By NOEL MURPHY
THREE Geelong travellers accused of murder in Peru say court proceedings have backed their innocence.
Jessica Vo and Tom and Hugh Hanlon are among the six young Australians accused of murdering Lino Rodriguez Vilchez at their Lima hotel in January 2012.
Police allege they the doorman from a 15th floor apartment in a dispute over noise.
Their case has drawn international attention and high-level government talks between Australia and Peru.
The six have posted on a Facebook support site reports claiming witnesses appearing in the case had presented nothing that “remotely substantiates” the prosecutors accusations against them.
“Not one person said they heard or complained about loud music. No one said the Australians were drunk. No one heard a fight. No one saw Mr Rodriguez fall,” they posted.
“There is no evidence that he was in the apartment 1501 on the day of his death and the forensics prove he fell from the other side of the building.
“The testimony of the maintenance attendant who was on duty on the day states that he was pressured by the Rodriguez family not to make a statement and the police also pressured him to give a certain version of events.”
The six said another witness, who lived in the apartment building, also had difficulties with the investigating police. She gave photographic evidence and a written statement to the police immediately after the death of Mr Rodriguez but they ignored and failed to file the information, the six posted.
The group described as “unbelievable” police testimony they did not enter the Australian’s apartment to obtain evidence and only investigated the public areas of the building.
“Their forensics report was based on photos provided by the police rather than their own observations,” the Facebook post stated.
“They declared that it was possible that the parabolic trajectory and the body’s initial momentum could have been caused by the victim’s own impulse and not necessarily through the involvement of a third party.
“The forensic officers further declared that it was not possible to determine when the marks on the walls were made and that the prints were now concealed by paint owing to routine maintenance taking place on the building since the time of the incident.”
The six are scheduled to appear in a Lima court on 30 September and 1 and 2 October.
