Twist in case of 7-Eleven customer who died after being ‘doused with hot coffee’ in Caulfield
EXCLUSIVE: Twist on mysterious case of 7-Eleven customer who died after being ‘doused with hot coffee’
- Woman, 52, died after ‘dousing her with hot coffee’
- Two women charged with recklessly causing serious injury
- Charges removed with a view to updating them
- Forensic experts could not determine how the woman died
Two women charged in an attack on a gas station customer who died after allegedly being doused with scalding coffee and assaulted will not face manslaughter charges.
Andrea Madigan and Sarah Franklin, both 51 at the time, were due to appear in court last year on charges of reckless conduct causing serious injury in the Feb. 8 incident inside a 7-Eleven service station in Caulfield, in south east Melbourne.
Daily Mail Australia reported that those charges were dropped and finalized on May 5 last year with a view to being upgraded to manslaughter by Victoria Police.
A woman who was allegedly dumped with coffee and assaulted at this 7-Eleven service station in Caulfield (pictured) later died at hospital
The woman, whose identity is unknown, had died two days after the shocking attack, which was caught on security cameras inside the service station.
Daily Mail Australia can now reveal that Victoria Police forensic experts were unable to determine how the woman died.
The forensic inquest ended last month, more than a year after the woman’s death.
A police source said the woman’s body was riddled with serious health complications, most likely causing her death.
Madigan and Franklin are now expected to be charged and arraigned on their initial assault charges.
Forensics are seen at the service station after the woman was allegedly assaulted
Coffee was allegedly poured on a woman who later died in hospital (file image)
Daily Mail Australia was told the victim had become abusive moments before Madigan and Franklin allegedly doused her with hot coffee and assaulted her.
“I was being racist,” a source told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
Store owners along Hawthorn Rd, where the 7-Eleven is located, said the three Caulfield women knew each other well.
A witness described the alleged ‘assault’ against Madigan and Franklin as more like a ‘fight’.
Both alleged offenders had clean criminal records until the deadly fight.
They were charged by Victoria Police detectives that night and released on bail from the watch house despite the victim’s condition being listed as critical.
Two women have since been charged in the alleged attack (in photo, police on scene)
Those who claimed to know the two defendants described them as “friendly and courteous”.
‘They are nice. They are polite. We see them all the time. They are well behaved, have good manners,’ said one woman.
Others expressed dismay at suggestions that the alleged fight could have been sparked by racial slurs.
Caulfield is known for its large Jewish community, which makes up about half of Melbourne’s Jewish population.
“I don’t think (the alleged crime) has any connection to race or culture,” said a local shopkeeper.
Recklessly causing serious injury charges in Victoria carry a maximum jail sentence of 15 years compared to 20 years for manslaughter.
Witnesses told police a woman poured coffee on the victim and assaulted her before fleeing the scene on Hawthorn Road.