Contents |
1. Who is Charlene? -- 2. Charlene's final illness -- 3. Change of diagnosis -- 4. Family's life changes forever -- 5. After the arrest -- 6. Enter expert witness witnesses for the defence -- 7. First trial -- 8. Short-lived freedom -- 9. Waiting days -- 10. Further forensic testing -- 11. Expert medical witnesses for the second trial -- 12. Double jeopardy in actino -- 13. Legal ramifications -- 14. Good versus bad science -- 15. Conclusion -- Aftermath. |
Abstract |
This book tells the story of the case of George Gwaze, twice charged and twice acquitted of the rape and murder of his ten-year-old adopted niece, Charlene Makaza. When Charlene is found unconscious one morning, gasping for breath, with a high fever and lying in a pool of diarrhoea, her family rush her to the Christchurch 24-hour clinic. She is treated for overwhelming sepsis and transferred to hospital. Sadly her life cannot be saved and at 1.00am she dies. During the course of Charlene's short illness the diagnosis shifts from infection to sexual assault and homicide, and her grieving family find themselves publicly engulfed in a criminal investigation. What unfolds next is a surreal set of events so improbable that they seem fictitious. Murder that Wasn't meticulously explores the facts surrounding this case, based on scientific, medical and court records and individual interviews, to tell this family's extraordinary story. |
Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
Genre/form | Electronic books. |
LCCN | 2017431027 |
ISBN | 9781877578991 (paperback) |