The Jeff NEEDS Justice group has uncovered evidence that, just two days prior to her death, Helen Gilham was acting in a way that showed her desperately worried about Christopher. Previously, the prosecution had suggested that Jeff had invented the problems that his parents were having with their elder son.
Evidence of Personal Problems with Christopher
There are several pieces of evidence that indicate Christopher Gilham was having a number of personal problems in the months and weeks leading up to the murders.
Among the people Helen told of her concerns were some of her work colleagues. One in particular recorded the following incident in a statement made in 2000:
“The very last time I did an audiometry clinic with Helen…She wasn’t her normal self…Helen expressed concern about one of her boys. She said that she was very worried. She said she didn’t know what to do…at the end of the day…she was so agitated that she was rude to the client in the way that she cut them off, pushed them out the door, and closed the equipment. I felt really embarrassed. She said to me ‘I have to get home’. That was really weird because it was only about 3 o’clock, and she works full time and was supposed to work until 5 o’clock.”
Helen’s co-worker could not recall whether Helen was worried about Christopher or Jeff, nor was she certain of which day of the week it was when Helen acted so out of character.
At the inquest into Helen and Stephen’s deaths in 2000, the NSW Coroner had police check the records of the audiometry clinic. They found that the audiometry clinic took place on the Thursday just prior to the murders.
Christopher Gilham was due home
Christopher Gilham’s student diary contains some timetable information which he appears to have filled out. From this diary, Christopher had a class from 9-11am but he had no other classes scheduled on a Thursday and he had not noted any appointments for that particular day.
But Jeff Was Out
Back in 1995, a young man who was enrolled in the same engineering degree as Jeff provided a character reference as part of Jeff’s sentencing for the manslaughter of his brother. In the reference he wrote:
“I was sitting next to Jeff in a lecture on a Thursday in August 1993, which happened to be the day before his family died. We talked at length as Jeff was really positive about his life with good reason.”
The young man providing the reference did not say at what time of day this class was held and when later asked, he had no recollection of the time of day that this particular class was held.
How Was This Used At Trial?
None of this material went before the jury. The co-worker did not give evidence at Jeff’s trials because without being sure which son Helen was referring to, her evidence did not advance either the prosecution or the defence cases. It was considered to be simply meaningless information. The 1995 character reference could not assist because the time of the lecture when Jeff was seen at university could not be confirmed. For these reasons it seems the evidence was simply left out from the trial.
Jeff NEEDS Justice Discovery
Jeff NEEDS Justice has been able to confirm that the only subject that Jeff had in common with the person that talked to him the day before the murders was held from 1:30-4:30pm. This is the very time that Helen, acting out of character, left work early because she had to get home as she was worried about one of her sons.
It was not for Jeff that Helen was in a hurry to get home. He was not scheduled to be there and he has been located 90 minutes away from home. With this new information, it is clear that the son Helen had significant concerns about, just a day before she was killed, was Christopher.