See no evil, hear no evil -2004

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Deaf man killed over noise

From correspondents in Brisbane
20sep04

A BLIND man was jailed for eight years today for killing a deaf man by slashing his throat because he was enraged by the noise coming from his stereo and television.

George Gerard Goeldner, 49, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court for the manslaughter of Francis John Butcher, 54, on January 4, 2002.


Both men lived at the Aid For The Blind Complex at Fairfield on Brisbane's southside.

Prosecutor Michael Byrne said the men's units were 20 metres apart and Goeldner had made numerous complaints to management about the noise from Mr Butcher's unit. Mr Byrne said Mr Butcher had been given head phones but wasn't using them because they were uncomfortable in the extreme summer heat.




Goeldner is 90 per cent blind and Mr Butcher was profoundly deaf, and had worked as a city based charity collector for the Aid For The Blind Association for decades.

Mr Byrne said Goeldner snapped when he heard Mr Butcher at the administration office telling staff he intended to have a good weekend, believing this meant he would be making a lot of noise.

Goeldner rushed out with a serrated kitchen knife and saw Mr Butcher at the letter boxes and put it to his throat.

He claimed Mr Butcher who had a prosthetic limb and depended on crutches, slipped from his grasp and his throat was slashed after he could no longer support his weight. Justice James Douglas said psychiatrists agreed that Goeldner was of impaired mental capacity because of brain damage, depression and inadequate epilepsy medication.







http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E1702,00.html

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