A chilling crime that shocked a quiet community | Forensic Files

[Music] the crime scene was described as looking more like the set of a horror movie than
real-life it was one of the most horrific crimes ever committed not only did it shock the small town of Aberdeen
in country New South Wales it shocked the entire nation even parts of the world what could possibly drive somebody to do
this a psychiatric illness or premeditated pre-planned pure evil [Music] Catherine Knight was born on the 24th of
October 1955 she is a nun identical twin Catherine was the more feminine of the twins she liked to help a mummery on the
house assist with the cooking and cleaning and like playing with the dolls Cathy Knights parents were Ken night and
Barbara Knight who married each other in 1952 Cathy's father left school at the age of 14 to work at the abattoir in
Aberdeen country New South Wales where he lived at the time he later met Barbara and married her they moved to
Queensland into various parts of New South Wales where Ken continued to work as a slaughterman at the abattoir
he was considered excellent at his job and a very hard worker Barbara had a short fuse temper she was
hot-headed and loved using excessive foul language Barbara and Ken are in a strict household the kids did as I was
told there was no mucking about there were six kids in the house altogether including Cathy
after moving around to various parts of the state and interstate they finally settled back in Aberdeen in 1969
Aberdeen is a small country Sam located in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales about 240 kilometers which is
about 150 miles north of Sydney the main source of employment for the people of Aberdeen at the time was the local
abattoir there wasn't much else going on in the small country town that had a population of about 1,500 people as a
kid Cathy wasn't allowed to have pets but she loved animals if she came across an injured animal like a bird with an
injured wing she would bring it home and look after until it was better from a young age she showed that she had a
fiery temper on bus rides to and from school some of the boys used to torment her and give her a hard time but Cathy
not could look after herself she was involved in more than one fist fight with the boys at school and she could
more than hold her and it's likely Cathy inherited a fiery temper and love a fair
language from a mother Barbara Cathy left school at the age of 15 she had achieved only a bare minimum level of
reading and writing skills there was only one thing she wanted to do when she left school following her
father's footsteps and work at the Aberdeen abattoir her first application was rejected but she applied again in
1971 and she was successful the second time she was 16 years old when she started work
Kathy started as a general laborer mopping up the blood and cleaning up the animal flesh and carcasses she then
moved her way up to become a slicer which she enjoyed immensely she loved a job and she was very good at it
she was very efficient and precise with a knife Kathy took pride in her knives she always kept them in top condition as
she grew older Kathy was described as generally kind natured and helpful with a heart of gold
she was average looking tall slim with red hair and she wore glasses she liked to make her own clothes she was good at
knitting she played bingo there was nothing spectacular about her at all but there
was a dark side to Kathy a very dark side there was her fiery temper constant use of foul language and dark violent
behavior Kathy was somebody you didn't want to get on the wrong side of she was as vindictive as anyone could be if you
did the wrong thing by Kathy she would do everything in her power to get you back ten times worse
it was whilst working at the Aberdeen abattoir in 1973 that Kathy met her first husband David Cal there was a
quick romance and they quickly got married it wasn't much of a wedding they hopped on a motorbike together right to
the local registry office which was in a nearby town called muscle Brook and then
they celebrated the wedding with friends at a local pub Kathy was 18 at the time
it didn't take long for David to get his first taste of the dark side of Kathy it
was that night actually David had drunk excessively all day and he was struggling to perform to Kathy's
liking in the bedroom when he fell asleep she woke him up by putting her hands around his neck and strangling him Kathy
let David know she wasn't happy despite this incident the marriage actually started out quite well that kind natured
helpful heart of gold version of Kathy couldn't have been happier but after about a year things started to turn sour
Kathy's temper and mood swings started to take off and things got worse and worse and gradually turned very violent
by the time Kathy had given birth to their first daughter Melissa David had had enough and he took off to Queensland
with another woman who also happened to be pregnant to him it was 1976 this left Kathy feeling
crushed and heartbroken but also furious she decided to take her anger out on their daughter Melissa she walked into
the local railway tracks and left merely so right in the middle of them a local man happened to walk past at the right
time and saw Melissa on the tracks he quickly ran down and saved her a train came through not long after that
later that day Kathy picked up an action started swinging it around threatening numerous people police were called and
they took her to a local hospital for a mental health assessment but she was released soon after only a few days
later on the 3rd of August 1976 Kathy went to the house of one of her co-workers Molly Perry
she asked Molly for help telling her that Melissa was sick and she needed a lift to the doctors Molly was only too
happy to help Barry out and together with her mother and younger brother she put Kathy in the car to drive her to
the doctors but Melissa wasn't sick at all soon after getting in Molly's car Kathy pulled me out of butcher's knife
and held it up to Molly slashing her on the cheek she demanded that Molly drive her to coffs harbour which is about a
six-hour drive away coughs Harbor is where David calots mother Jean lived caffee later admitted her plan was to
ask Jean why David left her then kill her and then commit suicide instead though Molly drove to a nearby service
station to try and get help Kathy got out of the car dragging Molly's younger brother out
with her holding the knife up to him the police were called and quickly arrived they were able to disarm Kathy using
broomsticks one of the officers received a small cut in the struggle again Kathy
was taken to hospital for a psychiatric assessment while Kathy was being treated
in hospital Melissa was looked after by Kathy's parents Barbara and Kim Kathy was diagnosed with a personality
disorder when suffering from personality disorder a person can be loving and caring one minute before losing complete
control and been capable of dangerous violent behavior the next minute David Keller was still up in Queensland at the
time when he got a call from police about the incident he returned home and visited caffiene hospital with his
mother dream a hearing was held in hospital on the 9th of August 1976 and it was decided Kathy could be released
into the care of a gene and David this was only six days after the incident gene and David were given strict
instructions to make sure Kathy took all of her medication it didn't take long for another violent incident to happen
actually it happened pretty much straightaway as soon as they left the hospital they drove to cut his parents
house to pick up Melissa as soon as they got there barbara stormed out of the house and attacked David she grabbed him
around the throat and screamed at him blaming him for Kathy's breakdown Kathy responded by getting out of the
car walking up to barbara and punching her in the face knocking her to the ground
Kathy then stood over Barbara and screamed don't ever touch David again after this david and kathy got back
together they moved to Queensland together and Kathy got a job as a meat slicer in an abattoir up there Kathy was
in love with her knives so much so she asked David to mount them for her so she could keep them in the bedroom just in
case she needed them but it didn't take long for the relationship problems to strike again
Kathy's mood and temper was still there she was controlling and demanding and couldn't let David's affair go there
were plenty of arguments between them and a lot of them are physical Kathy was the reason they were physical she
attacked David with punches and kitchen pots and frying pans and anything else she could get her hands on Kathy also
had an affair with a co-worker from the abattoir where she worked it was payback
for David's affair David actually walked in on them in bed together but regardless she still wanted to try
and make the marriage work and not long after him and Kathy had another baby their second daughter Natasha Kathy
would do things like tell David to go to the pub have a few beers but then ring the pub and demand him to come home
immediately one night when he arrived town from the pub much later than she wanted she
whacked him over the head with a frying pan as soon as he walked through the door
they put David in hospital but he didn't press charges not long after that during
another argument Kathy hold a knife up to David's throat and another night when Kathy wasn't
happy with David she bought petrol all over his clothes and set them on fire Kathie's behavior was troubling and
becoming increasingly more violent Barbara not actually warned David at one time
don't play up on her she'll kill you finally in 1983 Cathy again worked David over the head
splitting him open put him in hospital yet again but that was finally the end David again didn't press charges but he
called the marriage off once and for all Cathy responded by cleaning the house out she took everything including the
curtains and the light bulbs but David couldn't have cared less he was happy and grateful it was finally over
thinking there must be a God looking out for him somewhere Cathy moved back to a
parent's farm in Aberdeen with their two daughters Melissa and Natasha Cathy returned to work at the Aberdeen
abattoir doctoral role as a meat slicer but in 1985 she heard her back she never
fully recovered in her employment at the Abbott our was terminated it wasn't long
before Cathy was in another relationship this time with David Saunders who she met at the Aberdeen bowling club just
like a relationship with David Keller her relationship with Saunders started off great both couldn't have been
happier but that dark side that lurked in Cathy was ever-present just waiting to come to the surface one day out of
nowhere Cathy snapped and started accusing Saunders of trading on her her unpredictable violent behavior made its
first appearance and it would go on like that for the next three years on and off
Cathy would be lovely and korn one day unpredictable and violent in the next during one of their arguments Cathy
grabbed a knife and went into the backyard and killed Saunders dog she slit its throat she said she did this in
retaliation for cylinders kicking her in the stomach when she told him she was pregnant
Saunders strongly denies this and he says he never touched her he says she just went out in the backyard for no
reason started going off and one of her violent tangents started making accusations about him and then slip his
dog's throats soon after that Cathy took an overdose of pills and had to be rushed to the
hospital Cathy always maintained it was Saunders who was the violent one towards her and
she would only act out in self-defense and at times revenge but Saunders always denied this despite the extreme ups and
downs of the relationship they ended up having a daughter together in 1988 in 1989 Cathy received a compensation
payout for her back injury $15,000 in total she used the money to pay off the house that her and Saunders were living
in effectively making it her house not long after that the relationship hit rock bottom
several more serious arguments occurred and Cathy was even issued a restraining order against Saunders although Saunders
maintained it was he who should have had their order against her and it was proven right when Cathy stabbed him in
the stomach with a pair of scissors during yet another violent argument it wasn't a serious injury it didn't even
require medical attention but it was enough to convince Saunders it was over but it didn't remain over for long they
got back together soon after to give the relationship another go but after several more violent arguments and Cathy
cutting up and throwing out all Saunders clothes the relationship finally ended for good
meanwhile anything David Kellet would send to his girls like Christmas presents birthday cards flowers etc
Kathy wouldn't give to them should we throw them out before the girls ever saw them she would then tell the girls their
dad never sent them anything after the relationship ended with Saunders Cathy soon entered another relationship with
John Chillingworth Cathy didn't like to be alone she always had to have someone and never took a long to find a new
partner and just like past relationships the early days were brilliant Chillingworth says Cathy was terrific to
be with he thought he had found the perfect soul mate they met at the Aberdeen abattoir 20 years earlier when
Cathy had just started working there as a 16 year old but nothing happened between them then in Chillingworth ended
up moving away and got married Chillingworth had only recently just returned to the area and that's when he
met Cathy again as Chillingworth had been out of the area for a long time he wasn't familiar with what Woodbine near
the legendary Cathy night stories his mates quickly filled him in but Chillingworth didn't care he was
convinced Cathy was the one for him and not long into their relationship Cathy felt pregnant with their first child
Cathy's fourth in or after this Cathy's true colors started to Shawn and the arguments and violent behaviour started
after one fight she went and spent a night with her ex David Saunders and she couldn't wait to rub it in
chillingworth's face there were also issues between Cathy Zelda stored on Melissa and
Chillingworth Melissa didn't think much of him and the feeling was pretty much mutual Chillingworth actually admitted
that he hit Melissa on one occasion he says he immediately regretted it Cathy made sure to take revenge on
Chillingworth for hitting Melissa she smashed his false teeth when he had a go at her over this she responded by
smashing his second pair of false teeth just like past relationships one minute it was on and all was good the next
minute it was off and was filled with Lawrence Cathy gave birth to their son in 1991
not long after their son's birth Cathy and Chillingworth got into a physical fight and Chillingworth was charged with
assault Cathy also got a restraining order taken me out against him they separated but it didn't last long they
soon got back together but Cathy didn't withdraw the assault charge they ended up going to court together that day John
was put on a good behavior bond and given a fine they then went home together John was a heavy drinker which
contributed to their relationship problems but he actually did quit and he went on to help with the Salvation Army
and drug in the alcohol counseling it was through them in 1993 that he got a job opportunity in Queensland for two
weeks he took the job but he liked Queensland so much that he ended up staying his initial intention was to
have Cathy and the kids move up there but when Cathy went up to visit him another massive fight between them put
an end to the relationship for good Chillingworth didn't know it at the time but Cathy had already started seeing a
new man John price by Nia Cathy had been unemployed for eight years getting bought with her compensation payout and
fortnightly government pension she had four kids two three fathers the eldest was age 17 the youngest was aged 2 John
price is born on the 4th of April in 1955 he was the eldest of six children John price had a limited education when
he left school at the age of 14 he could barely read and write but he was a hard
worker he worked in heavy machinery earth-moving equipment trucking and mourning John married his wife Colleen
and they had three children together a son and two daughters tragedy struck John prices family when his father and
brother became involved in a heated domestic dispute his father picked up a gun and started to load it so John's
brother picked up a gun and tried the fire a warning shot of him unfortunately he accidentally shot their
mother the death was ruled accidental and John's brother was charged with manslaughter the loss of his mother
devastated John he looked for a job opportunity elsewhere so he could move away any film won together with his wife
Colleen and kids they moved to Aberdeen in 1981 John was described as an easygoing likable character who got on
with everybody he met he had a laid-back carefree nature he would do anything for
anyone and never expect anything in return he worked hard and loved to unwind with a beer with his mates at the
end of a hard day in 1988 he split up with his wife Colleen they had been married for 15 years it wasn't a bitter
separation at all to show what kind of person John was after they had separated Colleen asked him to borrow money to fix
a fridge instead he bought her a brand new fridge another time when he found out Colleen was going on holidays he
slipped $500 into a bank account without her knowing John was a regular at the Aberdeen hotel
90 locals as the top pub it was one of two pubs in Aberdeen it was known as the top part Bizet's sat on the top of the
hill the other pub in town was known as the bottom pub I'm sure you come work that here and it was at the top pub
where John price met Cathy nought Cathy fell madly in love with John and she was
determined to make the relationship last she was sick of her failed relationships
she wanted this one to be forever Cathy and John struck up a conversation and that was that they became an item very
quickly and the common theme throughout Cathy's relationships continued the first few months were described as
fantastic both of them were very happy together it took about a year for the first major
arguments to begin and they went on and on from there for no reason Cathy became
deeply paranoid that John was cheating on her it seems that when David Keller treated on her back in her first
marriage it convinced Cathy that all her future partners were going to cheat on her despite a few hiccups Cathy
eventually moved into John prices house but he wouldn't marry her and this was a
new sticking point in their relationship John said he loved Cathy but he wanted to make sure his children got his house
he didn't want Cathy to be entitled to any of it that's the main reason he said that he wouldn't marry her slowly but
surely the arguments escalated from verbal and turned physical their relationship started to
deteriorate it didn't help when John would occasionally slip up and call Cathy his ex-wife's name Colleen
worrying signs started to appear Cathy mentioned several times that she would kill John
but everyone including John just that offers meaningless threats during one argument she said to John you'll
never get me out of this house I'll do you in first but as time went on Cathy could sense the relationship was
starting to slip away and that made her furious in 1998 she started secretly filming items in John's house she
alleges he stole from the mine where he worked at the time ridiculous things like a can of bug spray
an old first-aid kit that had expired things like that Cathy says she did this as John used to hit her and she made the
video to hold it over John that if we ever touched her again she would send the videos to his boss but the truth was
John had taught Cathy he wanted her out of his house and it was near time for Cathy to get her revenge most of the
stuff on the video hadn't been stolen from the mine at all and what had been taken from the mine was old discarded
junk that would have been thrown out anyway including the old first-aid kit Cathy
sent the video to John's bosses at the mine and after they viewed it she invited them into John's house and
pointed out all of the items to them in person the first aid kit was the downfall even though it was out of date
and that could prove it was out of date and it was going to be thrown out anyway
the mines sacked John 17 years of service gone just like that he had worked hard over years to put himself in
a position that earned him a hundred thousand dollars a year and now it was all gone John immediately kicked Cathy
out of his house but unbelievably it didn't last it wasn't long before John became lonely
he started blaming himself for what had happened his maids couldn't believe what
they're hearing but a few months later John and Kathy were back together but this time she didn't move back into
John's house still his decision to get back with Cathy actually cost John some friendships and it caused drama with his
son Jonathan who already hated Cathy before she got John sacked and you know he hated her even more when now
discussing getting back together Cathy told John if you take me back this time it's to the death
it wasn't long before the arguments started again and they increased in violence most of the fights this time
were over John losing his job at the morn but John did go on to get another job Cathy was also starting to cause
trouble with John's youngest daughter she lived with her mother Colleen but visited John and Cathy regularly John's
son and eldest daughter had moved out of home and had their own families Cathy's
two eldest daughters Melissa and Natasha had also moved out of home but her two youngest kids still live with her
Kathy started telling John's youngest daughter things like John wasn't really her dad and other nasty spiteful things
like that when John confronted her about it Kathy was doing the dishes so she lunch at him with a knife
Kaffee stabbed him in the upper left chest John didn't seek treatment he just put a bandaid on it and never reported
it to police the stab wound left a permanent scar towards the end of 1999 Cathy enlisted the help of a nephew and
instructed him to steal John's car which was worth about $20,000 but it was uninsured she told her nephew two-burner
she offered the pain five hundred dollars to do it not satisfied with hurting him financially
Cathy later asked her nephew to throw battery acid on his face her nephew refused both requests Cathy
later said to her older brother I'm going to kill pricy and I'm going to get away with it
I'll get away with it because I'll make out on mad meanwhile John price desperately wanted to end the
relationship with Cathy for a second time but he couldn't work out how there was just no way that he could see for a
peaceful separation he was also worried that Cathy might start to target his children if he ended it during the
afternoon of February the 27th the year 2000 another physical fight occurred during the fight John thought Cathy went
for a knife having already been stabbed by her before he took off and sought refuge at a neighbor's house John called
the police he had scratches all over him from the fire but Cathy had bruises as well John told the police he wanted
Cathy out of his house she had her own place in town where she could go and stay they told him there was nothing
they could do and he would need a court order banya the relationship had been going for six years on and off there had
been great highs in dark clothes and that night as it happened many times before they made up after the argument
and John went to bed at 2:30 a.m. the next morning Monday the 28th of February John woke up startled
he could make out the silhouette of Kathy standing over him at the bed her arms were behind her back he jumped out
of bed frightened Kathy had a knife but she didn't John went to work that day he
recounted the last day's events to his workmates they'd never seen him so distressed he said he thought he was a
dead man when he woke up to see Kathy standing over him with her hands behind her back that morning his boss offered
John degan stay with him for a while but it refused that night John returned home
and actually had a civil discussion with Kathy they agreed they couldn't go on the way they were but Kathy again
refused to leave his house that night the police arrived with the restraining order which they served on John they
took the order he had as a result of the fight the night before the 29th of February of the year 2000 began like
most other days Kathy woke up early and got John organized for work she cooked him
breakfast and made his lunch John went to work and got permission of his boss to go to the local courthouse to apply
for his own restraining order against Kathy meanwhile Kathy went and saw her solicitor and dropped in on a few old
friends showing them the bruises she had after the fight with John two nights ago
she told one of her friends that bastard's not gonna get away with this I'm gonna bloody get him she made an
appointment with her doctor and had the injuries recorded John saw the Chamber magistrate at Musselburgh courthouse
around lunchtime he explained the relationship issues he and Kathy had including all the violent incidents he
said he wanted to stop Kathy from being able to enter his house after telling his story the Chamber
magistrate issued a restraining order against Kathy that night John made his way to the top pop Kathy took her
children out for dinner after dinner she asked Natasha if her two youngest children could stay the
night at her house Natasha agreed Natasha bean Kathy's second oldest child if you forgot jean
lady's way home about 9:30 p.m. Kathy arrived at his place about 11 p.m. shared a key to John's house and let
herself in but there was no fighting no arguing John didn't tell Kathy to leave instead they had sex the restraining
orders were just words on a piece of paper at that point the next morning John didn't show up for work something
he never did he always turned up for work he was reliable he hadn't called in nor
letting on now he was running late people from work tried ringing him numerous times but they couldn't get a
hold of him they even called the police to see if there had been any car accidents that morning but there hadn't
as he was leaving for work one of John's neighbors spotted John's car still parked out the front of his house that
was unusual John always left for work before him his car was never there at that time John's work colleagues decided
they better call the police police arrived at John's house at about 10 past 8:00 that morning two of the
first officers on the scene where officer Matthews I was actually working at muscle Brook that day and received a
phone call at the station from a work matter mr. Pryce's and officer fer longer we got the call from his boss say
that he hadn't come in and somebody bit out there isn't he was still in the driveway and they couldn't raise anybody
you know not thinking the worst we were just thinking no he's probably going on or something doesn't woken up I knew Mr
Price before I knew that he was a hard worker and a reliable man so it was a bit unusual for him not to turn up to
work and not to make a phone call I went up knocked on the door didn't get an answer saw some blood on the door handle
look for a little gap into the lounge room which was dark reasonably dark and saw what looked like a bunched up Curt
and hanging down I couldn't raise anybody so decided to go and break into the place soon as we had this complaint
walked around the side there was some meat lying on the ground anyway went round the back broke in through the door
as we went in I saw straight ahead what I what I thought was a curtain there was
something hanging blocking my entry into the hallway of the house I thought it looked like some type of blanket or some
sort of covering that had been placed up on the archway so I remember I used my left hand push it aside and immediately
I could feel coldness coming on my left arm so I looked down and my left arm was
just covered in blood initially I thought I'd injure myself breaking through the back door I
couldn't understand why my arm was bleeding I realized then it was a human felt it was a skin monster head full
skin just hanging from the top doorframe I looked past it sort of toss on the ground that a head without any genitalia
and my first reaction then was to turn around to Scotty and say don't looks cause that's the worst thing again say I
looked through I could look through from there into the land room and I saw what
appeared to be a human being or what was left and so it was at that point that I
realized what had happened for something that I'd never seen before I never experienced I had an immediate idea of
what had gone on it was at that point I drew my service pistol it was blood everywhere a lot of blood out from the
door into the kitchen area there's a pot on the stove I think I might have even said to Scotty I'll give you one guess
with a DS on the table there was a couple of plates that had meals prepared vegetables and meat cooked sitting there
sergeant Farell owner was talking to me saying it's gonna be all right we've gotta keep going we've got to finish
this we've got to do whatever it takes he was talking to me and I was trying to hear if I could hear anybody else
because sometimes a little bit under stress you get that auditory exclusion and you're not hearing things you just
focused on the threat it was quite a frightening experience but once you've stepped into that
situation that's just no backing out so we went to search the place and we went up the hallway we heard what appeared to
be someone's snoring coming from one of the bedrooms so we knew there was someone alive in the house looked in
there and there she was lying on the bed tried to wake her she was obviously drugged on something and couldn't wake
it properly she was very groggy she wasn't responding so we carried her outside and put her onto the back lawn I
wasn't sure she had tried to kill herself with sleeping pills or whatever but she certainly wasn't injured in any
way now handcuff Kathy and tried to question her but they couldn't get any sense out
of her there was some empty blister packs located and they worked out Kathy had tried to kill herself by overdosing on
tablets an emulator is called and she was taken a hospital where she was kept in a psychiatric ward
obviously police say gray fees for Kathy's youngest children after a frantic period of searching they managed
to locate them safe and well at Natasha's house crime scene of us RP DiMaggio was then called to examine the
scene I got a phone call from V kg which is police radio telling us there had been a murder I said to the operator
well had an hour to murder and they said well he's been decapitated we came in through the laundry at the back of the
premises and there was an aroma and it was well it's quite a Mack ARB thing it was sweet odor a nice odor as if mum was
cooking us you walk inside and one of the first things you see is mr. prices skin or Pelt hanging from the door from
a meat hook I searched through the through the Pelt for mr. prices genitals further into the kitchen you could see
blood staining on certain items and into the lounge room there was a body further
down the hallway there was blood staining going into the bedrooms you could see where I think mr. price had
gone for a light switch there's blood staining on the light switch and also blood that he is coughed
or something on the wall you could see the expiration mark on it but as you go out towards the lounge room these
bloodstains are getting heavier and heavier his big swipes ways blood-soaked himself and sliding against the wall
they're also getting lower it comes to a combination at the foyer areas just to come to his injuries he's actually open
the front door and there's blood splatter on the screen so he's nearly made it out not that it would have
helped him he would have died certainly you just see the enormity of where it starts in the bedroom and progressively
gets worse and worse do you get to that point where he's died the blood pool was
the width of the hallway which was 1.2 meters wide when we examined the body you could see
the body has been there in its entirety there's a big stain on the floor where the head would have been it's been
skinned first you can see it she placed the skin on the carpet to sit it there and it's quite a substantial staining
there's also an outline of the head so she's taken the head off there you can see that she's walked in carrying it
into the kitchen there's this drip drip drip of blood all the way leading to the
cooktop but until we actually lifted the lid off it wasn't confirmed to me it was
a statement she had cut the gluteus maximus off his backside it's it's a big muscle and she's cut that into five
different steaks and she's cooked them bake them in the oven two of them were on one plate two on another plate and
the fifth was out for the dog I believe it wasn't touched but the meals they were like a trophy
and they had the names of each person who was supposed to get them there were two prepared meals on the table complete
with meat and vegetables a piece of paper was placed next to each meal a name was scribbled on each piece of
paper one was for John's son the other fairies youngest daughter officer Massey Oh then examined the rest
of the scene and collected all of the evidence it didn't take long for news of the murder to spread there were a few I
told you so's and I knew she was capable of that amongst the Aberdeen community during the course of their investigation
police found that after Kathie had murdered John she cleaned herself up and drove into town and withdrew $1,000 from
his bank account to this day it's unknown what she did with that money Kathie was charged with the murder of
John price in a special bedside sitting in the psychiatric ward of the hospital she was being holding on the 7th of
March 2000 when interviewed by police she denied having any knowledge of your John's death although she did admit she
was responsible for his death she claims she had amnesia and couldn't remember how it happened it became clear to
police after speaking with Kathie that she was intending to me on a defense of battered wife syndrome the she committed
the crime due to years of being the victim of severe domestic violence police got to work investigating that
angle and as you've already heard they quickly realized that yes Kathie had been in some extremely violent
relationships but she was the cause of that violence she wasn't the victim of it Kathie was examined by numerous
psychiatrists they determined yes Kathie suffered from personality disorder but a personality disorder is
not actually considered a sock illness they found Kathy's violence and rages were just part of her nature part of her
makeup she got a sick sense of enjoyment out of what she did Kathy's claims that
she couldn't remember anything about the crime were dismissed she was basically putting on a show it was found that her
actions were premeditated and the timing was planned she knew exactly what she was doing she wasn't suffering from a
psychiatric illness at all she was just pure evil Kathy initially pled not guilty and her
trial started on the 15th of October 2001 the judge assigned to the case was the Honorable Barry O'Keefe at no time
as either a barrister or as a judge did I ever strike anything of the horrific nature of Katherine Maronites case she
pleaded not guilty and the trial began in the conventional way she sat in the dock
she was quite small and impressive in a crowd you'd certainly never notice her [Music]
before the trial got going Cathy surprised everyone and changed their plea to guilty I was somewhat nervous
about this because I was concerned that if I took a guilty plea sentenced her she would then appeal to the Court of
Criminal Appeal and say she was insane at the time that she made the plea of guilty I decided that I should get a
court expert to examine her and the psychiatrist came to exactly the same conclusion as the other psychiatrists
that had seen it namely that she was not insane she was quite sane but she was a
bad woman a sentencing hearing was held and all of the grisly evidence was heard
throughout the whole of the evidence it didn't matter what the witness said she didn't look at the witness it didn't
matter what the photograph or video was she didn't look at that she sat looking straight ahead
absolutely impassive there was never a sign on her face of any reaction to any of the evidence at one point during the
sentencing hearing when some of the graphic details were being presented to the court
Cathy broke down she started rocking violently back and forth and started screaming she then jumped down to the
floor and started thrashing a beer but she wasn't fooling anybody when she wanted an adjournment she manipulated
her behavior so that she got it there after she resumed the same men that she had before but I didn't think that she'd
switched off in sentencing the judge fee on that Cathy's suicide attempt wasn't a
genuine attempt he didn't believe that she couldn't remember anything about the crime he determined she knew exactly
what she was doing she acted with planning and premeditation she had openly said many times she was going to
kill John she had even said she would get away with it because people would think she was mad the judge found out to
be vengeful valen and believed she was an extreme danger to society he dismissed her claims of battered wife
syndrome finding out the evidence clearly showed she was the violent one in her relationships as a result Cathy
Knight became the first woman in Australia to be sentenced to imprisonment for the term of her natural
life no possibility of parole to sentence any person to life imprisonment is a big thing to sentence a woman to
life imprisonment for me was an even bigger thing this was as bad a case as you got so she had to go to jail for the
term of her life she'd shown no remorse she hadn't acknowledged that she had any
problem at all such a person if released is not unlikely to do the same again there's a real prospect of it
the detective in charge of the case was Detective Bob wells when I was interviewing Catherine you can catch
someone's eye and you say to yourself I'm being bullshitted here it's a combination of catching their eye
catching the expression on their face that you know that this person is feeding you only what she wants to feed
you and that's why I still believe that Catherine would now be able to provide information as to what took place and
why it took place after a while of doing jail time Cathy said that she'd finally
found peace and she was enjoying her time but she obviously didn't like the idea of spending the rest of her life
there because she appealed to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal she claimed her sentence was too harsh
thankfully the court rejected her appeal and she will spend the rest of her life
behind bars to this day she has never given a reason for what she did or why she did it
and she has never shown any remorse [Music] you [Music]

Case 12: Katherine Knight

The crime scene was described as looking more like the set of a horror movie, than real life. It is one of the most horrific crimes ever committed.

Not only did it shock the small town of Aberdeen in country NSW, where the crime occurred, it shocked the entire nation of Australia and parts of the world. What could possibly drive somebody to do this? A psychiatric illness? Or premeditated, pre-planned, pure evil?

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas

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RESOURCES

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Brief Summary

Catherine Knight's violent history culminates in the brutal murder of John Price, shocking Australia and leading to her life imprisonment.

Key points

The Horror of Aberdeen. The crime scene was described as looking more like a horror movie than real life.
Cathy's Fiery Temper. Cathy Knight's childhood was marked by a fiery temper and violent behavior.
A Dark Turn. Cathy's marriage to David quickly revealed her dark side, starting with violence on their wedding night.
Violence Escalates. Cathy's violent behavior escalated, leading to multiple incidents involving her children.
The Final Breakup. After years of violence, David finally called off the marriage, leaving Cathy furious.
Cathy's Threats. Cathy repeatedly threatens John, escalating tensions in their volatile relationship.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Cathy was described as generally kind-natured and helpful with a heart of gold.

3:46WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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