Posted on 03/10/2006 4:09:37 AM PST by beaversmom
HOURS after boarding the luxury cruise that would result in her death, Dianne Brimble's friend warned her of a group of men who had been ogling female passengers, a Sydney inquest was told today. The next morning, Ms Brimble, 42, was found dead in a cabin belonging to some of those same men.
Police allege she had been given a lethal dose of the date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate before being sexually assaulted.
The inquest was told Ms Brimble had been ecstatic, setting out on the "holiday of a lifetime" with family and friends on the P&O liner Pacific Sky on September 23, 2002.
That night, she met a group of eight men at a disco on the ship.
Close friend Nancy Chard today told Glebe Coroners Court she warned Ms Brimble not long after boarding the ship to stay away from the men.
"They were just basically watching every female so I just said to Di be very careful," Ms Chard said.
"They were odd, to my eyes they were really odd-looking people.
"There's a difference between just looking at a woman and undressing them by looking."
Ms Chard said she heard some of the men, who were staying in a cabin directly opposite hers, involved in an argument earlier that night with a group of girls.
She told the court the girls later informed her the men had asked them to expose their genitalia and had propositioned them.
The men were obviously drunk and had been making noise until the early hours of the morning, she said.
The day Ms Brimble's body was found, Ms Chard said she saw one of the eight men crying in the hallway, and in the following days, she said the men gave Ms Brimble's friends "filthy looks".
"They would give us a look as if to say, they have no shame," she said.
"It was almost like it was just playing, they had no remorse."
Ms Brimble's older sister Alma Wood, who also was on the cruise, tearfully told the court her sister had been a "prude" who would not have wilfully taken drugs or engaged in promiscuous sex.
"That sort of stuff was always gross to her," Ms Wood said.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge continues next week.
The night of the rough sea our waiter was a little green around the gills, but he stuck it out.
Dubious.
It is absurd to suggest, as you did in your post to Beaversmom, that any liberal woman would go to a sex party with eight men. There are many liberal women who are kind, Christian, and honorable, but only naive in their political views.
No civilized person would think that it was not horrific for any woman, liberal or conservative, to suffer a gang rape. No gentleman would suggest such a thing. You, sir, are far from being a gentleman, as several of your posts on this thread clearly indicate.
I will not argue with you. Your own posts convict you of foolishness.
****I think most of us FReeper women have the common sense it takes to stay away from packs of men anywhere, let alone on a cruise ship! I'm sorry she paid the ultimate price, but what was this girl thinking????****
Holy cow! Do you know how sexist that sounds?
Really? I wouldn't run off with a bunch of guys - heck I wouldn't go anywhere private with one guy I didn't know well.
Don't all those horror stories about women hooking up with strange men tell you something?
"Frankly speaking, I believe that there are lots of people who wish to have these sexual predators loose and among us. These peoples only goal is to sexually hurt other people..."
Once again, you are wrong on this. Period.
DD
Check out the missing persons on these cruises. They actually LOOSE! passengers and can't account for them. I've heard that U.S. law doesn't apply because the ships are registered in foreign countries. !!!
http://www.cruisejunkie.com/Overboard.html
Really staggering numbers, huh? /s
The average Cruise ship carries 2000 passengers for a week. they do it 52 weeks a year. There are hundreds of cruise ships. Should I continue, or are you just trying to make your sensationalist point? You point out these few disappearances, like they are regular occurances. There are a lot more people disappearing in YOUR HOME TOWN, or mine!
That's good advice. Even one unexplained disappearance is too many.
"Family fears for woman who left with man she met online."
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=83885
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