CEYLON SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA
MELBOURNE CHAPTER

At our next meeting

Ananda Amaranath LLB
will present an illustrated talk on

“Murders at the Vicarage –
The Mathew Peiris Case”
In the annals of legal history of Sri Lanka, very few cases have been decided the guilt or innocence of an accused on medical evidence. The trial relating to the murder of Russell Ingram and Eunice Pieris by the involuntary administration of antidiabetic drug to their meals, is a classic example of a case where medical evidence played a critical role in the outcome of the trial. The fact that the drug Euglicon is dispelled from the blood stream within a short time without trace, made it very difficult for the medical practitioners to initially make a diagnosis of the cause of the symptoms demonstrated by the
patients. Further, the false and misleading medical history provided on behalf of the patients, by Rev Pieris to the Doctors misled them in the initial clinical diagnosis. The observations and medical opinions of numerous medical professionals played a critical role in assisting the Judges of the Trial-at -Bar to arrive at a guilty verdict.
At the relevant time Rev Mathew Pieris was the Vicar of Saint Paul Anglican Church in Kynsey Road, Borella. He was a well-known exorcist who conducted exorcism ceremonies in the church and frequently visited homes in Sri Lanka and abroad to conduct such ceremonies to ward off evil spirits by the invocation of religious rituals. Dalrene Ingram, the coaccused in this trial, first came in to contact with Rev Mathew at such a ceremony. Shortly after, Dalrene moved in to the vicarage with her family that included her husband Russell and three children. In the early stages Rev Mathew employed
Dalrene as his secretary and typist as he was at the time, writing a book titled “Damn the bloody exorcist” It was this association between Rev Mathew and Dalrene that culminated in the death of Russell Ingram and Mrs Eunice Pieris. It was alleged by the prosecution that Rev Mathew administered the drug Euglicon to the food of the deceased without their knowledge. Rev Mathew was a diabetic and always had an adequate supply of Euglicon at his disposal. Rev Mathew was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. Having spent 15 years in jail, the 79-year-old Rev Mathew was released from jail in a general amnesty on 28 October 1997. His death sentenced was commuted to life- imprisonment in
1994. He was still in robes when he came out of jail and professed his faith in god. He passed away on 12 May 1998. Dalrene’s death sentence was set aside and she was acquitted by the Court of Criminal appeal.
Ananda Amaranath
A Thomian who comes from Beliatte in the deep South of Sri Lanka did his law degree at the University of Colombo. Ananda is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Solicitor in England and Wales, a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Australia and Seychelles and a solicitor of New South Wales. In Colombo he worked at the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel. He prosecuted in various provincial High Courts in Sri Lanka and was involved in several murder cases. Noteworthy in his experience were the trials arising out of
the 1971 JVP insurrection and the famous Galenbindunuwewa murder case. In 1983, as a Senior State Counsel he worked as a member of a team of Prosecutors who prosecuted Rev. Mathew Peiris and Dalrene Ingram. Ananda migrated to Australia in 1989 and worked as a Prosecutor for 27 years at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in NSW. Currently he is in private practice in Sydney.
Sunday, 11 August 2019, 5.00pm
at ASHWOOD HALL 2 (small hall)
21a Electra Avenue, Ashwood
for enquiries contact Hemal 0427 725 740