The Australian
‘Cool, calculated’ psychiatrist killer gets life
By Jeremy Roberts
October 29, 2004

— Excerpt

A FORMER psychiatrist has been sentenced to at least 34 years behind bars for the execution of mental health boss Margaret Tobin after a judge yesterday ruled he was “profoundly dangerous” and should probably die in prison.

In handing Jean Eric Gassy, 48, the second-longest non-parole period for a single murder in South Australian history, the judge described the murder as a “cool, calculated and clever crime”.

Gassy, 48, shot Tobin four times in the back as she stepped from an elevator at her office in an Adelaide government building in October 2002.

Judge Ann Vanstone rejected the prosecution’s portrayal of Gassy as delusional and psychotic, claiming he was “extremely intelligent” and shot Tobin “calmly and efficiently” believing she had played a role in having him deregistered.

The trial heard how the former Sydney psychiatrist kept a list of “persons of interest” with details and addresses of Tobin and other doctors he believed were responsible for his professional demise…