Two Erics are top contenders in Tuesday’s GOP primary for an open US Senate seat in Missouri.
But it wasn’t clear who former President Donald Trump backed even after he issued an endorsement in the race where Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and former Governor Eric Greitens are both running.
On the eve of the election, Trump said in a statement he was “proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
“There is a BIG Election in the Great State of Missouri, and we must send a MAGA Champion and True Warrior to the US Senate, someone who will fight for Border Security, Election Integrity, our Military and Great Veterans, together with having powerful toughness on Crime and the Border,” Trump stated.
“We need a person who will not go back down to the Radical Left Lunatics who are destroying our Country.
“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when gave me landside victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Both candidates were quick to claim and tout Trump’s support.
Schmitt, in a tweet, wrote, “I’m grateful for President Trump’s endorsement. As the only America First candidate who has actually fought for election integrity, border security & against the Left’s indoctrination of our kids – I’ll take that fight to the Senate to SAVE AMERICA!”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt was quick to claim Trump’s support after the former president’s confusing statement was released. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File
Greitens also wrote he was “honored to receive President Trump’s endorsement.”
“From the beginning, I’ve been the true MAGA Champion fighting against the RINO establishment backing Schmitt,” I have tweeted.
He also bragged about being backed by Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, media personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, in a separate tweet.
Greitens also claimed he “just had a GREAT phone call with President Trump” and thanked him for the support.
Former Governor Eric Greitens also interpreted Trump’s statement as a sure endorsement of him. AP Photo/Jeff Robersob
Schmitt hit back by reposting a tweet from conservative media personality Dan Bongino commenting on Greitens’ claim.
“Bulls—t. Read the endorsement. This dude is a FRAUD,” Bongino said in reference to Greitens.
Schmitt and Greitens are both vying to replace outgoing Sen. Roy Blunt. Schmitt is the favorite with an Emerson College poll last week showing him with about 33% of the predicted vote. After that, Rep. Vicky Hartzler had 21% and Greitens was in third with 16%.
Many national Republicans want Greitens to lose because of past scandals he was involved in, including charges of domestic abuse by his ex-wife.
While there’s a third candidate named Eric — Eric McElroy — also running, he is a long shot contender.
Still, Hartzler threw congratulations his way Monday.
“Congratulations to Eric McElroy. He’s having a big night,” she said in statement, according to CBS News.
Wild weather has sparked a power outage at Perth Airport, throwing travellers’ plans into disarray for the third time in 48 hours.
The airport confirmed the outrage on Tuesday afternoon due to damage to power lines caused by severe weather in the Western Australian capital in the last 24 hours.
Western Power crews are scrambling to fix the outage but currently can’t give an estimated restoration time.
The outage has impacted on lighting in the terminal and baggage carousels unable to operate, leaving frustrated passengers left literally in the dark.
Flight information boards are blank while dozens of flights are grounded on the tarmac, delayed and cancelled.
‘Perth Airport will be delaying all outbound services scheduled to depart before 7.30pm,’ the airport tweeted on Tuesday night.
‘All inbound flights currently in the air will be able to arrive safely. All scheduled flights into Perth which have not yet departed will be delayed until further notice.
‘Passengers should expect delays/cancellations. The safety of everyone who works in or is traveling through our airport remains our highest priority. We apologize to passengers and customers for any inconvenience.’
Footage posted online shows the terminal plunged into darkness with arriving passengers relying on phone lights to track their luggage being manually brought into the terminal due to the bag carousels not working.
Departing passengers faced lengthy delays in checking in luggage due to a power chaos (pictured, affected travelers at Perth Airport on Tuesday)
By late Tuesday afternoon, Perth Airport was plunged into darkness with no word on when the outage will be fixed
‘Sitting in the dark cold boarding gate at Perth Airport while starving. An international airport without sufficient back up power,’ one woman tweeted.
Other photos show the arrival and departure flight board blank with no information available.
‘Massive crowd in airport. Departure gate closed and no communication. Been here for three hours,’ one traveler told Daily Mail Australia.
A concerned relative tweeted: ‘My 80 year old mother is on QF943 from Brisbane. It’s in the air but no idea if it can land.’
6PR listeners have told the radio station the outage has impacted on passengers trying to get through security checkpoints and those leaving the car park.
Arriving passengers are stranded on the tarmac as air bridges cannot be deployed for them to exit.
‘They can get stairs to us but no one knows how to open the doors. Looks like there are also other plans that are stuck,’ one woman arriving from Broome told WA Today.
Those departing are also affected as their luggage can’t be loaded onto planes while pilots trying to take off have no communication line with the airport.
The arrival and departure flight boards at Perth Airport were blank as frustrated passengers demanded answers
Western Power is unable to give a time of when power will be restored (pictured, Perth Airport plunged into darkness on Tuesday)
Dozens of other passengers are queued up outside, unable to get inside the airport.
It’s currently unknown how long the airport power outage will last but there are unconfirmed reports it may take 6-8 hours to repair.
Western Power says it’s waiting an estimated restoration time from repair crews and will provide an update on its website when available.
It comes as wild weather continues to batter the city with the chance of a thunderstorm and damaging winds possible with winds westerly 50 to 70 km/h.
‘Strong westerly winds are whipping up heavy surf conditions with swells reaching 8m off Rottnest Island this morning,’ the Bureau of Meteorology said.
‘These winds will continue through until late Wednesday, with sea conditions not set to ease until Thursday.’
It’s the third time in 48 hours travelers across the nation have been affected by outages and delays.
A nationwide computer glitch left thousands of Qantas passengers stranded on tarmacs and in airport lounges
Hours later, hundreds of travelers at Sydney and Melbourne Airports faced long queues, delays and cancellations on Monday morning due to operational reasons.
Perth Airport has confirmed it has been impacted by a power outage which will affect flights
Travelers’ plans were thrown into chaos at Perth Airport on Tuesday afternoon (pictured, passengers at the airport earlier this year)
You’re not quitting your job — but you are quitting going above and beyond.
It’s a new trend called “quiet quitting” and it seems Aussies are increasingly getting onboard with the mindset.
Sick of letting work creep into their lives — from not taking lunch breaks to working unpaid overtime and keeping abreast of emails and Teams messages after hours — workers are implementing the revolutionary concept of quiet quitting.
They are drawing boundaries and no longer letting work intrude on their “life” space.
“You’re not outright quitting your job but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” TikTokker @zkchillin explained in a popular video on the topic.
“You’re still performing your duties but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life — the reality is, it’s not and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”
As we have embraced technology, so too have we allowed work to creep into our free-time space.
And “quiet quitters” say following their lead is crucial in avoiding burnout and enjoying and appreciating life outside of the office.
One quiet quitter posted on social media: “When you do it (quiet quitting) you realize nothing at work matters and suddenly all the stress vanishes.”
Another said: “I quiet quit six months ago and guess what, same pay, same recognition, same everything but less stress.”
And another wrote: “I did this when I asked for a raise and they told me no, but then started hiring people with higher pay and less responsibilities.”
However, while the idea of quiet quitting may sound appealing, some experts have warned to proceed with caution.
LinkedIn’s Charlotte Davies said that by the time you reach the stage of quiet quitting, you may already be suffering from burnout — and more drastic measures may be needed to avoid a mental health meltdown.
A user on Reddit. Credit: supplied
Career trends expert at Glassdoor, Jill Cotton, said by taking up the trend, you could feel more powerless.
“Quietly quitting is often a sign that it’s time to move on from your role,” she said.
“If you’re reducing your effort to the bare minimum needed to complete tasks, your heart is probably no longer in the job or the company.”
Others have warned that by quiet quitting, you are likely shutting yourself off from promotions and pay rises.
But it hasn’t stopped the movement gaining momentum Down Under.
A discussion on Reddit shows many Aussie are taking up the trend.
“I stepped down from a management position to a lower one with fewer hours to study,” one said.
“Went from putting in 110 per cent into everything I did to the absolute bare minimum required to keep me happy and employed.”
Airport chaos as 20 flights from Melbourne and 21 out of Sydney are canceled due to ‘domino effect’ from Qantas IT glitch – causing massive queues through terminals
Chaos at Melbourne Airport with huge queues stretching across the terminal
Similar scenes at Sydney Airport on Monday as 21 domestic flights canceled
Delays come after Qantas flights grounded due to IT glitch on Sunday night
Weary passengers took to social media to complain about widespread delays
By Olivia Day and Kylie Stevens For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
Dozens of travelers at Sydney and Melbourne Airport have been warned to expect long queues, delays and cancellations just hours after an IT glitch.
Passengers were confronted with chaotic scenes at the airport on Monday morning with lines seen stretching all the way to the international terminal.
Queues also formed at the airport’s service desk after 20 domestic flights were canceled leaving travelers scrambling to book another flight.
Similar scenes unfolded at Sydney Airport where 21 domestic flights were scrapped across four airlines throwing the travel plans of hundreds into disarray.
Dozens of travelers at Melbourne Airport have been warned to expect delays as giant queues are seen snaking across the terminal on Monday morning (pictured)
Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and REX have canceled flights out of Sydney with some frustrated travelers receiving just a few hours notice.
Virgin Australia axed 10 flights, Qantas canceled eight, with two flights dropped by Virgin and Rex dumping one.
In Melbourne, Qantas dropped seven flights, five from Emirates and Virgin Australia, two from American Airlines and one from British Airways.
The canceled flights at both airports were between 6:30am and 7pm on Monday.
It’s understood the flights were canceled to and from Sydney due to operational reasons, including resourcing challenges and engineering requirements.
The delays come just hours after the travel plans of thousands of Qantas passengers were disrupted by a nationwide computer glitch.
Hundreds were left waiting onboard grounded plans on runways across the country on Sunday night after an IT glitch delayed up to a dozen domestic flights.
Frustrated passengers took to social media to vent their frustration
Hundreds of passengers spent hours in airport lounges waiting to board delayed flights
The computer glitch has also impacted flights trying to take off across New Zealand
Qantas said the issue was discovered at about 4:30pm on Sunday and had impacted 12 domestic flights with some grounded for nearly two hours. The glitch was fixed at about 6pm but caused flow-on delays throughout the evening.
Furious travelers keen to get home in time for the start of the working week took to social media to vent about the delays.
‘Any update on your international computer outage impacting every single flight from departing???? Sitting on fully packed plane on tarmac for 90mins for 2hr is pretty ridiculous!’ one grounded traveler smoked on Twitter.
The computer glitch has also affected Qantas flights across the Tasman trying to take off in New Zealand.
‘Still waiting at 7pm to leave on my Qantas plane from Auckland that was meant to leave at 5.40. Paperwork still has to be signed off,’ one traveler wrote.
Wet weather as well as a surge in flu and Covid cases for airline staff have been blamed for the pattern of delays and cancellations in Sydney and Melbourne.
Passengers were confronted with chaotic scenes at the airport on Monday morning with lines seen stretching all the way to the international terminal (pictured)
The latest blunder comes on the back of a tough year for Qantas, with travelers reporting long delays, lost luggage and problems with customer service.
Qantas has cut more flights from its schedule as the airline is plagued with industrial disputes, understaffing, poor organisation, cancellations and delays as furious passengers share their horror experiences of traveling with the national carrier.
The news prompted Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David to issue an on-air apology and vow to do better in the future.
‘Let me start by saying an apology to all your listeners. We are the national carrier, people have high expectations of us, we have high expectations of ourselves and clearly over the last few months we have not been delivering what we did pre-Covid,’ he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham last week.
Mr David confirmed Qantas had ‘reduced some of our flying this month’ and was ‘planning to do the same next month’ amidst ‘operational pressures’.
A computer expert who claims to have invented the digital currency Bitcoin has been awarded just £1 in damages after he gave ‘deliberately false’ evidence in a High Court defamation case.
Australian Dr Craig Wright, purportedly Bitcoin creator ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, sued blogger Peter McCormack for libel over a series of tweets in 2019 that alleged his claim to be the enigmatic inventor was fraudulent.
In a ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Chamberlain concluded the tweets, and a video discussion broadcast on YouTube where Mr McCormack made similar claims, had caused ‘serious harm’ to Dr Wright’s reputation.
But the High Court judge limited Dr Wright’s damages to £1 after he put forward a ‘deliberately false’ case over being disinvited from academic conferences because of the tweets until days before the libel trial in May.
In the tweets made between March and August 2019, Mr McCormack, a podcaster specializing in content about cryptocurrencies, alleged that ‘Craig Wright is not Satoshi’ and is ‘a fraud’.
Australian Dr Craig Wright (pictured), purportedly Bitcoin creator ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, sued blogger Peter McCormack for libel over a series of tweets in 2019 that alleged his claim to be the enigmatic inventor was fraudulent
Amid complaints from Dr Wright’s solicitors, he tweeted in response: ‘Let’s go to court.’
In the lead-up to the libel trial, Dr Wright initially argued that he had been invited to speak at numerous conferences after the successful submission of academic papers for blind peer review, but that 10 invites were withdrawn following Mr McCormack’s tweets.
This included alleged potential appearances at events in France, Vietnam, the US, Canada and Portugal.
But Mr McCormack submitted evidence from academics challenging Dr Wright’s claims which were dropped from his case at the trial in May.
Dr Wright later accepted that some of his evidence was ‘wrong’ but that this was ‘inadvertent’, Mr Justice Chamberlain said.
The judge noted that there was ‘no documentary evidence’ that Dr Wright had a paper accepted at any of the conferences identified in the earlier version of his libel claim, nor that he received an invitation to speak at them except possibly one and nor that any invitation was withdrawn.
In a ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Chamberlain concluded the tweets, and a video discussion broadcast on YouTube where Mr McCormack (above) made similar claims, had caused ‘serious harm’ to Dr Wright’s reputation
Dr Wright’s explanation for abandoning this part of his case because the alleged damage to his reputation from the ‘disinvitations’ was outside England and Wales ‘does not withstand scrutiny’, the judge added.
He concluded that ‘Dr Wright’s original case on serious harm, and the evidence supporting it, both of which were maintained until days before trial, were deliberately false’.
Lawyers for Mr McCormack argued at trial that his tweets were made in ‘flippant and light-hearted terms’ and were in response to posts by Calvin Ayre, a Canadian businessman, ‘goading others into accusing Dr Wright of being a fraud’.
They also claimed there were ‘numerous other individuals who had posted the same allegations about Dr Wright’, Mr Justice Chamberlain explained in his ruling.
Lawyers also ‘relied upon attempts by Dr Wright to sell the rights to his life story as showing that he had not been hurt by the controversy surrounding his claim to be Satoshi and indeed was trying to exploit that controversy for gain’, the judge said.
But the High Court judge limited Dr Wright’s damages to £1 after he put forward a ‘deliberately false’ case over being disinvited from academic conferences because of the tweets until days before the libel trial in May (stock image of bitcoin)
Mr Justice Chamberlain concluded that although the tweets were ‘flippant in tone’ they came from ‘a well-known podcaster and acknowledged expert in cryptocurrency’.
‘They were unequivocal in their meaning. Many people who read them would have known that there was a lively debate about whether Dr Wright was Satoshi, but some of them must have been influenced by reading Mr McCormack’s trenchantly expressed contribution to that debate,’ the judge continued.
‘The fact that he was willing to state his views so brazenly in response to threats of libel proceedings is likely to have made those who read them more, not less, likely to believe them.’
But the judge said that Dr Wright’s pre-trial case over the serious harm to his reputation made it ‘unconscionable’ that he should receive ‘any more than nominal damages’.
The judge said the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto was not an issue he had to determine in his ruling as Mr McCormack had earlier abandoned a defense of truth in his case.
CoinDesk reported that Dr Wright’s lawyers distributed a statement which read: ‘I intend to appeal the adverse findings of the judgment in which my evidence was clearly misunderstood.’
Police have charged a man over a spate over terrifying sex attacks in Kalgoorlie in the early hours of Monday morning.
In the space of two-and-a-half hours, between 1am and 3.30am, the man allegedly forced entry into three homes and at each property sexually or indecently assaulted an adult female. Police say he also unsuccessfully tried to gain entry to a fourth home.
All incidents were in the south Kalgoorlie-Boulder area. None of the homes or victims are linked.
On Monday, Superintendent Steve Thompson said as a result of police inquiries they arrested a man shortly before 7am.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of these incidents, which would have been a significant and traumatic event, and they’ve been provided with a medical and support that is appropriate,” Supt Thompson said.
Supt Thompson said the victims were aged between 30 and 70, with two of the women the only occupants of the houses at the time of the attacks but there was another occupant present during the incident in the third home.
He said entry was forced to the homes.
“It wasn’t a matter of an open door, there was force used,” he alleged.
Supt Thompson said police had responded quickly when the alarm was raised.
“We all come together, when it’s significant crimes such as this, we throw all available resources and we use all our capabilities. And, it’s very pleasing for me that within a matter of hours we were able to make an arrest,” he said.
“We’re fortunate to live in this State that incidents such as this . . . are very rare. And when they do occur, they are our highest priority and we throw all our resources at the investigation.”
A 30-year-old man from the Warburton community has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent in the course of a home burglary, one count of indecent assault and three counts of home burglary.
He was refused bail and is due to appear in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
An elderly convenience store owner in California is being hailed as a hero after he shot at a would-be robber who ran out of the store screaming his arm was “shot off.”
Shocking surveillance footage from Norco Market & Liquor at the 2800 block of Clark Avenue in Norco, Calif., showed a masked assailant entering the business at about 2:47 am with an AR-15-style rifle pointed at the 80-year-old store-owner.
The suspect yelled, “Freeze, hands in the air,” but within seconds, the quick-thinking store owner pulled out his own rifle from under the counter and immediately shot once at the robber, hitting him in the arm.
Video footage further showed another man getting out of a black BMW SUV, but he stopped and got back inside the vehicle once he saw the first suspect run out of the store repeatedly screaming, “He shot my arm off!”
The three suspects involved in the attempted robbery were all caught, with the suspect who was shot in the hospital in critical but stable condition.Fox11
Riverside County Sheriff’s officials arrested three suspects—Justin Johnson, 22, of Inglewood, Calif., Jamar Williams, 27, of Los Angeles, and Davon Broadus, of Las Vegas, Nevada—at a local hospital.
The primary suspect, a 23-year-old man, remained in critical but stable condition at the hospital, officials said. His identity is being held pending his release from the hospital.
“In this case, a lawfully armed member of our community prevented a violent crime and ensured their own safety, while being confronted with multiple armed suspects,” Riverside County Sheriff’s said in a press release. “This investigation is active and ongoing and no additional information will currently be released.”
Employees at Norco Market & Liquor said the owner was watching the store cameras as the SUV pulled into the parking lot. Once he saw the first assailant get out of the SUV and pull a mask over his face from him, the owner immediately went for his rifle.
The 80-year-old store owner did not hesitate to defend himself and his business when the suspect entered with his rifle pointing directly at him. Fox11
“He just prepared himself … and he stood right here, aimed and shot,” store manager Marnia Tapia told Fox11.
The two other suspects frantically drove off after the suspect who was shot ran shouting, “He shot my arm off,” into the car.Riverside County Sheriff’s Office
Employees said the owner was not at the store on Monday, but Fox11 reported the man suffered a heart attack right after the shooting. He is expected to recover and will be discharged from the hospital sometime Monday night.
Sheriff’s officials said the SUV used in the attempted robbery was stolen and numerous stolen firearms were also found inside the vehicle.
Johnson, Williams and Broadus were booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside for robbery and conspiracy. They are being held in jail in lieu of a $500,000 bail.
The primary suspect will also be booked at the facility once he is released from the hospital, officials said.
Premier Mark McGowan and billionaire Clive Palmer have been found to have defamed each other during their vicious war of words in 2020 — but the harm done was minor, according to the Federal Court — as they were the damages awarded.
Delivering his judgment today, Justice Michael Lee said the defenses of both sides to allegations of defamation had failed — and the back-and-forth barbs had been defamatory.
But because the Federal Court judge found that both were involved in political argument — as nasty as it was — finding “real or material” damage was almost impossible.
He declined to award claimed aggravated damages to Mr Palmer, and said he could not find he suffered any real damage from Mr McGowan’s comments.
He assessed the damage to Mr Palmer’s reputation warranted an award of $5,000.
And Justice Lee then pointed to Mr McGowan’s landslide election victory as to the fact his reputation was not damaged by Mr Palmer — and might actually have been enhanced.
However, he said Mr Palmer’s comments warranted an award of $20,000 to the Premier.
In summing up the case, Justice Lee said arguments that neither side was involved in political posturing was “unpersuasive and superficial”.
He said amid the feud, the pair had both taken the opportunities to advance their political stance — particularly Mr McGowan, who he said “had a bully pulpit”.
And he concluded the “game had not been worth the candle” — taking up valuable resources from the court and the WA taxpayer.
“These proceedings have not only involved considerable expenditure by Mr Palmer and the taxpayers of Western Australia, but have also consumed considerable resources of the Commonwealth and, importantly, diverted Court time from resolving controversies of real importance to persons who have a pressing need to litigate ,” Justice Lee said.
“At a time when public resources devoted to courts are under strain, and judicial resources are stretched, one might think that only a significant interference or attack causing real reputational damage and significant hurt to feelings should be subject of an action for defamation by a political figure.”
The defamation case between the Premier and the billionaire stemmed from public barbs traded more than two years ago, as the pandemic was still spreading — and with Mr Palmer’s $30 billion claim against WA not yet public.
In press conferences of varying ferocity, Mr McGowan labeled the mining magnate the “enemy of the state” and “the enemy of Australia.”
In response, Mr Palmer allegedly implied Mr McGowan lied to West Australians about the pandemic — and was willing to accept bribes from Chinese interests.
That prompted both Mr Palmer to sue, and Mr McGowan to sue right back – with both men called to personally give evidence, which at times bordered on the bizarre.
During the sometimes florid and emotional testimony, both Mr McGowan and his Queensland adversary made striking claims about how the other’s words had impacted.
The Premier linked the verbal Mr Palmer’s attacks on him to the threats of physical attack from others, which he said left him fearing for the safety of his wife and children.
He promotes these ideas. He encourages all these people to weaponise themselves physically against my family.
“He is the sort of person who gets a band of people out there who believe this stuff. A band of followers he acquires who get wound up and outraged,” Mr McGowan said.
“He promotes these ideas. He encourages all these people to weaponise themselves physically against my family.”
And Mr Palmer went as far as claiming he believed Mr McGowan had granted himself a James Bond-style “license to kill” – and might use it to murder the mining magnate and get away with it.
That clause, he claimed, was his reading of the so-called ‘Palmer Act’ – the extraordinary piece of legislation drafted and passed in haste to kill off Mr Palmer’s mega-bucks royalties claim from the Balmoral South iron ore project in the Pilbara region .
“I then thought about James Bond movies… how would you license someone to kill? I didn’t know what the limits might be,” Mr Palmer told the court.
WA Premier Mark McGowan. Credit: News Corp Australia
“I reached a view that that’s what I thought it enabled them to do if they wanted to at an extreme level… that was a level of concern.
“To my mind, that meant that they could make offenses under the criminal code and not be held liable for them.”
Embedded within the case — and teased out by the lawyers — were communications between Mr McGowan and state attorney general John Quigley, which revealed the level of enmity within the WA government towards Palmer.
In them, Mr Palmer was referred to as fat, as a liar, as a turd and as “the worst Australian who is not in jail.”
Mr Quigley texted that he was working on a “poison pill for the fat man”.
And the 73-year old attorney general even referenced his own love life, asking Mr McGowan: “Are you glad me single again?.”
“Not making love in sweet hours before dawn – instead worrying how to defeat Clive,” Mr Quigley admitted.
That opened him up to being called as a witness — which opened another can of worms. Because Mr Quigley’s performance on the witness stand prompted accusations that he lied on oath, and he had to admit making glaring errors in his evidence of him.
“I gave inaccurate evidence to the court,” Mr Quigley said. “I am embarrassed about them (the answers). What I said was wrong.
Justice Lee summed up his thoughts on Mr Quigley’s courtroom performance abruptly: “Not dishonest — but all over the shop”.
John Quigley. Credit: DEAN LEWINS/AAPIMAGE
In his summary to the case on Tuesday, Justice Lee cited a quote from British politician Enoch Powell, saying politicians complaining about the press was like a “ship’s captain complaining about the sea”.
And he said the war of words between Mr McGowan and Mr Palmer was the “hurly burly” of two politicians arguing about political issues — predominantly the WA response to the Covid 19 pandemic, and the state response to Mr Palmer’s claim of $30 billion in damages.
Justice Lee also commented that the legislation which blocked that claim proceeded with the “speed of summer lightning”.
He described Mr Palmer’s evidence that he feared for his life at the hands of the WA government was “fantastic” — and “so unbelievable” that it undermined his other evidence.
“Not safe to place any particular reliance on it,” Justice Lee said.
And on Mr McGowan, Justice Lee said he was largely an “impressive witness” — but sometimes fell into the “muscle memory” of non-responsive answers.
And of Mr Quigley, Justice Lee said his evidence was both “confused and confusing”.
“Being a confused witness is quite different from being a dishonest one,” Justice Lee said. “Mr Quigley was not a reliable historian of events.”
Arguments about costs of the case, and who will pay them, will be made later this month.
A multimillionaire dentist and big game hunter from Pennsylvania was found guilty of murder and mail fraud Monday for the shooting death of his wife on an African safari trip nearly six years earlier.
A grand jury found Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph, 67, guilty of gunning down his wife of 34 years, Bianca Rudolph, following a three-week-long trial in a Denver federal courthouse.
He was also convicted of mail fraud for cashing in $4.8 million in life insurance payments following his wife’s October 2016 death — which he claimed was accidental and self-inflicted.
Jurors sided with prosecutors who said Rudolph killed his wife in cold blood as part of a premediated plan to take the life insurance payouts and start a new life with his mistress of 20 years.
They said Rudolph shot his wife while on a hunting trip in Zambia on Oct. 11, 2016 and was overheard years later shouting out “I killed my f**king wife for you!” during an argument with the other woman, Lori Milliron, while out to dinner.
A Pennsylvania dentist faces a maximum term of life in prison or the death penalty after the death of his wife on an African safari. Facebook/Larry Rudolph
The wealthy dentist maintained his innocence during the trial and claimed Bianca Rudolph had accidentally shot herself in the chest while packing away a shotgun when he was in the bathroom. He said his wife de ella had been packing her bags in a hurry as she was in a rush to return home from the trip.
However, prosecutors said her gun wound couldn’t have been self-inflicted. They presented evidence that showed the shot to her heart of her had been fired from two feet to three-and-a-half feet away.
Prosecutors said Rudolph planned to murder his wife after she asked for more decision-making power in the couple’s finances and had demanded he fire Milliron.
Prosecutors argued that Rudolph, 67, killed his wife of 34 years to collect nearly $5 million in life insurance payments and start a new life with his mistress of 20 years.Facebook/Larry Rudolph
Rudolph’s lawyers said he had no reason to kill his wife for Milliron because the couple had been in an open relationship since 2000, which allowed them to have sexual relationships with others.
They also said he had no financial need for the life insurance payouts, which went into a trust for the couple’s children, when he was worth more than $15 million at the time. Investigators for the insurance companies concluded that the shooting was accidental and forked over nearly $5 million to the family.
Prosecutors claimed Milliron, who is the manager of Rudolph’s Pittsburgh-area dental franchise, became privy to the murder after the fact. They accused her of lying to a federal grand jury about her case and her relationship with Rudolph.
Rudolph says the millions in life insurance payments went to the couple’s children, pictured above. AP
She was also found guilty by the same jury of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of a grand jury and two counts of perjury before a grand jury. She was found not guilty on two other counts of perjury.
Rudolph faces a maximum term of life in prison or the death penalty.
The partner of a 34-year-old Perth man found dead in the garage of his Alkimos home has been charged with his manslaughter.
Police will allege Jordan Chas Caine was killed sometime between Friday and early Saturday with his body discovered at the Minoan Way home just after 6am on Sunday.
Brittany McCulloch, who sources say was Mr Caine’s partner, was arrested at the time and has now been charged with unlawfully killing Mr Caine under such circumstances as not to constitute murder.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.
Forensic officers combed the scene at the home on Minoan Way in Alkimos. Credit: michael wilson/The West Australian
The 28-year-old woman appeared calm when she faced the Joondalup Magistrates Court on Tuesday and confirmed she understood her charge after a short pause when it was read out by the magistrate.
During the hearing, Ms McCulloch’s lawyer said she would not be making a bail application and asked to adjourn the matter for legal advice.
On Sunday, Deputy Police Commissioner Allan Adams said there was a “solid contingent” of homicide squad and local detectives working to determine the man’s cause of death.
“To those neighbors in the vicinity who have concerns, be assured that the police are taking this extremely seriously (which is) evidenced by the number of officers there and are very hopeful of coming to a resolution in the short term,” he said at the time.
Police said they were not looking for anyone else in relation to death and there was no threat to the community.
“There is a person helping police with their investigations but again, there’s still a fair bit of work to be done to determine exactly what’s occurred at that scene,” Mr Adams said.
Ms McCulloch will next appear at the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on September 14.
