Kristi Abrahams

People

• Kristi Anne Abrahams — mother of Kiesha Weippeart; pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to a non-parole period of 16 years on July 18, 2013.
• Kiesha Weippeart — Abrahams’s six-year-old daughter; died at her Mount Druitt home after years of physical abuse; remains were disposed of in bushland near Shalvey.
• Robert Smith — Abrahams’s partner and Kiesha’s step-father; pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to at least 12 years in jail; later sentenced with a 12-year non-parole period.
• Justice Ian Harrison — sentenced Abrahams on July 18, 2013.
• Justice Megan Latham — sentenced Robert Smith (manslaughter-related convictions) to at least 12 years.
• Alison Anderson — former friend of Abrahams.
• Janet Manuell SC — barrister for Abrahams.
• Christopher Maxwell QC — prosecutor for Abrahams’s sentencing.
• Russell Oxford — senior police officer who led the investigation; also described the investigation and search.
• Det. Insp. Russell Oxford — head/in-charge of investigation (as named in reporting).
• Christopher Weippeart — Abrahams’s ex partner; biological father of Kiesha.
• Liz — person who found Christopher Weippeart vomiting blood and mucus at Mount Druitt Hospital (name not otherwise given).
• Rodney Jones — step-grandfather of Kiesha (as named in reporting).
• Alain Anderson — former friends are mentioned as “Alison Anderson” (as written).
• Robert Terry Smith — Robert Smith’s full name as used in court reporting.

Offence

The murder and interfering with a corpse

Kristi Abrahams murdered Kiesha Weippeart, her six-year-old daughter. At sentencing she was also sentenced for interfering with a corpse.

Timeline

• August 1, 2010 — Kiesha Weippeart was reported missing from her Mount Druitt home after Abrahams discovered her bed empty and the front door ajar.
• July 18, 2010 — Abrahams said she “nudged” Kiesha with her foot after a struggle to put on pyjamas; Abrahams said Kiesha was “like jelly” and not breathing the next morning (events are described in court material and reporting around this date).
• July 13, 2010 — reporting described that Abrahams knocked Kiesha unconscious on July 13, and that after Kiesha died Abrahams and Smith kept her body in a suitcase for several days before disposing of it.
• April 22, 2011 — police found a shallow grave site and skeletal remains believed to be Kiesha’s body off Stoney Creek Road at Shalvey in Sydney’s west.
• April 2011 — Abrahams and Robert Smith were arrested near the grave after reporting Kiesha missing about eight months earlier.
• December 2011 — Robert Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter; a murder charge was dropped.
• August 3, 2010 — Abrahams and Smith fronted media near their Mt Druitt home to beg for help finding Kiesha; Abrahams described Kiesha as “beautiful.”
• January 31, 2011 — police treated Kiesha’s disappearance as a murder and told the State Coroner they believed she was dead.
• June 10, 2011 — investigators alleged Kiesha was thrown against a wall or the corner of a bed before she died.
• June 17 (year referenced in reporting leading to trial) — Abrahams pleaded guilty to murder on the morning a jury was due to be picked.
• July 18, 2013 — Abrahams was sentenced to a non-parole period of 16 years for murder and interfering with a corpse.

Investigation

Police investigated Kiesha Weippeart’s disappearance beginning after August 1, 2010 reporting that she was abducted from her bedroom during the night, with the front door ajar and no sign of forced entry. Detectives treated multiple possibilities initially, including whether Kiesha was abducted or had wandered into the hands of the wrong person, before homicide detectives later treated her disappearance as a murder.

Police described forensic examinations and investigative activity including examination of the family unit for traces of an intruder, and an account that investigators found an amount of blood matching Kiesha’s DNA in her bedroom. Police also described an extensive forensic examination failing to reveal any trace of an intruder.

Detective Inspector Russell Oxford said the “lack of sightings of the young child” was “the puzzling part.” Investigators also conducted interviews and followed leads, while the search operations and Strike Force Jarocin continued.

Arrest and charges

After police found remains at Shalvey on April 22, 2011, Abrahams and Robert Smith were arrested and charged with murder. Reporting described Abrahams and Smith being arrested at about 1am on Freya St, Shalvey and taken to Mt Druitt police station for questioning by homicide detectives. Bail was not granted.

Reporting also described police allegations that Abrahams and Smith murdered Kiesha at Mount Druitt between July 20 and July 27, 2010, about a week before she was reported missing.

Abrahams was also charged with interfering with a corpse.

Pre-trial events and guilty plea

Abrahams denied involvement for eight months before remains were found. Reporting described that Abrahams spent eight months denying any involvement in Kiesha’s disappearance before the girl’s remains were found in bushland at Shalvey.

On the morning her trial was due to start, Abrahams pleaded guilty to murder, after prosecutors had rejected a previous manslaughter guilty plea. Reporting also stated Abrahams was entitled to a 10 per cent reduction for pleading guilty on the morning her “lengthy” trial was to start, and that the version given by Abrahams on her guilty plea was “not accepted by the Crown and not consistent with the medical evidence.”

Trial

Guilty plea

Abrahams pleaded guilty to murder. The court heard the version given by Abrahams that she gave Kiesha “a little nudge” after a struggle to put pyjamas on; this was not accepted by the Crown and was said not to be consistent with medical evidence.

Sentencing

Sentence imposed

On July 18, 2013, Justice Ian Harrison sentenced Kristi Abrahams to a total minimum sentence of 16 years for murder and interfering with a corpse. Reporting described she had been hit with 21 years and six months for murder and 18 months for interfering with a corpse, and that the two penalties combined resulted in a minimum 16-year term.

With time already served, Abrahams was described as being eligible for parole in 2027. Justice Ian Harrison stated while he could not be satisfied Abrahams intended to kill Kiesha or that she was responsible for sustained abuse of her daughter, he said she meant to seriously injure her.

Court remarks and disputed matters

Justice Ian Harrison said:

"(How Kiesha died) is not known to me and I have been unable to provide a satisfactory version to replace it,"

Justice Ian Harrison also said the death of Kiesha was “a foreseeable and preventable consequence of foreseeable and preventable causes.”

Abrahams entered sentencing with the court also hearing that documents said Abrahams made threats to hurt Kiesha before the murder, including:

"I really will hurt her, I will kill her," Abrahams is reported as saying.
"I can't f****** handle this kid anymore."

Justice Ian Harrison said:

"retribution and mercy are important in equal measure."

Justice Ian Harrison also described the case and Abrahams’s background as follows:

Abrahams was described by Justice Ian Harrison as "an inevitable product of entrenched intergenerational failures."
"the offender's failings are mirrored in the failings of others."
"As anyone knows, the burdensome responsibilities of parenthood are not bestowed only on those who are capable of meeting them," Justice Harrison said.
"Abrahams was patently ill equipped for the role and probably equally unable to recognise it."
"The death of (Kiesha) was in these circumstances a foreseeable and preventable consequence of foreseeable and preventable causes."
The judge told the court the crime ranked in the "mid-range" of seriousness, because it was an impulsive and uncontrolled act of violence.
He said while he couldn't be satisfied Abrahams intended to kill six-year-old Kiesha, or that she was responsible for sustained abuse of her daughter, she meant to seriously injure her.
Justice Harrison said the murder of "a vulnerable and defenceless child in her care" was in the "mid-range" of seriousness and believed she is unlikely to reoffend.

Public reaction and statements at sentencing

As Abrahams was led away, individuals in the public gallery shouted:

• Someone yelled "rot in hell".
• Someone labelled her "a putrid dog".
• Alison Anderson and other former friends of Abrahams told her to "rot in hell" after the sentence.
• Reporting also stated a group yelled out "go to hell" as the prison truck was driven into the King St complex just before 9am.
• Reporting also included that Abrahams was called “a low-life dog” by someone in the public gallery during earlier proceedings.

Justice Harrison said the “guilt” of a community was paramount and noted the community’s emotion in the face of a child death.

Other court-related proceedings and related sentencing (Robert Smith)

Robert Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to jail terms. Reporting described that a murder charge against Smith was dropped and he pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Smith’s admissions and description of conduct

Reporting described Smith making statements to police including:

"I must have the worst luck and I was like, 'how can this shit happen to me?'"
and: "I was like 'how can this shit happen to me?'," Smith said.

Reporting also included:

"She wasn't waking up or nothing. I was like 'how can this shit happen to me?',"
and: "I’m not my daughter, you know, but I treat her like she was," he said.
"If I had any idea we'd be there looking."

Reporting further included an agreed statement of facts:

"Smith burned the deceased's body prior to burial, burned the suitcase they had used to transport the body and threw away the hammer he used to dig the grave."

Medical and evidentiary findings

Post mortem and injury findings

The court heard that Kiesha suffered physical abuse with serious damage to her head, face and shoulders. A dental expert and forensic pathologist evidence described injuries to teeth and head, including that Kiesha had teeth fractures delivered with force, with damage described as akin to an “adult sporting injury” and inconsistent with Abrahams’s claim that she “nudged” Kiesha with her foot.

Reporting described:

• post mortem findings of “significant and considerable damage” to her head, face and shoulders;
• the hearing being told that damage “escalated in...seriousness, particularly in the last 18 months of her life”;
• the court hearing that her injuries were “equivalent to a sporting injury”;
• a dental expert statement that there were as many as five “fresh” blows to the jaw before death, and that the injuries were described as “consistent” with physical abuse;
• a finding that some injuries were sustained “weeks or months” before she died;
• evidence that Kiesha’s teeth showed “localised, severe blunt force (trauma)” and injury patterns described as “healing injuries.”

Disposal of remains

The court heard Kiesha’s body was placed in a suitcase and kept before being disposed of in bushland at Shalvey. Reporting described the body being set alight before burial. A statement in reporting said the body was kept in a suitcase for three days before it was disposed of.

Background and abuse history

The court heard Abrahams’s failings as a mother could be traced to her own childhood. Reporting described that Abrahams found her mother dead at age 10 and endured an early life of abuse and neglect compounded by an intellectual disability. Reporting also described that her childhood included a violent and alcoholic man, periods in custody, time in and out of foster care, and that she witnessed domestic violence in her childhood home. Reporting also said she was subjected to anti-Aboriginal comments as a child and was put in a foster home as a 10-year-old after her mother died.

Abuse and prior incidents involving Kiesha

The court heard Kiesha had been removed from Abrahams’s care previously after requiring hospital treatment for a bite wound in 2005. Abrahams pleaded guilty to the assault in court and was forced to complete an anger management course before Kiesha was returned to her in December 2006.

Reporting also described that Kiesha was bitten at 15 months, with DOCS placing Kiesha into foster care after Abrahams bit her on the shoulder. Kiesha later was given back to Abrahams, who had anger-management counselling.

Court heard evidence that Kiesha told a DOCS worker her mother had burnt her with a cigarette, with Kiesha stating:

"Mum hit there" and "Mum did that".

Reporting also stated that DOCS received reports of injuries to Kiesha from neighbours and family members, and that education workers visited the home because Kiesha only attended school four times.

Court heard Kiesha flinched even if Abrahams just raised her hand to speak casually, and that she appeared fearful of her mother. Reporting described that Kiesha went to kindergarten only four times and that attempts by education workers to amend this were met with Abrahams locking and refusing to answer the door when they visited.

Parenting and “duty of care” findings

Justice Ian Harrison said:

"Abrahams was entitled to a 10 per cent reduction for pleading guilty on the morning her 'lengthy' trial was to start."

The court heard Abrahams had “the highest duty of care” to Kiesha and “significantly breached” that by delivering “no more than two blows” to a six-year-old child.

Other details

Where remains were found and investigative locations

• Remains were found at a number of locations off Stoney Creek Road at Shalvey in Sydney’s west.
• Police described a crime scene set up at the site.
• Abrahams and Robert Smith were arrested near Kiesha’s remains at Shalvey.

Missing person timeline elements and reporting

Reporting described that Kiesha was last seen alive at 9.30pm when Abrahams put her to bed, and that Abrahams initially reported Kiesha missing with the front door ajar. Police later said her last time seen alive was on July 11 at a birthday party for one of Robert Smith’s relatives held at a property at Londonderry.

Additional quotations and statements by those around the case

A witness and others shouted or spoke during hearings, including:

• Someone told Abrahams she was “a low-life dog.”
• Another person told Abrahams: “I didn't even know her and I loved her more than you” as the hearing was adjourned.
• Abrahams begged: “anyone that's seen her can they please go to the police”.

Disposition eligibility

After Abrahams’s sentencing, reporting stated she would be eligible for parole in 2027.