He smiled when his murder acquittal was upheld, but Lloyd Rayney still wants one thing - to find the person who killed his estranged wife six years ago.
Following a highly publicised three-month trial, Mr Rayney was cleared last November of murdering his wife Corryn Rayney, but had to return to court when prosecutors appealed against the verdict in August.
The West Australian Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on Monday.
Outside court, Mr Rayney, supported by his youngest daughter Sarah, said he was pleased but did not know if police would take the matter to the High Court.
"For six years, I've been treated as if I was guilty," the former prominent Perth barrister said.
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"Millions of dollars have been spent pursuing me and me alone.
"The person who is responsible is still out there and my family want that person to be caught."
The father of two said he would now try to regain some normality in his life.
"I must be stronger than I look because I'm still standing," he said.
But Ms Rayney's sister, Sharon Coutinho, said she was devastated.
"The law has had two chances to get it right," she said.
Ms Rayney, 44, disappeared on August 7, 2007 after her weekly bootscooting class and was found a week later in a bush grave at Perth's popular Kings Park.
Forensic expert Robin Napper, who worked on Mr Rayney's defence team, said he hoped the judgement was not the end of the investigation into Ms Rayney's murder.
"There's so much evidence to indicate who actually killed Corryn," he said.
Mr Napper said there were multiple unidentified fingerprints and DNA, and there were suspects who were not forensically investigated.
During the appeal, the state claimed there were errors of law in the judgment by former Northern Territory chief justice Brian Martin, who concluded Ms Rayney was randomly attacked outside her home.
They argued he did not properly consider the circumstantial evidence as a whole, including a dinner place card with Mr Rayney's name on it that was found near the gravesite.
But the appeal judges disagreed.
"Far from putting aside and ignoring the matters sought to be relied on by the state, the trial judge in fact carefully and correctly evaluated them in light of the state's overall circumstantial case," they said.
Two retired judges from NSW, Justice Anthony Whealy and Justice Terence Buddin, and a sitting judge in Victoria's Court of Appeal, Justice Mark Weinberg, were flown to Perth to hear the appeal, which lasted two days.
They delivered their judgement on Monday via video link from their states as a packed Perth courtroom watched on.
Mr Rayney has two other court matters pending - allegations he was involved in phone tapping, and a defamation case against police after he was named the "prime" and "only" suspect in his wife's murder, years before he was finally charged.
