Overview
- Prosecutors say Raelene Polymiadis injected her mother on March 12 and again before her death on March 16, 2022, and that her father was found with a large amount of insulin and died on May 1, 2023.
- The prosecution will point to toxicology reports attributing both deaths to insulin toxicity, Polymiadis’s access to the same type of insulin she used for diabetes, a past remark that insulin was a ‘perfect murder weapon,’ and recorded private comments and notes seized by police.
- The defence contests identity and causation, arguing the mother’s long list of health problems and entry to end‑of‑life care could explain her death and that the father may have self‑administered or lost his will to live.
- Major crime detectives only became involved after the father’s death and the court will hear witnesses, hospital staff and experts over a multi‑week trial about how samples were taken and analysed.
- Expert testimony now being tested will examine how insulin is detected, the risks of contamination or misreading in blood tests, and whether those technical questions could leave reasonable doubt for the jury.