Simon Gittany's girlfriend

Rachelle Louise in a clip from a music video in 2011

It didn't take long for Simon Gittany to replace Lisa Harnum with another beautiful woman.  It wasn't a good look and gave the impression he recovered from his fiance's death rather quickly. What isn't clear is why his new girlfriend, who uses the stage name Rachelle-Louise, and her mother, never doubted his innocence.

Her real name is Rachelle Louise Welcome.  She's a model, an aspiring actress and hopes to write a book about her love affair with Gittany. Yesterday her mother said her daughter is a strong, smart woman, in love with an "innocent man" and she had no concerns about her safety while she was with him.  "He's a kind and considerate man" she said.

Did they not hear Lisa's mother tell the court how in her final days, Gittany forced her to kneel before him and "submit" to him?

Rachael Louise grew up in Sydney and worked for the Commonwealth Bank before heading overseas.  She worked for a while at the Spearmint Rhino gentleman's club in Vegas and as a masseuse in London.

You would expect Rachael's mother to be thankful  her daughter has had a narrow escape.  Now that Gittany is in prison, she's been spared a dangerous future with a controlling, violent man.  "I'm not relieved he's gone to jail, I feel desolate, I feel empty, I woke up this morning and felt physically ill" she said.

Someone suggested to Mrs Welcome that her daughter being filmed with Gittany coming to and from court was a stunt.  "Why would we all be upset and losing sleep and putting ourselves through this if it were all an act?" she said.

So there we have it, even with all the evidence against him, Simon Gittany still has the power to convince two women he's innocent.

Yesterday, Lisa Harnum's mother and her brother Jason took the first plane back to Canada, their shocking ordeal finally over.  They arrived at Sydney airport with detectives who worked on the case and gave each one an emotional hug goodbye.

Mrs Harnum was wearing a white ribbon, symbol of the campaign to stop violence against women.