Verdict due on death in Paris

Jeannette O'Keefe

Kevin and Susan O’Keefe with a photo of their daughter, Jeanette. Picture: Darryl Gregory
Source: Herald Sun




A VERDICT is expected tomorrow at the trial of a Frenchman accused of the brutal murder of a Melbourne woman more than a decade ago.


Jeannette O’Keefe, 28, was allegedly strangled, her body rolled into a sleeping bag and dumped in a carpark in Les Mureaux, northwest Paris, 11 years ago.

Brazilian-born Adriano Araujo Da Silva, 36, is accused of her murder.

He was arrested by police eight years after the murder when DNA found under Ms O’Keefe’s fingernails matched Mr Da Silva’s when his genetic profile was entered into a database after an arrest for petty theft.

The body of the Melbourne woman, a computer programmer, was found on January 2, 2001, after a series of events left her alone on New Year’s Eve.

She had vacated her rented apartment and was due to spend New Year’s Eve with a French friend.

A lawyer for O’Keefe’s family, Caty Richard, described her final hours.

“On December 31 she had handed back the keys to her flat, but was not due to fly home to Australia until January 2. She was due to meet a French friend who was an hour late,” Ms Richard said.

“She called an Australian friend, but he was also an hour late, so she set off on a suburban train to head to her French friend’s house, and met this young man, who must have sensed her vulnerability,” she said.

O’Keefe’s sister Denise pleaded for answers at the opening of the trial.

“The question is why, why, why?” she asked.

Mr Da Silva denies murdering Ms O’Keefe. He said he took her home, where they argued, he gave her his sleeping bag and she left.

The Assize Court of Versailles is due to reach a verdict tomorrow.

 

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