Almost got away with it
A COLD hearted killer mum almost escaped justice over one of the state’s most shocking child deaths until an extraordinary mistake in an autopsy report was uncovered.
In a bizarre twist, the error was only found when a senior pathologist was paid by fouryear-old Tyrell Cobb’s accused killer to review the case, sparking a complaint to the corruption watchdog and questions over government doctors moonlighting as defence witnesses.
The pathologist then ordered the junior doctor who wrote the original report to alter the evidence, which put the boy’s mother – Heidi Strbak – in the frame for the killing.
At the time it prompted outraged police to lodge a complaint to the state’s corruption watchdog about the senior pathologist’s conduct, which raised questions over whether government pathologists should be allowed to act as private guns for hire to accused killers facing trial.
Speaking for the first time about the case, Detective Sergeant Marcus Edwards said while investigators were ultimately satisfied with the altered report that saw Strbak convicted of manslaughter, more transparency was needed in the department.
Almost a decade before Tyrell’s stepfather Matthew Scown made headlines for grinning on the street after being handed a reduced sentence for testifying against Strbak, he was the only person in the frame for the boy’s killing.
The original autopsy report, done by a junior pathologist, showed Tyrell’s fatal injuries were inflicted during a time frame in which Scown was alone with him on May 24, 2009.
Shortly before his committal hearing in 2010, now deceased Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services senior pathologist Dr Anthony Ansford was paid by Scown to review the report, Det Sgt Edwards said.
Citing three journal articles by experts in the field, Dr Ansford is alleged to have told the junior pathologist the time frame during which Tyrell could have sustained his fatal injuries would have been much longer than originally thought and ordered him to change his report.
“(The pathologist) issues an amended autopsy report that said the child’s injuries could have occurred up to 48 hours earlier ... and the case gets thrown out at committal because literally, there wasn’t a leg to stand on,” the 21-year veteran police officer said.
Det Sgt Edwards made a complaint to the CCC about the senior pathologist’s conduct, which found Dr Ansford who left Queensland Health in 2013 - had not breached his contractual obligations by consulting to Scown’s legal team.
“The issue was not that the report changed the timeline because we eventually did get to the truth...” he said.
“If you overlay the influence Dr Ansford had... as a direct supervisor, there should have been a lot more transparency surrounding his engagement by defence in a paid capacity.
“At the time I was unaware his employment contract allowed him to do private consultation but the ethical thing to do would have been to take the money, do the report and not discuss it with (the other pathologist) ...
“Instead, he didn’t even need to do a report because he’d already (ordered the change).
A Queensland Health spokesperson said the current code of conduct meant forensic pathologists were no longer able to accept external consultancy work with defence teams in the state.
After the failed prosecution of Scown, Det Sgt Edwards headed up a team that was in 2011 tasked to review Tyrell’s case.
After contacting new medical specialists they uncovered what would be the key to the investigation — healed “smiley face” lighter burns on the inside of Tyrell’s ankles.
“Specialists indicated these injuries would have been sustained before Scown was with Heidi Strbak,” Det Sgt Edwards said.
They soon discovered other another witness had seen Strbak give herself the same burns and police began reviewing Scown’s jail phone calls where he questioned why Strbak was not also behind bars over the killing.
The final piece of the puzzle was visiting Strbak’s old neighbours at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast, where she had lived with Tyrell before moving to her parents’ home shortly before the four-year-old was killed.
Tyrell Cobb died on the evening of Sunday May 24, 2009 from abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
In October last year, Scown pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Brisbane Supreme Court on the basis he didn’t get medical help for the child.
He was given a jail term of four years’ but released immediately after serving almost three years on remand.
One month later, Heidi Strbak was found responsible for the death of her son after the court found there was no compelling evidence that her ex-boyfriend had inflicted the fatal blow.
She was sentenced to nine years in jail and will be eligible for parole in October 2021 but has appealed her sentence.
“I’m satisfied we got the right person,” Det Sgt Edwards said.
“Without knowing anything about the case people just saw meek and mild Heidi Strbak and thought: ‘Well, she just looks like a mum’.
“People truly don’t understand how evil she is.”