Dropped case shocks family

Hamish Heard
A decision to drop charges against a woman accused of murdering four of her children in Geelong has disappointed their father’s family.
Prosecutors this week ditched their bid to take Bannockburn’s Carol Matthey, 28, to trial on murder charges over the deaths of four children, aged 10 weeks to three years, between 1998 and 2003.
The decision to drop the case followed a judge ruling some evidence against her as inadmissible.
Counsel for Ms Matthey, Paul Lacava SC, told the Independent Ms Matthey’s grief was “both profound and ongoing”.
But a close relative of her husband, Stephen Matthey, said yesterday the family was in shock over the dropped charges.
“It’s disappointing for the kids, knowing they can’t rest without everyone knowing exactly what happened,” the family member said.
The relative said Bannockburn residents were comparing Ms Matthey to Lindy Chamberlain because of her demeanour throughout the court proceedings.
The family member said residents were surprised to see Ms Matthey at the town’s hotel just hours after walking free from court.
Ms Matthey’s legal ordeal began in 2005 when homicide detectives charged her with four counts of murder.
The charges followed the 1998 and 2000 deaths of seven month old Jacob Matthey and Chloe Matthey, two months, who authorities believed had died of sudden infant death syndrome. In 2002 a third child, three-month old Joshua, stopped breathing and died in Corio car park.
His three year old sister, Shania, died the following year when she stopped breathing a day after falling from a coffee table.
Mr Lacava praised the decision not to pursue the murder charges.
“It’s a sad case but thank God that in this country everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said.