Caroline Byrne case

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The Caroline Byrne case concerns the mysterious death of Australian model, Caroline Byrne, who was found at the bottom of a cliff at The Gap in Sydney on June 7, 1995. Her then boyfriend, Gordon Wood, who at the time of her death was chauffeur and personal assistant to disgraced businessman Rene Rivkin, was arrested for her murder in London on April 3, 2006.

The case has received heightened attention due to speculation about a connection with Rene Rivkin's financial activities. The day before Byrne's death, Wood and Rivkin were interviewed about the controversial Offset Alpine fire by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Wood had reportedly indicated to Byrne that the 1993 fire was a "set-up" for insurance purposes. It has been reported in the Sydney Morning Herald (see references cited) that Wood said that Wood's mother made a profit of A$10,000 trading in Offset Alpine shares bought in February 2004 at $1.30. However, in his 2006 book Packer's Lunch, Neil Chenoweth records that the company's shares were trading above $1.50 from Jan 2004, casting doubt on this account.

When she died, Byrne was 24. She had been in a relationship with Wood since 1992. On June 7, 1995 she failed to turn up for work and for an appointment with a psychiatrist. That afternoon there were three reported sightings of her at Watsons Bay, near The Gap, in the company of two men, one of whom matched Wood's description. Wood, however, has denied being present at Watson's Bay that afternoon, and in fact claimed that on that afternoon he was chauffeuring Rene Rivkin and prominent lobbyist and ex-federal minister Graham Richardson. This alibi was denied by Richardson when interviewed by police in 2000. Wood has said he did not know Byrne's whereabouts but was led by what he termed "telepathic communication" to The Gap, where he claimed to have spotted her body at the base of the cliff. The identity of the second man with Wood in Watson's Bay earlier in the day remains a matter of speculation.

Two inquests were held into Byrne's death, with Wood claiming it was suicide. The second inquest in 1998 delivered an open finding. The same year, Wood left Australia.

In 2005, physicist Rod Cross conducted experiments which he said proved that Byrne could not have jumped to the spot where her body was found (11.8 metres from the cliff) and must have been thrown, probably by two men.

After being extradited to Australia in 2006, Wood was released on bail by a Sydney court on May 4.

On July 6, 2007, Wood was committed to stand trial for the murder of Byrne. Wood's trial is due to start on July 21, 2008.

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