Listen to the story of Katherine Knight. How could a woman commit such unspeakable horrors to a man she supposedly loved? Her crime was murder, but it was how she executed the murder that caused her to receive a sentence that had never been handed down to a female defendant in Australia’s history.
Apple Podcasts
Stitcher
Pandora
Spotify
Google Podcasts
iHeartRadio
TuneInBondi Beach
Location
Australia includes the island of Tasmania and other smaller islands and is the 6th largest country in total land area in the world. It is best known for the Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park & Bondi Beach.
Aberdeen is a small town, located in the upper Hunter Region of New South Wales. According to the 2016 census, it had a population of just over 1,800 citizens.
February 29, 2000
John Price who went by the nickname Pricey stopped into the Scone Magistrate’s Court that morning to take out a restraining order on his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Katherine Knight. Price and Knight had met in 1993. Soon Katherine moved into his home along with his two older children from his first marriage that broke up in 1988. John Price is described by all who knew him as a likable guy. Katherine Knight did not seem to have the same reputation.
Katherine Knight
Katherine Knight was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, on October 24, 1955. Her mother was Barbara Roughan and her father was Ken Knight. Barbara and Ken were having an affair. At the time, Barbara had been married to Jack Roughan, a co-worker of Ken Knight.
The affair was a major scandal at the time. Barbara left her other four other children and moved in with Ken and her newborn twin daughters. Katherine was the younger of the two. Just four years later in 1959, Ken Knight died so the family moved in with Barbara’s grandmother.
I was a welcome reprieve from the life Barbara and her children had been living. Ken Knight was a violent alcoholic who would sexually assault Barbara numerous times a day. In turn, Barbara would share intimate details of those rapes with her two young girls.
Katherine herself was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of various family members. This abuse occurred up until the age of 11. With the traumatic upbringing, it was little surprise that Katherine would have uncontrollable murderous rages over the smallest of offenses.
In high school, Katherine mainly kept to herself. She was seen as a loner who on occasion would bully smaller classmates. She even assaulted a boy at school with a weapon. When not in a homicidal rage, Katherine was found to be quite pleasant. She even earned awards for good behavior.
Becoming a Boner
Katherine dropped out of school at the age of 15. She never learned to read or write and soon found factory work as a clothing cutter.
A year later she started what she referred to as her dream job. Cutting up animals at the local slaughterhouse. In Australia, this business is known as an abattoir.
Katherine rose through the ranks. She was promoted to boner and received a set of her own butcher knives. Katherine kept her butcher knives in her bedroom, hanging them over her bed. This was in case the occasion arose that she may need them. This was something always did wherever she lived.
1973 (age 18)
Katherine and co-worker David Stanford Kellett started a relationship. Kellet was known as a hard drinker who would get into fights with Katherine backing him up. She had a reputation in Aberdeen as a fighter who wasn’t afraid to use weapons on anyone who upset her.
Privately, Katherine was the dominant of the two.
Yet, the two married in 1974 per Katherine’s insistence. The story goes that the bride and groom arrived at their nuptials on Katherine’s motorcycle. Kellet, clearly inebriated, was on the back of the bike. It was at the ceremony that Katherine’s mother took Kellet aside and warned him not to upset her daughter. She warned him that if he did “she’ll kill you.” Her mother indicated that Katherine had a few screws loose.
On their wedding night, Katherine’s mother’s words were prophetic. Katherine tried to strangle her new husband after he fell asleep on her after numerous rounds of intercourse. That was the first of many incidents where Katherine would lash out against her new husband. On one occasion while pregnant, she burned all of David’s clothes and shoes. Then for good measure, she hit him across the back of the head with a frying pan.
The reason for all this was that David had come home late. He had been out at a dart competition and had made it to the finals and that was the reason he did not arrive home by the time Katherine expected him to. David fearing for his life took off towards a neighbor’s house. He ended up collapsing and being taken for medical care. It was determined that he had a bad fracture to his skull.
Katherine fearing arrest, calmed down and convinced David not to press charges much to the authorities dismay.
1976
In May of that year, Katherine gave birth to a baby girl, Melissa Ann Kellet. Shortly thereafter David left Katherine for another woman. He also left Aberdeen and relocated to the Queensland area. Katherine did not take this abandonment well and soon after ended up in St. Elmo’s Hospital in Tamworth. Katharine had been seen walking her baby in a carriage or pram down the main street in Aberdeen violently moving from side to side.
Katherine was diagnosed with postnatal depression. She stayed hospitalized for a few weeks. Upon her release, she returned to Aberdeen. She then proceeded to take her newborn daughter down to the railway tracks and placed the baby on the tracks leaving her there. Then she gets an ax and goes into town threatening anybody she came across. A man who happened to be down by the tracks rescued baby Melissa. This was minutes before the train was due to arrive.
Katherine was once again transported to St. Elmo’s Hospital.
She signed herself out the following day. If you’re thinking Katherine pulled herself together enough to focus on being a mother, you’d be wrong. A few days after she signed herself out of the hospital, Katherine then attacked a woman with one of her butcher knives. She slashed her face and demanded that she drive her to Queensland to find her husband.
On their way to Queensland, they stopped at a service station. There the woman was able to make her escape and contacted the police. By the time the police arrived Katherine had taken a little boy hostage, threatening him with her knife. Police were able to disarm her with brooms and rescue the boy and take Katherine into custody.
Taken to a Psychiatric Hospital
Katherine was taken to Morisset Psychiatric Hospital. While at Morisset Katherine told the hospital staff that she had planned on killing the mechanic at the service station. This was due to the fact that he was the one that repaired David’s car and that allowed him to leave Katherine and their newborn daughter.
After that, the plan was to find David and kill him and his mother, who had gone to Queensland to live with him. When police told David of what Katherine had done and her plans to kill him and his mother both David and his mother moved back to Aberdeen to support Katherine. In August 1976 Katherine was released into the care of her husband and mother-in-law.
The family then moved to a suburb of Brisbane. Katherine got a butchering job at the Dinmore Meatworks.
1980
On March 6th Katherine gives birth to another baby girl, Natasha Maree. Four years later in 1984, Katherine leaves David and moves back to Aberdeen and into her parent’s house. She returned to the slaughterhouse but ended up injuring her back. Katherine was placed on disability after which she received government housing.
1986
In 1986 Katherine meets David Saunders. David is a 38-year-old miner. After a few months of dating, he moved in with Katherine and her two daughters. Once again Katherine and her newest boyfriend had a rocky relationship. Katherine often threw David out when she got jealous of what David did when she was not around.
David would leave and go back to an apartment he kept. Soon Katherine would show up begging him to come back.
In May 1987 Katherine ended up knocking David unconscious with a frying pan (it seems her weapon of choice). This was after she had cut the throat of a dingo pup (wild dog) telling David that is what will happen to him if he ever cheats on her. David must have taken the threat seriously enough. He stayed with her and in June 1988 Katherine gave birth to her third daughter, Sara.
The couple then decided to purchase a home. Katherine decorated it with various objects such as animal skins, rusty animal traps, machetes, rakes, and pitchforks. It is said that no space was left uncovered.
The couple continued to have their troubles. On one occasion Katherine ended up hitting David in the face with an iron. She then stabbed him in the stomach with a pair of scissors. David took off and returned sometime, later on, to find all of his clothes cut up. Point taken, David took a sabbatical from work and went into hiding.
After several months David returned to Aberdeen to see his daughter Sarah. By then Katherine had gotten an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against David telling authorities that she was fearful of him.
1991
In 1991 Katherine give birth for the fourth time. This time she had a boy and named him Eric. Eric’s father, John Chillingworth was a co-worker of Katherine’s from the slaughterhouse where she used to work. Katherine and John were together for about three years before Katherine left John for another John. Katherine had been seeing John Price on the side.
Yet Another Rocky Relationship
John Price was been aware of Katherine’s reputation. He decided to risk it as his children seemed to like her. Katherine and her children moved in with him and his kids in 1995. In 1998 (Katherine is 43 at this time) the couple got into a fight. One of the many that they had, over the fact that Price did not want to marry her.
Katherine retaliated by videotaping items that Price had taken from his job site claiming he had stolen them. In reality, he had taken them from the trash bins. Katherine sent this tape to Price’s boss. In turn, Price was fired from the job he had held for 17 years. Price was livid and kicked Katherine out of his home.
This breakup only lasted a few months with Price once again seeing Katherine. This time he refused to let her move back in. Their fighting continues and even escalated. Price lost many of his friends. They did not want anything to do with him while he was seeing Katherine Knight.
2000
On February 29th, he told others that if he didn’t show up for work the next day it was because Katherine had killed him. His co-workers tried to talk him out of going home, but Price felt he needed to. He feared Katherine would take her anger out on his children and kill them. When Price got home he found out that Katherine had sent his children over to a friend’s house for a sleepover.
Price then ended up spending the evening at a neighbor’s house before returning home around 11 pm to go to bed. Katherine was not there. She went back to her house as she no longer lived with Price. Katherine returned to Price’s house while he was sleeping. She proceeded to watch some television then took a shower. Afterward, she woke Price up for sex after which he fell asleep.
The next day when Price’s car was still in his driveway at 6 am his neighbor became concerned since Price was usually gone by then. His boss also was concerned when Price didn’t show up and sent another employee to see what was going on. Both the neighbor and the co-worker knocked on Price’s bedroom window with no response. That’s when they noticed blood on the front door and notified authorities.
Police arrived around 8 am and broke down the back door to Price’s home. They found Price’s body and Katherine who was unresponsive due to an overdose of pills.
The Murder
Katherine had stabbed Price in the chest with a butcher knife while he was asleep. Blood evidence in the home suggested that Price woke up when stabbed. He ran out of the room into the hallway with Katherine giving chase and repeatedly stabbing him. Price had apparently made it to the front door and was able to open it. He was either dragged back inside or he stumbled back.
He ended up bleeding out from his injuries. A large pool of blood found in the hallway of his home measuring 3 ft. by 6 ft. (1 metre x 2 metre). After Katherine killed her boyfriend she went to a local ATM machine and took $1,000 out of Price’s account.
The scene inside the home was gruesome. David Price had been stabbed up to 37 times in the front and back of his body. Many of the stab wounds pierced his vital organs. He might have been stabbed more than that especially around his neck area, but that was difficult to determine.
Preparing the Body
After Price died Katherine waited a few hours and then proceeded to fully skin him. Afterward, she hung his skin from a meat hook that hung above a door frame. She had done such a thorough job that in the post-mortem examination the skin was able to be re-sown onto Price’s body.
Katherine then decapitated Price.
When she skinned him his head was still attached. Then she cooked up a part of his buttocks that she sliced off. She then prepared an entire meal of baked potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, cabbage, yellow squash, and gravy. She set the table along with place cards made out to each of Price’s children with notes that were vindictive in nature
A third meal had been prepared and police found this meal thrown into the backyard. Speculation was that Katherine had tried to eat it. Price’s head was found in a cooking pot along with a variety of vegetables. The pot was still warm indicating that Katherine had prepared this gruesome meal into the early morning hours. Slices of his buttocks were baked in the oven.
Katherine then decided to pose Price’s body. She draped his left arm over an empty soda bottle with his legs crossed. Authorities found a note that Katherine had written. She had placed it on top of a photograph of Price. The bloodstained photo had pieces of Price’s flesh on it.
It read: “Time I got you back Jonathon for rapping (raping) my daughter (daughter). You to Beck (Price’s daughter) for Ross – for Little John (his son). Now play with little Johns Dick John Price”
Police found the allegations Katherine attempted to use to justify what she had done as being groundless. Katherine denied having any memory of having anything to do with John Price’s murder.
The Trial
Katherine wanted to plead, but only to a manslaughter charge. On February 2, 2001, Katherine Knight was charged with murder. She pleaded not guilty.
Her trial was scheduled for July 23, 2001 (a little over 5 months later). Then it had to be rescheduled to October 15, 2001, due to one of Katherine’s attorney’s illness. Justice Barry O’Keefe presided when Katherine’s trial began.
The first step was picking a jury. He allowed the sixty prospective jurors an out. Jurors could recuse themselves from duty on the grounds that the photographic evidence that was going to be presented would be too much for them to handle. Five jurors ended up recusing themselves. The judge then read out loud in court the witness list. After that several more decided to recuse themselves. Those jurors left were impaneled.
Katherine Knight Changes Her Plea
After impaneling the jury Katherine’s attorney spoke to the judge about the possibility of Katherine changing her plea. The judge adjourned court to the following day and ordered a psychiatric assessment to take place that night. This was to determine if Katherine understood what pleading guilty meant. The next day the trial was to begin. Katherine decided to change her plea to guilty. The jury was dismissed.
Had the trial gone ahead Katherine’s defense team’s strategy was to claim she had suffered a form of amnesia or dissociation when she killed David Price, skinned him and served him up as a meal. Most psychiatrists feel that Katherine may have experienced a form of dissociation, but they did consider her sane.
Her motive for the murder seems to be revenge. Price didn’t want to marry her. He also didn’t allow her to move back into his home. At this point, he basically wanted her out of his life. Katherine doesn’t handle rejection well.
Although Katherine pleaded guilty she didn’t seem to take any responsibility for her actions. At her sentencing, Katherine became hysterical and at one point had to be sedated. This was after Dr. Timothy Lyons took the stand to describe how Katherine had decapitated and skinned Price.
November 8, 2001
Justice O’Keefe sentenced Katherine Knight to life imprisonment. He refused to fix a parole date. Instead, he ordered, “never to be released.” This was the first time in Australia’s history that such a sentence had been handed down to a woman.
June 2006
Katherine appealed her life sentence. She felt that it was too severe for the crime she committed. A three-justice panel with the NSW Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed and dismissed Katherine’s appeal.
“This was an appalling crime, almost beyond contemplation in a civilized society.”
Justice Peter McClellan wrote in the judgment
As of 2017, Katherine Knight is an inmate at the Silverwater Women’s Correctional Institute in western Sydney. Her nickname behind bars is “The Nana.”
Resources
- Katherine Mary Knight
- 14 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Australia
- Katherine Mary Knight who ate her boyfriend John Price to become movie subject
- Katherine Mary Knight: Cannibal, Psychopath, Mother and Wife (Crime Documentary)
- 50 Interesting Mary Katherine Knight Facts
- Katherine Mary Knight q&a | Australian Women’s Weekly