Anu Singh

Infobox Criminal
subject_name = Anu Singh


image_size =
image_caption =
date_of_birth = Birth date and age|df=yes|1972|9|3
place_of_birth =
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
alias =
charge =
conviction = Manslaughter
penalty = 10 years imprisonment
status = Released
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

Anu Singh (born 3 September 1972) is an Australian of Indian descent who, in 1997, while a law student at the Australian National University, killed her boyfriend, Joe Cinque. She laced his coffee with Rohypnol, then injected him with heroin. The crime was very widely reported in Australia. Since her release from prison, Singh has attracted controversy with her stated career aims with regard to the justice system.

Joe Cinque's death

In 1997, Singh and Cinque lived together in Canberra. A friend of Singh's told her 1998 trial that Singh had been obsessed with her body starting from 1991 and had briefly taken Ipecac after Cinque mentioned it, something she was later angry with him for. In May 1997 she told a friend that she wanted to kill a number of people, including Cinque and her doctors. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Accused Spoke Of Rampage, Court Told|date=1998-10-24|work=The Canberra Times]

Singh's close friend Madhavi Rao invited acquaintances to two dinner parties in October 1997 and told them that a terrible crime would be committed.cite news|title=ACT Law Students "conspire To Kill"|last=Armitage|first=Liz|work=The Canberra Times|date=1997-11-05] Witness Sanjeeva Tennekoon reported that the first dinner party on 24 October was normal and that Singh and Cinque appeared loving [cite news|title=Singh And Boyfriend Appeared To Be Happy Couple: Witness|last=Armitage|first=Liz|date=1998-11-06] but another witness told the court that Rao had told her afterwards that Singh had tried to kill Cinque that evening but could not deliver a sufficient dose, and that the witness had threatened to go to the police. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Witness Tells Court Of Murder Plan|date=1998-11-07|work=The Canberra Times] The day after the first dinner party, Singh and Rao went to a friend, Len Mancini, and told him they had given Cinque drugs the previous evening. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Accused Wanted To Kill Herself: Friend|date=1998-11-11|work=The Canberra Times]

Cinque died on 26 October 1997, the morning after the second dinner party. The toxicology reports showed high levels of heroin and Rohypnol in his body. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|work=The Canberra Times|date=1997-12-31|title=Passions Parade Before The Bench]

Witness Ross Manley claimed that Singh bought further heroin from Manley's friend Paul Tobin on the morning of October 26. Singh called an ambulance for Cinque at 12:10pm on October 26, and the ambulance officers found that he had had a cardiac arrest. [cite news|title=Man's Death 'Not To Plan'|date=1998-10-21|work=The Newcastle Herald] cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|date=1998-10-29|work=The Canberra Times|title=Singh "nervous" Buying Heroin, Court Hears ] She made it difficult for the ambulance to respond quickly, giving false information about where she lived. [cite news|date=1998-02-13|last=Whittington|first=Josh|title=20-minute 000 call|work=The Daily Telegraph (Australia)|publisher=News Corporation] Singh told police at the scene that she had administered drugs to Cinque. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Drug Death: Law Student To Stand Trial|date=1998-04-23|work=The Canberra Times|quote=And I had some heroin and I just kept pumping it into him.] Police reported that when they arrived at the scene, Singh was hysterical and struggled with police and ambulance officers when they took her away from Cinque's body. [cite news|last=Whittington|first=Josh|title=A Very Broad Smile: Officer Tells of Accused's Action|date=1998-10-22|work=The Daily Telegraph (Australia)|publisher=News Corporation]

Trial and imprisonment

Singh first appeared in court on 28 October 1997 charged with murder. She had told police that she had injected Cinque with heroin so that he would not interfere with a suicide attempt. [cite news|title=Woman On Murder Charge|date=1997-10-28|work=The Canberra Times] Madhavi Rao was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and released on bail on 5 November. [cite news|title=Bail For Student Linked To Party Murder|last=Armitage|first=Liz|work=The Canberra Times|date=1997-11-06] The prosecutor noted that both Singh and Rao had been indiscreet about their actions. Singh applied for bail in December, and a psychiatrist presented evidence of a personality disorder. [cite news|title=Murder Case Bail Decision Adjourned|date=1997-12-05|work=The Canberra Times]

Singh and Rao were tried jointly in October and November 1998, but this trial was aborted on 11 November, with Justice Ken Crispin saying that one of the pieces of evidence was problematic as it was unclear as to which of Singh or Rao it was admissible against. [cite news|title=Law student trial aborted|date=1998-11-12|work=The Daily Telegraph (Australia)] For her second trial, Singh elected to stand trial by judge alone, forgoing a jury. Crispin ruled that Singh and Rao had to have separate trials in the interest of fairness. [cite news|title=Murder Accused To Face Trial By Judge|date=1998-11-17|work=The Canberra Times]

In her 1999 trial, Singh's defence presented evidence that Singh was mentally ill and had diminished responsibility. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Defendant Vain, Self-centred: Expert Witness |work=The Canberra Times|date=1999-04-13] The prosecutors called an expert witness to testify that Singh had appeared rational and assertive on the night she was arrested. [cite news|last=Armitage|first=Liz|title=Singh Was "rational" On Night Charged|date=1999-04-15|work=The Canberra Times] On 23 April Crispin found Singh not guilty of murder due to diminished responsibility, but guilty of manslaughter. [cite news|title=Impaired, guilty of manslaughter.|date=1999-04-23|work=The Canberra Times] On 24 June she was sentenced to ten year's imprisonment with four years of non-parole period, including the time she had served since 1997. [cite news|last=Ludlow|first=Mark|title=Quick Parole For Killer|date=1998-06-25|work=The Canberra Times] Cinque's mother was deeply unhappy with the short sentence. [cite news|title=ACT - Woman who killed boyfriend may be free in 2001|last=Hamilton|first=Fiona|date=1999-06-24|publisher=Australian Associated Press]

Madhavi Rao's trial

Rao was tried separately in late 1999 on charges of murder, manslaughter, attempted murder and administering a stupefying drug. [cite news|last=Dickins|first=Jim|title=A Dark, Twisted Saga Ends With Acquittal|date=1999-12-11|work=The Canberra Times] On 10 December Rao was found not guilty of all charges against her. Crispin found that there was reasonable doubt that she had assisted in the attempt and rejected the prosecutor's argument that Rao had a legal duty of care to Cinque. [cite news|last=Moscaritolo|first=Maria|title=Cleared of heroin murder|date=1999-12-11|work=The Daily Telegraph (Australia)|publisher=News Corporation] As of 2004 Rao was married and no longer lived in Australia.

In literature

Singh's actions have been the subject of fiction and non-fiction in Australia. Helen Garner's book "Joe Cinque's Consolation", published 2004, was a widely publicised account of Singh's crime and trial, together with the Cinque family's response to it. Singh's actions were also the inspiration for a play, "Criminology" by Tom Wright and Lally Katz, performed at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre in August 2007. [cite news|last=Usher|first=Robin|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/joe-cinques-alteration-remaking-a-tragic-story/2007/08/07/1186252702671.html|title=Joe Cinque's alteration: remaking a tragic story|date=2007-08-08|accessdate=2008-05-24|publisher=Fairfax Media|work=The Age]

After release

Singh was released on parole in October 2001, but returned to jail in April 2004 after breaching her parole conditions by smoking marijuana.cite news|last=Wyndham|first=Susan|title=On death and madness|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/08/1091903447496.html|date=2004-08-09|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=2008-05-24] She was released on 5 August 2004, in the same month that "Joe Cinque's Consolation" was published, after challenging her re-imprisonment on a technicality. [cite episode |title=Another chapter in Canberra murder story: Anu Singh speaks |url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1170734.htm |series=The World Today |credits=Jayne-Maree Sedgman (reporter) |network=ABC |station=ABC Local Radio |airdate=2004-08-06 ] cite news | first=Rosemary | last=Neill | title=Of sins and needles | work=The Australian | publisher=News Corporation| date=2005-05-30 | accessdate=2006-06-28]

Singh gave interviews shortly after the release of the book, recounting her own memories of the killing and expressing regret at not agreeing to an interview by Garner. She told interviewers that she wished to redress some of the book's imbalance towards her.cite episode |title=Joe Cinque is Dead |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2004/1205918.htm|credits=Anne Delaney (producer) and Philip Adams (interviewer)|series=Late Night Live|serieslink=Late Night Live|network=ABC |station=Radio National|airdate=2004-09-23]

Singh has completed a masters in criminology at Sydney University, having attended classes on day release from Emu Plains Correctional Centre. [cite news|last=Devine|first=Miranda|title=Her new career's to die for|date=2005-06-05|accessdate=2008-05-23|work=The Sun Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|url= [http://www.smh.com.au/news/miranda-devine/her-new-careers-to-die-for/2005/06/04/1117825101481.html]

In June 2005, concern was expressed in the New South Wales Parliament about Singh's employment with the Cabramatta Community Centre. [cite web | last = Oldfield | first = David | authorlink = David Oldfield (politician) | coauthors = | year = 2005 | url = http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/5f584b237987507aca256d09008051f3/e92fc48683d427fdca2570260073ab32!OpenDocument
title = Ms Anu Singh and needle distribution program | format = | work = New South Wales Legislative Council Hansard: Questions without notice | publisher = Parliament of New South Wales | accessdate = 2006-06-28] The public were reassured that Singh was not employed to distribute clean injecting equipment and that her employment was on a time-limited project. [cite web | last = New South Wales Minister for Health| year = 2005 | url = http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/HansArt.nsf/5f584b237987507aca256d09008051f3/d6bf2a9a42176119ca257085000fed67!OpenDocument
title = Ms Anu Singh and needle distribution program | format = | work = New South Wales Legislative Council Hansard: Questions without notice; Deferred answers | publisher = Parliament of New South Wales | accessdate = 2006-06-28] In 2005, a documentary was being made about Singh by James Ricketson which covered her employment in Cabramatta. The documentary was reportedly to be called "Atonement".

References

External links

* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1999/66.html R v Singh (1999) ACTSC 66 (24 June 1999)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1999/32.html R v Singh (1999) ACTSC 32 (23 April 1999)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1999/27.html R v Singh (1999) ACTSC 27 (12 April 1999)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1999/28.html R v Singh (1999) ACTSC 28 (12 April 1999)]
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1999/26.html R v Singh (1999) ACTSC 26 (29 March 1999)]