Marea Bambina Alice Yann was an Australian nurse and charity shop worker who was murdered on 30 September 2003.
[10] Unumadu was a sheet metal worker who had migrated to Australia from Nigeria in 1976, marrying Yann's daughter Pauline five years later.
[8] The inquest was told a purported witch doctor in Nigeria was contacted by Unumadu two months before Yann's murder.
[8] A forensic scientist who attended the murder scene said Yann had been repeatedly struck more than 20 times in a quick series of blows that had left a large amount of blood splattered throughout the loungeroom.
[5] A witness during the trial claimed Unumado had confessed to murdering Yann and boasted that the police had no evidence to prove that he did it.
[11] The prompted Yann's family to lobby the Victorian Government to quickly pass proposed new laws regarding the admissibility of hearsay evidence during murder trials.
[11] In 2021, Yann's sister Deanne Green said she had always been "bewildered" by the fact that so much of "a very good case" had to be thrown out due to the inadmissibility of hearsay evidence.
[2] This followed an interview on 3AW in which Detective Inspector Tim Day told Neil Mitchell that he would like to see Marea Yann's murder solved before he retires.
[2] A Victoria Police spokesperson that the cold case was in the process of being reviewed "in line with current investigation practices and in light of changes to legislation.
"[12] If new and compelling evidence is brought to light, a person could now be charged with the same crime a second time due to changes to double jeopardy laws.
[3] In May 2023, it was announced a television documentary entitled Who killed Marea?, hosted by Denham Hitchcock, would be aired on Sky News Australia on 17 May 2023, which would investigate the circumstances surrounding Yann's death.