Mothers Who Murder

by Xanthe Mallett

  Only days later, on 17 February, Jason Lees, a teacher from Brisbane, killed himself and his two-year-old son Brad, taking his son for a drive to a local bridge at 2 am. When Lees reached Kangaroo Point, he removed Brad from his car seat and, once on the bridge, took his son in his arms and jumped off the bridge. There was no water to cushion the fall, and the police found the father and son where they landed, on the grass of Captain Burke Park. There is some early suggestion that the couple, Lees and his wife, Danielle, may have been going through a relationship breakdown, but, as with Anderson, as time goes on I am sure we will get a better understanding of why this happened.

  When I started this book I imagined that the end of the manuscript would be the end of my journey. Now I know that is not the case. The writing of this book is just the beginning for me. Now I am determined to learn more about the extremes of human behaviour, which often culminate in violent criminal acts, to see if we can ever address the question that is always asked when tragedy happens – what could have been done to stop this from happening? Perhaps we will never be able to answer all the whys, as many people, just like Luke’s dad, may have been suffering from mental health issues but they had not set off alarm bells.

  I have also learnt a lot, not only about why people do the things they do, but also that sometimes we will never know. After the time I have taken writing this book I thought that I would be closer to answering that big question of why. I have had to accept that regardless of how much time you spend trying to figure out the ‘why’, you may never get there. While that causes frustration – as I am a scientist and I always need to understand why – it reminds me that people cannot always be ‘worked out’, step by step. The expanse of human variation means there will always be extraneous variables – the ones we can’t explain where the motive for horrendous acts will always remain a mystery.

  My personal journey was also not what I expected. As a seasoned forensic scientist, I expected to be able to immerse myself in the case histories, read the reports, apply all the cognitive weight I could to re-evaluating the why and who and how, and that it would not impact on me personally; my professional detachment would remain intact. However, the more cases I reviewed the harder I found it to stay detached. These cases have touched me, and I came to realise that, beyond the children who have been killed, there are many more victims. You see it in the eyes of the detectives when they give statements to the press; their faces remain impassive, professional, but their eyes give it away. The sadness there is unmistakable. Writing this book, immersing myself in this terrible world for so long, has given me a respect and admiration for the police and social service staff who work with these damaged families day in and day out. As we have clearly seen, things go wrong, but the vast majority of the people working to protect children care deeply and are devastated when a child dies.

  THE POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA

  I only determined what information could be relied upon as I was cross-referencing a lot of sources. Most people when doing research don’t do this, as they are simply trying to gain some basic information. They will read the sites that pop up at the top of the page in Google or they may turn to Wikipedia as the core for their research. Although they are told in no uncertain terms not to do their own research, can we really expect jurors to comply, when they have so many devices capable of accessing the Internet? While researching this book, I came across a lot of information that was misleading, slightly inaccurate, or just plain wrong. With the amount of unreliable information available, it is really dangerous if juries look for their own information and it could easily put the fairness of the criminal trial at risk.

  Is it unrealistic in this technology-led world to think the only information the jury are considering when balancing a case has been provided to them in the courtroom? Playing devil’s advocate – what if the information from the courtroom is wrong? Isn’t it better then that the impact of the damaging information is reduced by other information? Even if it is equally unreliable?

  The media can have other positive influences too. When a potential miscarriage of justice has occurred, only the mass media has the power to draw attention to a convicted person’s plight, to raise public awareness and bring pressure to bear for a judicial review when all options of appeal through the courts have been exhausted. We shall see if it works for Kathleen Folbigg, who may be guilty, but the evidence against her is, in my opinion, questionable. Members of the media are certainly on her side; without that I think she would have little chance. The mass media and the justice system simply cannot be separated, as there is no doubt that what the press reports affects criminal cases, and those cases in turn affect future case outcomes through the process of legal precedent. To have the media on your side as a powerful ally is one of the best things you could hope for.

  A BELIEF IN MONSTERS

  In Australia children have certain rights, legislated for at both state/territory and federal levels. They have the right to education and healthcare, they are protected from being sold into slavery, and until the age of ten years cannot be charged with a criminal offence. These rules are in place to protect children’s health and wellbeing until they can make decisions for themselves. Until that time, children remain under the care of adults who are charged with protecting them. We know that, sadly, many children are harmed and intentionally killed every year at the hands of parents or guardians, but if the case is not extreme it may not even make the evening news. We are so used to gratuitous violence that only the most abusive or contentious cases get our attention.

  Children also have to be protected in criminal proceedings, either where they are the accused or the victims, as the release of their names can be extremely detrimental psychologically through the associated stigma of being associated with certain types of cases.4 It is also an offence to release the names of deceased children in criminal cases, as they equally deserve protection in death. In the United Kingdom, the Children’s (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 prohibits the release in publicly available documents or in the media of any details that can lead to children being identified, although exceptions can be made if the child’s next of kin gives express permission.

  There are similar laws in Australia; in 2004 legislation was passed by the New South Wales Parliament that made it an offence for media outlets to publish the name of a dead child who had been the victim of a crime, no matter what the circumstances. As with everything, however, there are positives and negatives associated with this, and victims’ rights groups campaigned to get this blanket ban changed as they felt it protected child-killers as opposed to child victims. In 2007, the New South Wales Parliament acquiesced and passed a bill amending the law, bringing it in line with the UK legislation and allowing publication of a deceased child’s name if the next of kin gives permission. What this means is that, without familial consent, many of the child victims will remain anonymous forever – and rarely will an anonymous case draw significant media and public attention. Some names are released later, but not all. To me it was important to also review the cases of anonymous children. They may be nameless, but I’ve tried to give them some dignity and respect in death as I believe their stories should still be told.5

  I have seen some truly terrible things, but never have I thought that a person is pure evil. Many of the offenders are, in some ways, victims themselves. They may have had very difficult and abusive childhoods where their ability to empathise was irreparably damaged. There are reasons. Others killed for convenience, vengeance, fear. Perhaps then, after writing this book, I am a little more jaded than most. However, of all the reasons people murder children, love has to be one of the hardest for a balanced mind to comprehend.

  I come now to the end and I’m left to wonder what I’ve learnt. This journey has been challenging for me in ways I could not have imagined. Perhaps one of the biggest changes has been that before I wrote this book I would have told you that I do not believe anyone is purely evil. I would have said that everyon
e is a mix of good and bad, and that regardless of what terrible act someone has performed there will be a reason, a stimulus, for their actions. In my view, labelling someone as evil was pointless and almost lazy – an excuse to not think any more deeply about what they’d done or why. What I’ve read has made me re-evaluate some the fundamental beliefs I’ve held my whole life. Before, I thought pure evil did not exist. Now I believe in monsters.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I am immensely grateful for the patience and help of a number of people, not least of whom are my agents, Lauren Miller Cilento and Sophie Laurimore, and my publisher, Ali Urquhart, for believing in this book and seeing that it needed writing. Thanks also to my editors, Patrick Mangan and Lex Hirst, as well as my publicist, Jess Malpass, for helping make this book a reality. I am also grateful for the advice and wisdom provided by Paul Sattler and Professor Gary Edmond who guided me through various legal issues, as well as Dr Tanveer Ahmed, whose knowledge of forensic psychiatry and journalism was invaluable. On a more personal level, thanks to my husband, Neil, for never complaining and for reminding me to eat and sleep, as otherwise he knew I’d forget!

  SOURCE NOTES

  The sources for this book include wherever possible the original court transcripts, as well as any appellate decisions. I also relied on newspaper articles; while not as reliable as the court files, these nevertheless gave a very different insight into how the media (and therefore by extension the public) felt about the accused. I also used scholarly articles and online reference sources where relevant, and relied on background material including laws, maps and photographs.

  I also would like to acknowledge my reliance on various books and chapters for summaries and insights into the cases covered. These include Emma Cunliffe’s Murder, Medicine and Motherhood, Rachael Jane Chin’s Nice Girl, and ‘A Baffling Case: Keli Lane’ in Kay Saunders’ Deadly Australian Women, and of course Lindy Chamberlain’s book, Through My Eyes: An Autobiography.

  ENDNOTES

  CHAPTER 1

  1 The philosophy or science of law.

  CHAPTER 2

  1 Lindy Chamberlain was divorced from Michael in 1991. In December 1992, Lindy married Rick Creighton and changed her name to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton.

  2 Available from: .

  3 Available from: ; ;; ; ; .

  4 Total blood for an adult human is approximately 5–10 per cent of their total body weight. For infants the percentage is a little higher, at 10–15 per cent. So, for a nine-week-old baby, which would weigh approximately 4.5kg, that would equal around half to three-quarters of a litre of blood.

  5 A list of many of the people relevant to the Chamberlain case over the years is available at http://lindychamberlain.com/people/.

  6 Ramazan Acar is recent example of a murderous father who killed to punish his ex-partner, Rachelle D’Argent. He was later to become known as the ‘Facebook Killer’ because he posted his intention to murder his two-year-old daughter online before stabbing her repeatedly, in Melbourne in November 2010. He then posted a further message: ‘Pay bk u slut’, making his motivation clear.

  7 The process of measuring the external form of an object.

  8 Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying component of human blood. As a result of the fact that a foetus does not take in oxygen through breathing but through its mother, it requires a different method of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange from its mother. Foetal haemoglobin allows this gaseous exchange to take place via the mother. The blood of a child under six months of age contains foetal haemoglobin, in addition to adult haemoglobin – the difference between the two being based in their molecular structure. At birth, a baby’s blood contains approximately 75 per cent foetal and 25 per cent adult haemoglobin, with the proportion of foetal component diminishing over time.

  9 Available as an appendix to Coroner Morris’s 2012 report at: .

  10 Final report available from: .

  11 Available from: .

  12 Pro Hart was an Australian artist and sculpture, and a performance artist. For more information, go to the Pro Hart website: http://www.prohart.com.au

  13 Available from: .

  14 It is generally known as the fourth inquest, as there were four coroners in total.

  15 Available from: .

  16 To read more see: .

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  CHAPTER 3

  1 Available from: .

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  5 A breathing problem found in newborns where the baby goes through periods of breathing very rapidly. This condition normally usually resolves itself with forty-eight hours of birth.

  6 Formally known as laryngomalacia, this is a condition where the immature, soft cartilage of the upper larynx (voice box) is malformed and soft, and as a result collapses inwards during breathing, so that the airway becomes obstructed. This results in a high-pitched noise while breathing.

  7 Taken from the Greek ‘asphuxi–a’, literally means ‘stopping of the pulse’.

  8 Where another finding is able to provide a possible cause of death, such as a pathological result, then the pathologist gives the official cause of death as ‘not ascertained’, making reference in their report to the findings that led to that conclusion.

  9 The total or partial loss of sight in what appears to be a normal eye. Can be caused by damage to the brain’s occipital complex, and can be congenital or acquired – such as through loss of blood flow to the occipital cortex during an epileptic fit.

  10 This is a sporadic movement of the eyes where they become fixed in one position, usually looking up or sideways, that can persist for several minutes or even hours.

  11 Potentially a serious sleep disorder, caused by abnormal pauses in breathing during sleep. There are two types, central apnoea when there are problems in the mechanisms in the brain that control breathing and obstructive sleep apnoea when the airway passage is restricted.

  12 Inflammation of the heart muscle due to infection. Although very rare in babies and young children, up to 20 per cent of all ca
ses of sudden death in young adults are due to myocarditis.

  13 Fracasso, T., et al. (2011), ‘Petechial Bleedings in Sudden Infant Death’, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 125: 205–10. Available from: .

  14 The Honourable Justice Graham Russell Barr retired from the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 21 March 2009.

  15 Although the medical literature gives a range for SIDS of 0–12 months.

  16 R. v. Folbigg [2003] NSWCCA 17 Revised – 30/05/2003.

  17 Opdal, S. H. and Rognum, T. O. (2011), ‘Gene Variants Predisposing to SIDS: Current Knowledge’, Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, 7: 26–36.

  18 Available from: .

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