Photographs depicting the half-naked corpse of murdered Ipswich schoolgirl Leanne Holland have been posted on a website dedicated to gore.
The three graphic images of Leanne's 12-year-old body laying in bushland west of Brisbane, where she was found, were posted online yesterday.
Sources have indicated to brisbanetimes.com.au the photographs are legitimate. Police were vague when asked to confirm the authenticity of the photos.
"It is disappointing that photographs of this nature find their way in the public domain," a spokesperson said.
The photographs have emerged as police review the investigation into the brutal murder of the 12-year-old.
Leanne's severely battered body was found near her family's Goodna home three days after she went missing in September 1991.
Graham Stafford was jailed for 15 years for the murder, before his conviction was quashed on Christmas Eve 2009.
The website, which is understood to be controlled by at least four people, makes reference to evidence made during Mr Stafford's appeal.
It also reveals details of the nature of the injuries apparent on Leanne's body.
The images - which resemble crime scene photos - raise questions as to how they got into public hands.
After a retrial of Mr Stafford was ruled out in March, claims surfaced that a police informant may have been the murderer.
A woman known only as `Kim' told Fairfax Radio 4BC her natural father had helped police in the murder investigation and had shown her photographs of Leanne's body.
Private investigator Graeme Crowley, who co-authored Who Killed Leanne? with Bond University criminologist Paul Wilson, told 4BC at the time those post-mortem photographs had been circulated in prison.
Queensland Police commissioner Bob Atkinson announced on May 2 investigators would re-examine evidence and re-interview witnesses in the case.
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COMMENT: Two families have suffered for almost 20 years as a result of the death of Goodna
schoolgirl Leanne Holland. What sort of sickos could possibly take any delight in posting photos
of her body on the internet. This is one of the most disgraceful uses of the internet imaginable.
Have the morals of our society degenerated so much that we cannot afford any decency or privacy
to the deceased or her family. Some people argue that the internet should be free for people to
post whatever they want. Freedom of speech is a right, but it is a right which must be tempered
with public morals, decency, honesty and compassion. Whoever is responsible for this latest
internet disgrace should have the decency to remove this offensive material immediately and not
cause any more hurt to family members who have suffered enough over the past two decades.
PaulGTully@gmail.com
COMMENT: Two families have suffered for almost 20 years as a result of the death of Goodna
schoolgirl Leanne Holland. What sort of sickos could possibly take any delight in posting photos
of her body on the internet. This is one of the most disgraceful uses of the internet imaginable.
Have the morals of our society degenerated so much that we cannot afford any decency or privacy
to the deceased or her family. Some people argue that the internet should be free for people to
post whatever they want. Freedom of speech is a right, but it is a right which must be tempered
with public morals, decency, honesty and compassion. Whoever is responsible for this latest
internet disgrace should have the decency to remove this offensive material immediately and not
cause any more hurt to family members who have suffered enough over the past two decades.
PaulGTully@gmail.com
