Murder of Allison Baden-Clay

Allison June Baden-Clay (née Dickie) was an Australian woman whose body was discovered on 30 April 2012, ten days after she was reported missing by her husband Gerard. On 13 June 2012, Gerard was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. On 15 July 2014, he was found guilty and given a life sentence. Gerard appealed the conviction and on 8 December 2015, it was downgraded to manslaughter. In August 2016, the High Court of Australia re-instated the murder conviction. Background: Gerard Robert Baden-Clay was born Gerard Clay in Bournemouth, England, on 9 September 1970. His family migrated to Rhodesia in 1980, where they changed their family name to "Baden-Clay" to associate the family with his father's grandfather, Lord Baden-Powell of Scouting fame. Gerard Baden-Clay would later use other pseudonyms in his increasingly secret fantasy life. The Baden-Clay family later migrated to Australia. Allison June Dickie married Gerard on 23 August 1997. Disappearance of Allison: At 7:30 am on Friday, 20 April 2012, Gerard reported Allison missing from their home at 593 Brookfield Road, Brookfield, Queensland. He claimed she went for a walk at 10 pm the night before and had not returned home. On 30 April, a woman's body was found by a canoeist at Kholo Creek, Anstead, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the Baden-Clay home in Brookfield. The following day, the body was confirmed to be Allison. Her funeral was held in Ipswich on 11 May. Trial and conviction of Gerard: On 13 June 2012, Gerard was formally interviewed at Indooroopilly police station and charged with Allison's murder and for interfering with her corpse. He maintained his innocence and said he would "be strenuously defending the charges". Gerard's bail application was denied on 22 June because Justice David Boddice said he posed a "significant flight risk". The trial began in the Brisbane Supreme Court on 10 June 2014. Gerard pleaded not guilty to the charges. On 15 July, he was found guilty of murdering Allison and disposing her body. He was given a life sentence with a non-parole period of fifteen years. Appeal of the conviction: On 7 August 2015, Gerard appealed his conviction. On 8 December, his conviction was downgraded to manslaughter. In an unusual move, the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the downgrade. On 31 August 2016, the High Court of Australia subsequently restored the original trial murder conviction. In February 2017, Allison's father was appointed the executor of her estate. It was ruled that Gerard Baden-Clay was not entitled to any benefits from her death. Legacy of Alison's murder: The Allison Baden-Clay Foundation was launched on 31 July 2015. Its aim is to "create a Queensland community that acknowledges the prevalence of domestic and family violence". In March 2018, the first annual scholarship in Allison's memory for an aspiring ballet dancer was announced by the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who had known Allison as a child.