had a history of jumping in front of cars. So in that brief was the statement of the three people that have said that Jari has a history of jumping in front of the cars.
One of them was Oats herself.
You get this brief of evidence, you start looking into some of the investigation's police have done. The coroner has said there will be no inquest. What do you do next?
I got loud.
I said to my lawyers, you know this is not right. I thought of I turned into another person. So no longer was I Jarry's mum grieving for the loss of my murdered child. Now I'd turned into I was thinking to myself, how many other people's children have been killed, and the Tasmane in justice system I just basically wiping them off looks. You know, I knew that there needed to be an inquest, and I would have gone to
my desk fighting to get that to happen. And because in my heart of hearts, I knew that it needed to happen. It happened because I think if you're believe in something strongly enough and it's the right thing, then eventually, if you push hard enough, it will happen. Actually, Jarry's in quest, it was the first time in Tasmane and here that an Attorney General, at least Archer at the time had overturned the decision of the Supreme Court not going to hold the inquest.
I want to say again and state clearly, the woman driving the car was never charged with murder and we're certainly not making accusations that she should have been. What we are saying, though, is the similarities between Jari's mum, Faith's fight and Jason and Amanda's fight for justice within the legal system in Tasmania. Much like Jason and Amanda's fight, Faith continued to find ways of getting support for opening
an inquest into her son's death. She went down the traditional legal routs and reached out to the then Attorney General of Tasmania, Elise Archer. She has the power to order an inquest. It's what we've been trying to do with the petition to help Eden's Family Fight for Justice. You can sign it at change dot org.
Started with me getting email after email, I had a couple of sit down meetings with her, and I could feel that I was just getting generic responses, nothing that was going to be of any good. So I thought, nuts, stuff this. I'm going to sit outside her office every day until she will sit and meet with me and discuss the particulars and look at some of the information that I have so that she can make an informed decision, not just having this mad manic woman that's lost her
child trying to get her away quote unquote. But I needed her to see the facts, which eventually she did agree to have a meeting with me. After I think I sat for four days outside of the Attorney General's office down here in Caddy bit cold, but you do what you've got to do. The community we're fantastic. I'd sit from nine till about three thirty four o'clock, so courses sort of kept her business hours. People would bring
me Banjo's coffees, People came and sat. You know a lot of so many stories of the injustices that are happening here in Tasmania were delivered to me by people on foot when I was sitting outside that office.
After the brief of evidence was handed over into Jari's death from the police, the coroner at the time didn't feel it needed an inquest. Here's a snippet from the court read by AI.
I was satisfied an inquest would not on earth any additional information that would help answer any of the questions I was required to answer about mister Wise's death. I conveyed my decision to mister Wise's senior next of Kim, Miss faith to kalak Unhappy with that decision, Miss to kllak as was her right, applied to the Supreme Court for an order that I hold an inquest.
When did you find out that Alise Archer, the former Attorney General, had directed a coronal inquest.
So I've got my first initial no just in paperwork. Then I got the one of them Supreme Court where they said no. And then by close of business that day, I got a phone call from her chief of staff saying there's about to be a press relief and you're probably going to receive a phone call from a release Archer. She is directing that be an inquest. So within hours of Supreme Court saying no, the Attorney General use her powers.
As I said for the first time in Tanzi I Drip said her statements from out of this brief of evidence I'd given her information that was critical that made it so obvious to everyone that there needed to be an inquest, specifically based on the fact that those witnesses and saying that my son had his history of jumping in front of cars was made by these particular people, and we're not taking any notice of the independent people come on release. You know.
The coroner didn't like being called in the question about being asked to hold another inquest, given that he had already said no.
Not at all.
He actually made so when we were sitting in and he gave his bindings till.
Quite brief, quite short.
He previously when we had the inquest itself happening, he would look at me around and there'd be in exchange and he was sort of I felt, yes, he can see what's happening here. It was supposedly a shit show.
It was a circuit. It was I was embarrassed.
We had Gary Jubilin down the retired comic bug Checting. I was actually embarrassed for him to see what happens, what it's like here in our court rooms. I'm like, it was embarrassing.
We want to be really factual here, So let's replace some of the words from the coroner about the decision to direct him to hold an inquest read by AI.
At the hearing of that application before Justice Bread, the then Attorney General, Miss Archer was represented by counsel and argued in support of my decision not to hold an inquest. Justice Bread upheld my decision and dismissed Missed Kalek's application. Less than three hours after the judgment was delivered, Miss Archer announced to the media that she intended to exercise the power reposed in her Bisection twenty four one g of the Act to direct me to hold an inquest.
In my view, this was an extraordinary decision to make. The Attorney General had given no hint of her intention to exercise such a power in her argument in the hearing before Justice Bread. His honors judgment in fact vindicated the position for which he argued.
So after three years that Corona reporters released what were the findings?
Yes, Jerry Wieside from being struck by a motor vehicle hit by Melissa Oates she is still not held accountable for his sets, which I still can't get my head around.
Were there any recommendations in that inquest?
No, no recommendations. I'd already said that this is what I was trying to say in my original findings. Nothing I've seen or heard has changed my decisions.
We were gobsmack.
So I came out of the came out of the court room when he made his decisions findings, spoke to the media, and I hadn't yet read the like the paperwork.
What was revealed in that in quest, something that you were pleased at was the fact that it was proven that Jari did not jump in front of the.
Car, absolutely and that he did not have a history of it and he had not been ever seen doing it in the past, and that that was what I wanted and so and I've said to so many people after we'd sat through the inquest, that was finally I was that piece because there was obviously anyone that was there, anyone that read the documents from the you know what was spoken about there, It was blatantly obvious that that
was all lies. And I was content. Finally, Yes, my son's death wasn't his own fault, but then the findings came down.
And destroyed that, and I was so worried that.
That was going to happen, and Saudioda was right.
It's important to note about what a coroner's role is when it comes to these types of cases. They are an independent judicial officer. She or he has the jurisdiction to investigate any death which appears to be have been unexpected or unnatural. When investigating a death, a coroner performs a role very different to other judicial officers. The coroner's role is inquisitorial. She or he is required to look at the circumstances surrounding a death and answer the questions
if possible. These questions include who the deceased was, how he or she died, the cause of the person's death, and where and when the person died. This process requires the making of various findings, but without apportioning legal or moral blame for the death. It's also important to understand that a coroner does not punish or reward compensation to anyone. Punishment and compensation are for other proceedings in courts if appropriate.
It also means that a coroner can't charge people with crimes or offenses arising out of a death that is the subject of an investigation. In this particular case, by the time the coroner held an inquest, all criminal proceedings arising out of Jari's death were complete.
I'm working with the lawyer at the moment to make a new amendments to the bill where a coroner that's already decided no that does not need to be an inquest cannot be. If one is ordered, then that coroner is not to be the one that does it. And also if a coroner decides there doesn't need to be an inquest, he needs to put in writing his reasons for there not to be one.
Before that inquest was held. You've talked briefly about it. There was something that came to pass and something you've been fighting for which is now called Jari's Law. Can you tell me what Jari's law is?
If a death occurs and there's a possibility or in the past there has been domestic violence prevalence, then an inquest is to be held.
How has this gone down in Tasmania?
The community yet running seery eyed and a little bit of a wabbling throat When I think about how much has mania, especially in the Human Valley and literally all over the world, in South Africa, Canada. I'm not even joking. All over the world people talking about Jarry Wise and what's happened. I need anyone that might listen to your podcast or if you read the findings and I've come across a lot of blocks. I've said, a lot of
people in the serves market come up and chat. People have read though, taken the time and jumped onto the courts list and look, if you read through the findings, compare it to others.
Jari's basically non existent in it.
It's just him being incredibly upset about Jari's law and the fact that is going to make his caseload heavier. He does not know, He doesn't know what the Parliament was thinking when they allowed that to pass.
I urged the appropriate authorities to consider taking steps to reverse this most unfortunate exercise in law reform. Early estimates indicate that Tasmanian coroners will, as a result of the amendment, be required to hold at least double the number of public inquests. The effect of this, upon an already strained coronial system will be to significantly delay all in quests, thereby increasing the grief and trauma of many families in our.
If you want to read the full Currenter notes from the death of Jari Weiss, you can head to our show notes. Obviously, Jason and Amanda are calling for another investigation into their daughter Eden's death. What message of hope or resilience could you share?
Yeah, look, I've spoken to Amanda Bvi mesage her. I listened to I think two episodes of your podcast, and I send her a message.
I don't I know myself.
I get so many messages and I no means am I saying that I don't want that at all. But you actually, once your name is out there and people realize what you're doing, the support and encouragement, and I think I've heard Jason say about Amanda, they've never had any negative I have never had any negative messages come anyway. So I sent Amanda just a brief message just to sort of touch base and letting you know, sending strength
and love. And we shared a little bit. And basically, because we don't live that Tavi is tiny, I can drive up there and be there in a couple of hours.
Don't be quiet.
That's my advice, and I did a post just recently.
Everyone said, even my lawyers initially know, don't do that. Not be quiet, Shush the police initially when they first saw their investigation. Just sit back, let us do our jobs. Don't do to do any of that. Do not listening to it. Don't be quiet, but as loud as you can. Gather everything that you can, record everything that you can. My husband used to go to work, my youngest son will go to college, and my laundry and would turn into stuff that you see on bloody ncies or something
like sticky notes everywhere. I just had Jerry's got two files at home. One's nice and neat and tidy, and the other one I'm going to believe the way it is, which is when I was investigating each statement myself and following it up.
What legacy do you hope the Jarry story leaves behind.
That's a tough one because I I really do struggle with that one, because a I would just wish see he was here, so that question never has to be asked.
Again, don't.
I don't know.
I don't really have the words for that.
I just what I hope that what Jarry's done has waken people up.
I know that it has me incredibly.
I used to before Jarry was murdered.
I used to hear people speaking the way I do now and think that they had mental health issues. It's not mental health issues, it's being aware. The system down here is mind blowingly corrupt.
I've said it before. It's not the it's not the guy's on the street with the hoodies in the night. You've got to worry about it. The bloody boys in blue.
Yeah,