Death of Dianne Brimble

State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge handed down the findings of the inquest on 30 November 2010. She ruled that Dianne Brimble had been 'unknowingly drugged' for the sexual gratification of others. Milledge said there was evidence to suggest that the drug had been supplied to Wilhelm by Silvestri. She criticised Wilhelm for failing to tell medical staff that Brimble had consumed a drug, denying her the best possible chance of survival. She also said that New South Wales Police withheld material from the inquest, resulting in 'an impasse that was crippling to the inquest'.

On 21 April 2010 as a second trial began, Wilhelm pleaded guilty to an alternative charge to manslaughter, saying that he had caused Brimble to take the drug. However, in an unusual move, Justice Howie refused to accept the plea saying, "I cannot allow him to plead guilty to a matter he did not commit, and he did not commit this." Shortly after, Crown Prosecutor Terry Thorpe withdrew the charge of manslaughter against Wilhelm.

Wilhelm, Slade and Kuchel are believed to have distanced themselves from the other five men who have remained close friends. On 8 October 2010, Losic, Kambouris, Vitale, Pantic, and their partners and friends met for dinner at an Adelaide restaurant. The gathering was photographed by the media and a story ran the next day claiming that the dinner was being held to mark the eighth anniversary of Brimble's death (21 September 2002). The men were criticized by the media, who reported the event in a three-page editorial. A separate opinion piece condemned the men's insensitivity in holding a dinner on the anniversary and questioned their lack of shame over the events of 2002. Losic's wife insisted the dinner was for a friend's birthday but she declined to name the friend. Brimble's family declined to comment on the dinner, stating they would "leave it up to the public to make up their minds who and what they are."

In October 2009 a Supreme Court trial of Wilhelm ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict.

In September 2008, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions announced that Mark Wilhelm, Letterio Silvestri and Ryan Kuchel would face charges over the circumstances of Brimble's death. Wilhelm was to be charged with manslaughter and supplying a prohibited drug, and Silvestri and Kuchel with perverting the course of justice or, alternatively, to the lesser charge of hindering the investigation.

The case also allegedly inspired the 2008 play Cruising.

The inquest began in March 2006. An attempt by Wilhelm's attorney to challenge the inquest was rejected, and Wilhelm was ordered by Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge to appear when called. Mark Brimble, the ex-husband of Dianne Brimble, represented the family at the inquest and asked questions of witnesses. Other Pacific Sky passengers and personnel had already made statements.

Brimble, a 42-year-old mother of three from Brisbane, died within 24 hours of boarding the P&O Cruises cruise ship Pacific Sky on 23 September 2002, apparently due to ingesting a combination of alcohol and an overdose of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, otherwise known as "GHB" or "fantasy". According to news reports, security staff on the cruise ship were initially told Brimble had died of a heart attack, but there were suspicious circumstances.

Dianne Elizabeth Brimble (10 April 1960 – 24 September 2002) died aboard a P&O Cruises cruise ship of a drug overdose. She is alleged to have been neglected and received callous treatment at the hands of passengers, and to have been given the drug without her knowledge or consent. The investigation into her death has resulted in widespread media coverage in Australia, and criticism of both party culture aboard cruise ships and of the investigation immediately following Brimble's death.