The Bega schoolgirl murders refer to the
abduction,
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
and
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
of two Australian schoolgirls; 14-year-old Lauren Margaret Barry and 16-year-old Nichole Emma Collins of
Bega,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
on 6 October 1997.
[.] They were abducted by Leslie Camilleri and Lindsay Beckett, both from the New South Wales town of
Yass
Yass may refer to:
People
* Catherine Yass (born 1963), painter
* Yazz, a British pop singer from the 1980s and 1990s
* Jeff Yass (born 1956), options trader, managing director and one of the five founders of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna I ...
. The men subjected the girls to repeated rapes and
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
s on five or more separate occasions, while driving them to remote locations throughout rural New South Wales and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
[.] Over a twelve-hour period, the girls had been driven several hundred kilometres from Bega to Fiddler's Green Creek in Victoria, where they were stabbed to death by Beckett under the order of Camilleri.
Background
The girls were reported
missing
Missing or The Missing may refer to:
Film
* ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young
* ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras
* ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...
on the day of their disappearance, and a massive manhunt consisting of family, friends, police and community volunteers searched the area but failed to locate any sign of them.
[ Police investigations lasting several weeks eventually led to Camilleri and Beckett, career criminals with over 200 criminal convictions between them.] Camilleri, who claimed he was innocent of any crime and insisted Beckett acted alone, was facing existing charges relating to other sexual assaults against minors at the time of the murders.[
]
Perpetrators
Leslie Camilleri
Leslie Alfred Camilleri (born 31 May 1969) was born to a family of six children in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. He did not meet his natural father until he was 13 years of age. A psychiatric report prepared in 1993 spoke of Camilleri's deprived childhood, and "a pattern of theft
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
and vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
which have been his reaction to social ostracism
Ostracism ( el, ὀστρακισμός, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the cit ...
, leading to frustration, which because of poor impulse control has ended in explosive outbursts of destructive behaviour".[.]
Camilleri was considered "uncontrollable" as a child and spent a large part of his childhood in juvenile detention
In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...
. He escaped the institution and, between the ages of 10 and 12, lived as a street kid
Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymak ...
in King's Cross, Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. Camilleri was eventually taken before the children's court by police and ordered to return to the institution, where he remained until he was 15.[
Four days prior to the abduction of Rosamari Gandarias in ]Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, and three weeks prior to the Bega murders, Camilleri appeared in the District Court of New South Wales
The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a trial court and has an appellate jurisdiction. In addition, the Judges of the Court preside over a rang ...
on trial for charges relating to sexual offences
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.
Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...
against his de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
daughter. After two days the trial was aborted and Camilleri was released from custody on bail.[ Camilleri had 146 prior convictions for offences such as ]dishonesty
Dishonesty is to act without honesty. It is used to describe a lack of probity, cheating, lying, or deliberately withholding information, or being deliberately deceptive or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousne ...
, theft and wilful damage.[ At the time of the murders, he lived in . Camilleri had known Beckett for a period of two to three years and would often associate with him to steal cars.][
In 2012, Camilleri appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court via videolink from ]HM Prison Barwon
HM Prison Barwon or informally Barwon Prison, an Australian high risk and maximum security prison for males, is located from the township of Lara, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The facility is operated by Corrections Victoria, part of t ...
to be charged with murdering 13-year-old schoolgirl Prudence "Prue" Bird, who disappeared from her home in February 1992. Camilleri had made admissions in a police interview, but there was a dispute over the alleged motive and how the murder was effected. On 5 December 2013, Camilleri was sentenced to an extra 28 years' imprisonment for the murder of Bird.
Lindsay Beckett
Lindsay Hoani Beckett (born 27 March 1974) was born in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and lived in the Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
town of Ōpōtiki
Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Ge ...
Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...
August 1998 before moving to Australia. At the time of the murders, Beckett lived in Yass and had come to associate with Camilleri, five years his senior, in criminal pursuits. It would be Beckett who would eventually break and confess to police about the Bega murders, leading them to the bodies of the victims.
It was claimed Camilleri exerted a strong influence over Beckett. In sentencing Beckett to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
, Justice Vincent described him as having "quite a low IQ" and as someone "who had fallen under the influence of an older individual of much stronger personality".[ In 2010, Beckett was moved to another jail after love letters from a former security guard were discovered in his cell. Beckett was 23 at the time of the murders. He will be 59 when eligible for parole in 2033.
]
Events
Abduction of Barry and Collins
On 3 October 1997, a campsite was set up by the father of Nichole Collins at White Rock, near Bega, for his teenage daughter to invite friends over for the coming Labour Day
Labour Day ('' Labor Day'' in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for ...
weekend. The camp site was located from the Collins home.[ The girls would regularly call at the house while camping to change clothing, shower and eat. Collins's father regularly called at the camp site to check on the children and did so on the day the girls disappeared. About 9:00 p.m. on 5 October,][ Collins, wearing her high school jacket, and her younger friend Barry, left the camp site and walked off for a nearby party.][
Nearby, Camilleri and Beckett were riding in a ]Ford Telstar
The Ford Telstar is an automobile that was sold by Ford in Asia, Australasia and Africa, comparable in size to the European Ford Sierra and the North American Ford Tempo. It was progressively replaced by the Ford Mondeo. It was named after the Tel ...
belonging to Camilleri's de facto partner. Camilleri had an argument hours earlier with his partner and talked to Beckett about his feelings of depression. The two men were consuming beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
and injecting each other with crystal meth
Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...
and heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
while driving aimlessly. According to Beckett, Camilleri spotted the girls walking single file along the Bega- Tathra Road in Evan's Hill and stopped to offer them a lift. At approximately 10:00 p.m., after a brief discussion, the girls entered the car willingly. A pink portable television
A handheld television is a portable device for watching television that usually uses a TFT LCD or OLED and CRT color display. Many of these devices resemble handheld transistor radios.
History
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Panasonic and Si ...
, which had earlier been taken by Camilleri and Beckett from a friend in lieu of a drug-related debt, was removed from the back seat of the vehicle and discarded at the side of the road to provide room for the girls to sit. The television would later become important evidence and implicate the two men in their crimes to follow.[
Beckett told police the group travelled to Tathra Beach and spent some time there before returning to the campsite at White Rock. On the road leading to the campsite, Camilleri became disturbed at the car bottoming out on the uneven gravel road and became angry at the girls. The rear doors of the vehicle had been previously locked using the vehicle's child locks and there were no window winders, preventing the rear doors from being opened by passengers inside. Camilleri produced a knife and told the girls they would be stabbed if they tried to escape. Beckett also produced a knife and went along with Camilleri in threatening the girls.
:"Whilst Les (Camilleri) was going off, he pulled his knife out of a pocket in the driver's door. This was a black handled ]pocketknife
A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A ty ...
with a serrated
Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied p ...
edge. Les turned around to the girls and showed them the knife. He told them to shut up and not to say anything. Les said if they did not do what he said, he would stab them. During this Les told me to get my knife. I got my knife out of the glove box. I have a black-handled knife with a jagged edge. I showed the girls I had a knife, too. I said to the girls to do as Les says."[
Camilleri reversed away from the campsite and drove onto Old Wallagoot Road.][
]
Assaults
Rather than being returned to the campsite as earlier promised, the girls were driven to a rubbish dump
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
off Old Wallagoot Road, not far from their homes in Kalaru, where they were both sexually assaulted. The girls were then driven further south, passing through the town of Merimbula
Merimbula is a town on the Merimbula Lake, located on the Far South Coast or Sapphire Coast of New South Wales, Australia. At the , the population was 3,544.
The population within 10 km of the Merimbula Post office is over 18,000 people. ...
, until the car stopped at Beowa National Park
Beowa National Park, formerly Ben Boyd National Park, is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney.
History
The park was established in 1971 covering 8,900 hectares (35 sq. mi.) and was originally named after Benjamin Boyd ...
and the girls were further assaulted. A black rubber flashlight
A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the ...
belonging to Barry and a tampon
A tampon is a feminine hygiene, menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation. Unlike a Sanitary napkin, pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. Once inser ...
were later located at the scene by police.[
The group continued through the town of Eden, where the men again assaulted the girls in an area south of the town. Camilleri then ordered Beckett to drive, and he drove towards ]Orbost
Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside t ...
before turning off and eventually stopping at Wingan Point in Victoria, at which point the girls were again assaulted. Camilleri slept, but later woke up and realised where he was. Beckett recalled in his statement to police,
:"I drove down the highway and just before Cann River
The Cann River is a perennial river located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.
Course and features
The Cann River rises southwest of Granite Mountain in remote country on the eastern boundary of the Errinundra N ...
Les woke up. He wanted to know where we were. I told him we were in Victoria heading to Orbost. Les cracked the shits and was abusing me. He was saying he wanted to go to Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. He kept saying 'the bridge'. I took this to mean he wanted to throw the girls off the bridge because he had spoken about this before. There are some bridges on the way to Sydney on the Hume Highway
Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...
which have great drops."
The girls began to question the men, asking if they were going to be murdered. Camilleri assured the girls they would only be tied up so the men could make their escape. During this time Beckett recalled Camilleri repeating the words, "They can't go back", referring to his intention to murder the girls to avoid detection for their crimes.[
]
Double murder
The final stop, at about 8 o'clock the following morning, was at Fiddler's Green Creek, located just south of the Victoria/New South Wales border. The girls' hands were bound and they were then ordered along a remote bush track over rugged terrain to the creek. After the group walked alongside the creek for several hundred metres, Camilleri ordered the girls to remove their clothing and wash their bodies thoroughly to remove any evidence of the prior sexual assaults. Afterwards, the girls were then ordered to lie on their stomachs before being retied and gagged. They were then separated by a distance of approximately as Camilleri and Beckett discussed what to do next. Camilleri demanded Beckett drown
Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...
the girls but Beckett protested, saying it was unfair that he had to kill both. Beckett eventually complied when an argument occurred and Camilleri threatened to stab him if he did not comply.[
]
Murder of Lauren Barry
Beckett attempted to first drown Barry, who was tied up near the creek. After a struggle, he became angry when his knee became wet.[ He reached for his knife and stabbed Barry in the neck, accidentally cutting his thumb. Beckett described the scene to police as follows,
:"I went over to Lauren and dragged her down to the water. I held her head under the water. She was struggling and she knocked me into the water. One of my knees, I think the left went into the water. This pissed me off a little bit and I opened my knife, it was in my left hand and I stabbed Lauren in the left side of the neck. I said in my interview that it was the right side of the neck with my right hand but I am been thinking since. It wasn't my right thumb which was cut but my left. After a couple of seconds after I stabbed her she stopped moving."][
]
Murder of Nichole Collins
Beckett then ran up the embankment towards Collins who was tied to a tree and out of view of Barry who now lay dying in the creek bed. Beckett slashed Collins throat several times then began to punch and kick her when he realised she had not died instantly from the knife wounds.[
:"After I stabbed Lauren, I ran up the bank to where I tied Nichole up. She must have heard what I had done to Lauren because when I got to her she said, 'you're going to kill me, aren't you.' I said 'shut up' and walked around to her left side and I cut her throat two or three times. This was across her throat. The knife was in my left hand. Nichole was sitting down when I cut her throat.
:After this she was thrashing around on the ground. She was trying to scream but nothing was coming out. I think I kicked her because she wouldn't keep still. And then I put my foot on to her to keep her still. This didn't work so I stabbed her in the throat. I aimed and stabbed at the hard thing in her neck. I pushed the knife all the way in but she still wouldn't keep still so I worked out where her heart would be and I stabbed her on the left side of the chest.
:She still didn't stop moving so I stabbed her in the front of the chest. I was aiming for her heart. I needed two hands to get the knife through her chest. She kept moving so I kicked her in the head a couple of times. She still kept moving but she was slowing down. I waited until she stopped moving which didn't take long."][
After the murders, Camilleri, who was not present during the murders and was waiting in the car, asked Beckett "Did you see the demon?".][ The pair quickly left the crime scene with Beckett driving and returned to New South Wales.
]
Disposal of evidence
Camilleri drove from the murder scene while Beckett slept in the vehicle, and woke as the pair approached Canberra. They stopped at Theodore Lookout on the Monaro Highway
Monaro Highway is a highway in Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia, linking in Victoria to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) via the Monaro region. From its southern terminus, it foll ...
and burned their blood-stained clothing, ropes and gags used to restrain the girls. The pair later threw their knives from the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge into Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...
before returning to their homes in Yass.[
On 8 October 1997, Camilleri and Beckett drove to Sydney and stayed with Camilleri's brother for several days.][ While in Campbelltown in Sydney's south-west, they spent six hours cleaning their vehicle at a ]car wash
A car wash, carwash, or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or fully automated (possi ...
, going as far as removing the vehicle's seats and carpets to clean them thoroughly.[ The pair then returned to Canberra to destroy further evidence before returning to Bega on an unsuccessful search for the discarded portable television which Camilleri believed would lead police to them. The television was earlier removed by a local council worker.][
]
Arrests
On 25 October 1997, police located a car earlier stolen by Beckett in Canberra. Inside the vehicle, police discovered maps of the Bega area and items belonging to Beckett. Members of the Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...
arrested Beckett on 27 October on car theft charges and remanded him in custody. Police interviewed Camilleri the following day. Both men denied any knowledge of the girls' abduction and murder, and denied discarding a television set by the roadside. However, Camilleri admitted travelling with one that he had dropped at a St. Vincent De Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...
store.[
On 12 November, Beckett made a full confession to police and agreed to guide them to the ]crime scene
A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement ...
at Fiddler's Green Creek, where the girls' remains were discovered. Camilleri, who was at this time also remanded in custody for breaching bail conditions, was awaiting trial at Goulburn Correctional Centre
The Goulburn Correctional Centre, (also known as The Circle) is an Australian supermaximum security prison for males. It is located in Goulburn, New South Wales, three kilometres north-east of the central business district. The facility is operat ...
. He was again interviewed by police and informed of Beckett's confession.[ Camilleri again denied any involvement in the murders, implicated Beckett as the lone killer, and insisted he was in a drug-induced ]stupor
Stupor is the lack of critical mental function and a level of consciousness, in which an affected person is almost entirely unresponsive and responds only to intense stimuli such as pain. The word derives from the Latin '' stupor'' ("numbness, inse ...
for most of the time the girls were in the car, stating:
"We picked up the girls and went to the beach. I shot up heroin behind the shed. While the girls were drinking I was trying to OD. We drove around with the girls. I was asleep most of the time. Beckett later told me he had dropped both girls off at home.
I remember waking up and seeing the girl. We were parked in the bush. I asked Beckett where we were and he said Victoria on the main road somewhere. I went off my head. I told him to go home, get the fuck out of here. Then I saw him walking out of the bush. He had blood all over him. Told me he cut his finger."
Police later charged Camilleri and Beckett with multiple counts of abduction, rape and murder.
Trials
Leslie Camilleri
The trial of Camilleri began on 15 February 1999 and ran until 10 April. A total of 70 witnesses were called.[ ]Prosecution
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...
evidence included a shirt belonging to Barry containing semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...
matching Camilleri's DNA profile. The shirt was discovered at the rubbish dump in Old Wallagoot Road where the pair had first taken the girls. Police recovered evidence from almost every location the pair had taken the girls and assaulted them. Beckett was called to give evidence against his co-accused and spent five days in the witness box. Camilleri continued his claims that he was in a stupor when the girls were with them in the car, and that he barely remembered them, hoping to lay the entire blame for the murders on his associate Beckett.[
Camilleri was found guilty by the Supreme Court jury and on 27 April 1999 was sentenced to ]life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
for the murders, never to be released. In sentencing Camilleri to life imprisonment, never to be released, the judge remarked
Camilleri was 28 at the time of his crimes and 29 when sentenced. He appeared before the Supreme Court in 2001 to appeal his sentence; the appeal was unsuccessful.[ He later appealed to the High Court in May 2002,][.] and again his appeal was dismissed. Camilleri has received numerous death threats from other prisoners[ and remains in protective custody.
]
Lindsay Beckett
On 26 June 1998, Lindsay Hoani Beckett, who confessed to the murders, appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria where he was arraigned
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdi ...
and pleaded guilty to the murders of Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins. On 20 August 1998, Beckett was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
period of 35 years. At the time of Beckett's sentencing, his non-parole period was the longest ever given to a Victorian prisoner.["Lindsay Hoani Beckett"]
, Accessed 11 October 2001 After sentencing, the mother of one of the schoolgirls yelled to Beckett, "I hope you rot in hell!" as he was led from the courtroom to begin his sentence.
Legislative change
As a result of this case, the Bail Act 1978
The ''Bail Act 1978'' is a former New South Wales law that has been repealed, and replaced with the '' Bail Act 2013''. While it was considered "groundbreaking" when enacted, it has been reformed several times to increase a presumption again ...
was amended in the ''Bail Amendment Act 1998'' (NSW).
Media
An episode of the documentary series ''Crime Investigation Australia
''Crime Investigation Australia'' is an Australian true-crime series that first premiered on pay TV Foxtel's Crime & Investigation Network in August 2005. The series was also rebroadcast on Free to air Nine Network, and made its debut there on ...
'' was devoted to the case.
The murders were depicted in an episode of the documentary series ''Crimes That Shook Australia
''Crimes That Shook Australia'' is an Australian true crime Television documentary, documentary television series that premiered on Crime + Investigation (Australian TV channel), Crime + Investigation on 16 April 2014. Stan Grant (journalist), S ...
''.
See also
* List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
* Murder of Anita Cobby
Anita Lorraine Cobby (née Lynch) (2 November 1959 – 2 February 1986) was a 26-year-old Australian woman from Blacktown, New South Wales who was kidnapped while walking home from Blacktown railway station just before 10:00 p.m. on 2 Febr ...
* Murder of Janine Balding
Janine Kerrie Balding was a homicide victim who was abducted, raped and murdered by a homeless gang of five (four youths and an adult) on 8 September 1988, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Balding's murder is often compared to the 1986 mu ...
* Murder of Ebony Simpson
The murder of Ebony Jane Simpson occurred on 19 August 1992 in , New South Wales, Australia. Aged nine years, Simpson was Child abduction, abducted, raped, and murdered by asphyxiation when Andrew Peter Garforth (born 5 August 1963) drowned her ...
* Allan Baker and Kevin Crump
Allan Baker and Kevin Crump are a notorious Australian duo of rapists and double murderers who are currently serving life imprisonment, life sentences in prison.
Crimes
Allan Baker and Kevin Crump were convicted criminals who met in prison wh ...
* Murder of Sian Kingi
Sian Kingi (16 December 1974 – 27 November 1987) was a 12-year-old New Zealand-Australian girl of Maori descent who was abducted, raped and murdered in Noosa, Queensland in November 1987. Barrie John Watts and Valmae Faye Beck, a married cou ...
References
External links
Sensible Sentencing Trust - Offender Databases - Lindsay Hoani Beckett
Casefile True Crime Podcast - Case 25: Prue Bird
- 16 July 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bega Schoolgirl Murders
1990s in New South Wales
1997 murders in Australia
Australian prisoners sentenced to multiple life sentences
Bega Valley Shire
Female murder victims
Incidents of violence against girls
Kidnapped Australian children
Child murder in Australia
October 1997 crimes
October 1997 events in Australia
People murdered in Victoria (state)
Rape in Australia