Want to Kill your Partner? Take a trip to Australia!

A case of Judicial Comedy...

I just stumbled upon this story while checking recent legal news. A blog post by Kelly Buchanan entitled "When Legal Systems Collide – The Case of the “Honeymoon Killer”" got me quite frustrated over the legal system in Australia.

The story goes like this:
A US couple comes on a honeymoon trip to Australia in 2003. The wife dies during a scuba diving session. The husband goes back to the US. The investigation continues. By 2008 it is found that the husband himself could be the killer. At this stage the man 'voluntarily' returns from the US and pleads guilty to manslaughter. He is sentenced for a jail term of 18 months. Yes, you read it right, 18 'months' not 'years' for ending the life of a young woman in such a gruesome manner!

The story continues... Now a presecutor in Alabama which is the place the couple stayed in the US, wants to charge the husband with murder. They seek information from Australia regarding the case... But well, it is not that easy.

Australia needs an assuarance that the man would not be handed down a death penalty. The Alabama Attorney General agrees to the demand. However, at this stage the Australian Federal Government wants an assuarance from the US Federal Government to the effect that no death penalty shall be given to the guilty. And the dilly-dallying is still continuing...

It just got me thinking...

1) Would any sane judge think it as a sufficient punishment to a cold-blooded murderer to hand him down a sentence of 18 months?

2) Why are they so particular that no death penalty would be imposed on the husband in the US? Is it not an acceptance of the fact that if justly tried, the crime was one which warranted the highest punishment?

3) At the time the trial was going on in Australia the prosecutor asked for a sentence of 5 years whereas the husband's Lawyer asked for a sentence of 4 years. And the judge handed him a sentence of 18 months.

At the end of reading the accounts of this case, it leaves such a bitter feeling in your mouth towards the Australian way of handling the issue.

However as it stands at present, I think there is another angle the Australians can look at:

Market the country as a tourism destination (as they already do) where you can get rid of your difficult partners, accept the hospitality of a few months in Australian prison and walk out free... A USP that no one will miss...