by Belinda Neil
He drew his Glock pistol and fired one shot into a front tyre of the Calais. The tyre deflated immediately. However, this did not stop the car and Edwards continued reversing. He collided with another car which in turn was pushed into a third, causing Detective Smith to jump out of the way a second time.
Another police officer on the other side of the Calais lost sight of both Detective Smith and another IRT member who was behind Edwards’s car. Fearing that they could be trapped by the Calais or fall underneath it and be seriously hurt, and mindful of the schoolchildren, he fired his pistol ten times into the bonnet of Edwards’s car. The Calais stopped, being jammed up against a police sedan, and Edwards was arrested. The bullets fired into the engine did not disable it; though the car looked like something out of a Mafia shootout, it was still driveable.
Kogarah LAC was asked to investigate the whole incident as per the CIIT protocols, as one police officer had been injured and eleven shots fired towards a violent offender right outside a primary school just on school finishing time. Again I was the senior investigator. It was very clear that neither officer had wanted to shoot Edwards, even though all their training had told them to do so if there was no other way of dealing with the situation. Police are only allowed to fire their weapons if there is an immediate risk to their lives or those of others, or the risk of serious injury. In this case, I could see that the two police quite simply did not want to have anyone’s death on their conscience.
After a five-month detailed investigation I formally found that they were both justified in using their firearms, though the officer who had fired into the bonnet of the car needed to have refresher training in the disciplined use of his. Even though this was only my second investigation, my report was treated and recognised as best practice in the Georges River region.
That first year at Kogarah LAC, while I still felt distant emotionally, I had new challenges that kept me busy. To aid in my negotiation training I completed a Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution at the University of Technology, Sydney. The highlight of this year was, of course, the Sydney Olympics and Sydney was ramping up its security measures. All police leave was cancelled during this period.
I was team leader for one of only five high-risk counterterrorist project negotiation teams. I was very proud of this, being not only the youngest at the age of thirty-two but also the only female CT team leader in NSW for the Sydney Olympics. Because of this I went to another counter-terrorist negotiators’ course, this time in Perth.
In the twelve months prior to the Sydney Olympics, three national exercises (NATEX) were held, involving more than 500 personnel from state and Commonwealth agencies, including police trained in counter-terrorism from various NSW areas, the Australian Defence Force including the Special Air Service (SAS), NSW Emergency Services, Commonwealth government ministers, the NSW Premier’s Department, NSW Olympic agencies and the Australian Federal Police. I took part in two of these. The exercises were held over three days and two nights, and my team had responsibility for the night shifts. Blue Ring, the first exercise in November 1999, involved terrorists taking over a ship at Circular Quay, Sydney, where IOC delegates were conducting a meeting. Ring True held in May 2000 involved forty hostages being seized by six armed terrorists during a baseball game at the Sydney Olympic Park baseball stadium. At the end of this exercise, the SAS Black Hawk helicopters were involved in a tactical resolution.
We treated the exercises as real situations, utilising the negotiators’ truck and being given simulated briefings from ASIO. Operation and Tactical commanders monitored my primary negotiator conversations with the terrorists. Even though these were mock exercises, the stress levels inside the truck were intense; according to the script hostages were being shot and wounded, perhaps even killed. It was my role to monitor and manage my team, organise a time out if I felt the primary negotiator needed a break to collect his thoughts or if I considered the need to regroup the team to discuss additional intelligence and re-strategise for the next session. At the same time I was deciphering intelligence, liaising with the Tactical commander and negotiation coordinator and formulating negotiation strategies, using the help of a psychiatrist when required. Even though we were on duty for twelve hours it felt like less than half that time. After all this training, by the time the Sydney Olympics took place I felt very comfortable going into any situation.
In September and October 2000, during the Olympics and ParaOlympics, I was working full time as a CT negotiator. There were five negotiation teams, and we rotated between Sydney City and Homebush. We could access areas including the athletes’ village and various events. I loved the buzz and excitement in the village as elite athletes came together to compete from all over the world. We were fortunate and so was Sydney: the only incidents consisted of political demonstrations.
After the Olympics it was time for me to return to Kogarah. In our detectives’ office we had major staffing issues, as did most others around the state. Although we had a number of young trainee investigators, there were virtually no senior investigators, as they had been absorbed by various task forces. Those we did have were constantly overloaded so we had to be mindful not to burn them out: not an easy task. With other investigations managers in our region, we formulated a plan to call upon police from within our region in the initial stages of a Homicide investigation or other major incident. Even if they could come in for only a couple of shifts, that would help.
On 6 February 2001 I completed my normal ten-hour shift at Kogarah and went home to Rob and Jake. It had been a hot and humid few days, fairly typical February weather for Sydney. Just after 8pm I was called out to investigate the murder of an unidentified woman in a unit block at Kogarah. When the details had been confirmed, the rest of the office at Kogarah LAC was called out and the Homicide and Serial Violent Crime Agency were notified. The additional expertise was very welcome.
The adoptive parents of the man who leased the unit, twenty-year-old Nathan Kerr, had found the body. They had come to see him, not having heard from him for some days. They looked in through a window into the unit and saw a body lying on the floor. They broke in and were greeted by a horrific sight, but the body was a woman’s, not that of their son. The police were then called.
After a quick briefing with my investigators we travelled to the crime scene. My role was to coordinate the investigation and resources. I organised for police teams to canvass the surrounding area and for statements to be taken from various witnesses, including Nathan Kerr’s parents. Nathan Kerr’s name was circulated via the police network as being a suspect and wanted for interview. Crime-scene officers conducted their examination.
We had a breakthrough almost immediately. Nathan Kerr had been arrested for drug offences and was in custody at Parramatta police station about thirty minutes from Kogarah. This was excellent news which needed to be acted upon immediately. The commander of Kogarah, who had turned up at the scene, reminded me of the document I had signed only a week earlier. I was three months pregnant – unexpectedly – with my second child, and had just signed off on my alternative duties agreement, which meant that I couldn’t interview Kerr. I couldn’t even sit in on the interview with Kerr in case he went berserk. I could, however, still continue all my management and investigation tasks, including directly overseeing all investigations.
This was frustrating, but I needed to organise a lead investigator, and quickly. One of my relieving detective sergeants, Andrew Marks, known as Marksy, was more than happy to take charge as the senior investigator and was very proficient in this role. The Homicide police and additional investigators from Kogarah would work with him.
The interview team went to Parramatta while the rest of the investigators remained at Kogarah. I chose to stay at the scene and wait for the crime-scene officers to finish their examination and to complete a walk-through of the scene with these officers and the forensic pathologist. I would give any information gathered about this to the investigators interviewing the
suspect Kerr.
The smell in the unit was the usual awful overpowering stench of rancid meat and sweetish blood. The body of the woman, still unidentified at this stage, showed signs of massive blood loss and had obviously lain on the floor of the small two-bedroom unit for a couple of days. The stench was made worse by the humid weather and the fact that the doors and windows to the unit had been closed up. I had a heightened sense of smell thanks to my pregnancy hormones and every time the door to the unit was opened I became quite nauseated. I dreaded having to enter the unit as I was not sure whether my stomach would hold out.
The officer in charge of the crime scene investigators noticed my discomfort and handed me a very strong-smelling substance – a product with the inaccurate name of Nil Odour – to put near my nose. It was not quite enough to disguise the smell of death completely, but it definitely helped.
Finally it was time to enter the unit. I saw the body of a slightly built woman with long dark hair lying face down, a large carving knife sticking out from her back and a large pool of blood around her head. She had been hit over the head at least eight times with a blunt object, and this was the major cause of death. A large black Maglite torch found in the unit was later confirmed as the murder weapon. Every police car carried the same black torch, such an innocuous item apparently, but the damage it had inflicted was devastating.
The body had two stab wounds, one to her central abdomen and about sixteen centimetres long, the other on her back. The knife had penetrated her ribs and lower left lung. The forensic pathologist believed that she might have been dying or already dead when she was stabbed. There was no evidence of sexual assault.
I gave the interview team the information I now had. They told me they were still unsuccessful. Kerr wasn’t saying anything so orders were under way to obtain DNA samples of his hair, hand swabs, fingernail scrapings, and photographs. There was not enough evidence to charge him with murder at this point; the investigation still had a long way to go.
We hadn’t found any identifying documentation on the woman. We didn’t know who she was so her fingerprints were taken in an effort to identify her. We also ran computer searches for missing persons and organised for police radio messages with her description to be circulated throughout Sydney. The fingerprint examination came back positive and we had a name, Michelle Miller, a sex worker from Kings Cross.
It was now imperative to start canvassing the Kings Cross area to see whether we could obtain any information about Michelle’s last movements; where she had been, who had last seen her. Perhaps another sex worker had seen her leave with Nathan Kerr or someone else. We needed additional investigators at this stage as the team had been working all night. One of the lead interviewers waiting for the DNA samples to be taken was so tired that he fell asleep sitting in a chair and was only woken when other investigators noticed him dribbling down his tie. We had previously supplied investigators to other stations when help had been requested, and now it was our turn. Without hesitation, the other stations supplied the manpower to assist us with the urgent canvassing inquiries.
We also needed to hold a media briefing to request information from the public. Rob was the duty officer at Kogarah that morning, so he would be fronting the media. I was still at work and Rob had been late as he had to take Jake to child care, something I would normally do on my way to work. Fortunately the boss was sympathetic to our situation. I spoke with the media unit and then briefed Rob for his interview when he arrived at work.
By 11am I was starting to feel adrenalin withdrawal: I had been awake for almost thirty hours. I was due back at work that night, along with the rest of the investigators. It was time to go and get some sleep.
Over the next few days we learned that Michelle Miller had last been seen in Kings Cross at about 2.40am on Monday 5 February. Nathan Kerr had been seen on CCTV footage getting on a train at Kogarah about 11.27pm on Sunday 4 February and arriving at King’s Cross railway station at 12.02am on the Monday.
We also found out that Kerr had visited his biological father, as distinct from his adoptive father, who had found the body in his unit. He had asked his father whether he knew of any prostitutes who would not be missed if they disappeared; a bizarre question. He returned to his father’s home the next day and examined a law book belonging to his father; Kerr’s fingerprints were found on the page describing mental health issues as a possible defence for homicide.
By 15 February enough evidence had been gathered for a strong circumstantial case against Nathan Kerr. He was arrested, declined to be interviewed and was charged with the murder of Michelle Miller.
At the Supreme Court he pleaded not guilty, citing mental health problems. He outlined a history of thought disorder, delusions of control and intrusive behaviour. He stated he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that a few days before the murder he had contacted the mental health service at St George Hospital Kogarah, wanting a further assessment. He reported problems with clarity of thinking, difficulties with interpersonal relationships and social contacts. He described thoughts of suicide and homicide, though denying he had any particular intention to kill himself or anyone else. He was not taking the medication he had been prescribed for schizophrenia. He had been due to attend an assessment on 2 February, three days before Michelle Miller’s murder. He did not keep the appointment.
Kerr told psychiatrists that on the night of the murder he had engaged the services of Michelle Miller at Kings Cross. They had taken a taxi back to his place and both inhaled amphetamine. He said that he was very paranoid and believed that Michelle had been sent by Satan to get him killed. He took a heavy torch and hit her a number of times about the head, and then he took a large carving knife and stabbed her twice. He ran away because he thought there were ghosts and it was ‘too scary’ to return.
Psychiatrists who interviewed him believed that at the time Michelle Miller was murdered Nathan Kerr was suffering from an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia (the use of amphetamines was known to cause this), which affected his ability to know that his behaviour was morally wrong. The judge decreed Nathan Kerr be found not guilty due to mental illness. He was detained in a psychiatric hospital to be referred to the Mental Health Review Tribunal. If this tribunal was satisfied he was no longer a danger to himself or anyone else, he could be released.
This was a very sad state of affairs for the family of Michelle Miller. The result was also intriguing because of the evidence we had gathered concerning the law book and conversations with Kerr’s father. Was he smart enough to fool the psychiatrists? As he was housed in a psychiatric hospital at the time of writing, we may never know.
CHAPTER
17
The price of making a difference
After the Michelle Miller murder I was even more on edge. I was irritable, still suffering from intrusive thoughts in relation to Jake, while at the same time feeling emotionally distant. Rob and I were arguing constantly. Rob had attended some horrific crime scenes and this was starting to affect him and our family. I think my capacity to take in any more violence and horror had almost been reached and I was struggling with what was already loaded in my memory.
Over the years, the accumulation of all the trauma and horrific crime scenes I had encountered were continuing to fill my head, like water in a sponge. Having no respite but continuing to work hard never allowed me to rest, or remove any of these shocking scenes from my mind. I didn’t realise that if I continued the way I was, the sponge would become saturated, unable to absorb any more memories and horror, and its contents would ooze out and impact on all other aspects of my life. I was on a downward spiral and didn’t have the foresight to recognise it.
I felt enormously protective towards Jake still. Though my second pregnancy had not been planned, I hoped that having another child would cause the scenes of horror in my mind to fade; I would be busy with two. In fact I was wishing this would be the case. Surely with two children my overprotective feelings towards Jake would
not be doubled, but shared.
Rob’s and my relationship had deteriorated to the point where we were having major arguments over anything, big or small. Life at home was becoming intolerable, and I was starting to feel there was no way out. Rob had now left the State Protection Group and was working at Kogarah LAC. He was considered one of Kogarah’s best duty officers because of his experience as a detective and a Tactical team leader, and he genuinely cared about his team. Like me, Rob had thought that a change from his work environment would help his emotional state, but neither of us were seeking the right help.
In March 2001, one month after the Michelle Miller murder, Rob and I attended my brother’s wedding at Nelson Bay, two hours’ drive north of Sydney. I was five months pregnant. Nelson Bay is beautiful and I was looking forward to a couple of days away from Sydney. Unfortunately the trip became a nightmare. On the night prior to the wedding, close family all had dinner together at the local club in town. After only a couple of drinks Rob complained of a migraine the next morning and said he couldn’t make it to the exchanging of vows on the beach. That left Jake, who was now almost three years old, and myself, and I felt I was once again making excuses for Rob’s behaviour. At least he turned up to the reception.
I was finding it very difficult to maintain the facade of happy families. This time I had no choice, for my brother’s sake, as I was the master of ceremonies. It appeared I had become an expert at hiding my emotions.
During our two-and-a-half-hour drive back to Sydney I couldn’t bring myself to speak to Rob. I was sick of the arguing, I wanted out of the marriage, I wanted peace in my life. I was also pregnant and had to consider Jake. However, by the time we arrived home I had decided I could not take Rob’s mood swings any longer and I told him I was leaving him. Rob was devastated.