Dianne Brimble Case

It's been nearly 8 years since Dianne Brimble was found dead on the floor of a cabin on the Pacific Sky cruise ship. Mark Wilhelm finally owned up to giving her the drug believed to have contributed to her death and he was charged with manslaughter. But there was a deal done and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of supplying an illegal drug and escaped a gaol sentence.


The autopsy showed she died from a combination of an overdose of alcohol and the illegal drug GHB also known as "fantasy" or the date rape drug. Wilhelm and Mrs Brimble met in the nightclub and went back to his cabin and had sex.



At the first trial, the court heard that Mrs Brimble willingly took the drug but it was complicated. Wilhelm was still responsible for her manslaughter if the jury found he had supplied her with the drug that "significantly contributed" to her death. The jury could not reach a verdict and after 4 weeks they had a hung jury. So they had to have another trial.


Many people were distressed that Wilhelm escaped punishment but it was noted in court that his life had been "destroyed" in the years following the inquest and trials. "No punishment I can give will be anything like the punishment he has suffered over the years" Justice Roderick Howie said at the time of sentencing. He's breaking my heart - not!


Yesterday, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Nicholas Cowdery said that justice had been done in the Dianne Brimble case. Surely he jests. There are no words to describe the way these men behaved towards this poor woman and the treatment she received at their hands is hard to believe. I think Mr Cowdrey is an ass.

Nicholas Cowdery made the comments yesterday at a book launch, Abandoned - The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble. He heaped praise on the author Geesche Jacobsen. He said she charted every aspect of the case from the time Mrs Brimble boarded the Pacific Sky with her sister, daughter and niece, to the final moments of the of Wilheim's trial.

"As we might expect from a professional of her education, competence and experience and high reputation, Geesche has tackled an extraordinarily complex and drawn-out case spanning almost eight years."

Abandoned - The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble is published by Allen and Unwin