Bruce Lehrmann received an anonymous email warning that people would “come for him” and that it would be a “magical 2021” just days before Brittany Higgins made explosive rape allegations against him.
Lehrmann filed lawsuits last month against Lisa Wilkinson, Channel 10, digital website news.com.au and journalist Samantha Maiden for defamation.
Her legal action is over a television interview and online article from February 15, 2021, where Ms Higgins alleged she was raped at Parliament House in March 2019.
But new court documents just released by the Federal Court reveal that a mysterious message was sent to Mr. Lehrmann from a fake email address using his name.
It was sent at 11:11pm on January 25, 2021, the same night sexual assault survivor Grace Tame was named Australian of the Year, who is also referenced in the mysterious emails.
Bruce Lehrmann received an ominous email warning that people would “come for him” just days before Brittany Higgins (pictured with Lisa Wilkinson) made her explosive rape allegations.
New court documents just released by the Federal Court reveal that a strange email was sent to Mr. Lehrmann from a fake email address in his name.
Pictured: Bruce Lehrmann in front of the New South Wales Federal Court in March
“Bruce, a woman spoke out about what happened to her tonight and she is Aussie of the Year,” the email read.
‘I want you to think about what you did and what might be around the corner for you.
“It is inspiring when justice is done and the truth comes out. You know what they said: The truth will set you free.
‘How many people know what you did and how many did you tell them?
‘How many cameras are in Parliament House and how many people tracked the vision.
‘Think about it. Two former Australian staff members, now security guards.
‘It’s going to be a magical 2021.’
The email, from brucelehrmann1@outlook.com, was sent to Mr. Lehrmann’s personal hotmail account and later turned over to police on April 19, 2021.
Court documents revealed that he had received an earlier email on January 15 with the subject line “The truth will come out,” which Mr. Lehrmann unsubscribed from, revealing that it had been sent from an anonymous email portal.
Details of the content of that email were not disclosed in the court files, apart from the subject line.
In a police statement, Lehrmann said he had received the two emails before Higgins’ allegations.
“There were, ah, two emails from a domain name that I didn’t own,” he said during an interview with police.
In an email to police, he later added: “I am forwarding as requested the two emails I received.
‘One from the following address which I don’t own or have ever set up and the second from what appears to be an online system for sending an email.
“I’ll follow this email with the second email I have that doesn’t have any content because I unsubscribed to my address, but it does contain the subject line of the initial message.”
Also included in the document file was an email between Mr. Lehrmann and Ms. Higgins just hours after the alleged rape on early Saturday March 23, 2019, and an exchange between the pair of Liberal political staffers on following Monday.
Bruce Lehrmann’s legal action is over a television interview and online article from February 15, 2021, where Brittany Higgins (pictured outside court in October) alleged that she was raped at Parliament House in March 2019 .
Also included in the document file were emails between Mr. Lehrmann and Ms. Higgins in the hours and days following the alleged rape on Saturday, March 23, 2019.
At 10:53am on Saturday, eight hours after security saw Mr Lehrmann leaving the Australian Parliament, where he had allegedly left a half-naked Ms Higgins in a minister’s office, they sent him an email of job.
He forwarded a media summary related to his role with an innocuous message and a smiley emoji: ‘Maybe see if I put you on this list! :)’
No response is included in the court documents, but the couple exchanged more messages about the list 48 hours later, Monday morning.
At 7:34am on March 25, he emailed her again to say, ‘It won’t let me send to a private email! I’ll email David and put your gmail on the mailing list!’
Ms Higgins responded at 1:16pm: ‘Wow!
‘Honestly, that would be for the best if you could.’
The federal court is considering whether there should be an extension to the 12-month limitation period in which an applicant can sue for defamation.
Lehrmann presented the cases two years after their publication.
He was not named in both articles, but he claims several people in his circle were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.
The interlocutory hearing concluded last week. Legal counsel to the media and Wilkinson confirmed that if the trial goes ahead, it will likely last at least four weeks.
