The Sweeny Todd of Down Under - Katherine Knight

The Sweeny Todd of Down Under:

In many movies and popular culture, we have seen and read stories of killers like Sweeny Todd portrayed by Johnny Depp who killed his victims and then his co-conspirator baked the human meat into pies, or in Game of Thrones where Arya served the King his children cooked into the food he was eating.

Being from New Zealand, I wanted to share some of the crazy things that can happen in the world Down Under. Today’s case takes place in Australia – the Land Down Under with our female Sweeny Todd aka Katherine Mary Knight.

Katherine Knight holds the criminal record for being the only female to ever be sentenced in Australia to life imprisonment without parole remember in this part of the world, we don’t have the death penalty.

It seems though that Katherine Knight was also a bit of a loose cannon as John Price – the husband she murdered was in fact – relationship number #4 and the only one she successfully manages to kill as the previous three managed to survive but only just as each of the previous three suffered multiple injuries.

From the age of 15, Katherine was very familiar with knives as she worked in a local abattoir cutting bits of offal and boning. She loved this job and her set of butcher’s knives so much that where someone might hang a dreamcatcher above their bed, she hung her set of knives. Her love of knives and skills would soon become her MO.

 Relationship #1 – David Kellet: In 1973, she married David Kellet. On their wedding night, Katherine’s mother gave David some fair warning and told him that he better be careful as he was marrying a crazy who had screws loose.  David should have heeded that warning as the first act of violence came on their wedding night when Katherine tried to strangle David three times. During their marriage, David would end up suffering a fractured skull and Katherine would take her violence out on those who she thought helped her husband leave her including a woman whose face she slashed with one of her knives and the local mechanic who fixed David’s car allowing him to leave. After this last incident, she was admitted to the Morrisette Psychiatric Hospital and later released in 1976.

Ten years later in 1986, Katherine met relationship #2 aka David Saunders. This relationship too had its crazy moments from Katherine killing a dingo puppy by slitting its throat in front of David to eventually taking her frustration out on David by hitting him in the face with an iron before stabbing him in the stomach with a pair of scissors. After this incident, David Saunders got scared and took a long leave, and went into hiding. This ended up backfiring on him as when he returned, he discovered that Katherine had manipulated the police into thinking he was the predator, and an AVO – apprehended violence order was filed against him.

Relationship #3 and #4 kind of roll together as while dating John Chillingworth, her former co-worker at the abattoir, she was having an affair with John Price who was about to meet his deadly fate. I have to say, it looks like Katherine had a thing for dating guys with the same names as she dated two Davids and then two Johns.

John Price – the man she would be sentenced to life for murder. This is where Katherine Knight decided to become a female Sweeny Todd and turn her husband into stew.  The year was now February 2000 and the pair had been seen to have several arguments and assaults with the last straw being for John Price when Katherine had stabbed him several times in the chest. Finally fed up, he kicked her out of his house and hoped not to see her again. 

March 1^st, 2000 at 6 am, one of John’s friends was worried about him as he hadn’t turned up to work. Breaking down the door, the police found a macabre scene as police found his body (not all of it) next to a comatose Katherine Knight who had swallowed an overdose of pills. This next part isn’t for the faint-hearted as John Price’s body had been stabbed at least 37 times, skinned, and hung up on a meat hook on the lounge door.  She then decapitated him and cooked parts of his body serving up the meat with a variety of healthy vegetables which included pumpkin, cabbage, etc. Price’s head was also found in another pot boiling with vegetables when the police arrived.

Sentenced finally on 8^th November 2001, Katherine was given the harsh sentence as she showed no remorse. She tried in June 2006 to appeal the sentence but was denied and is still in prison to this date where she remains till she dies unless a miracle appeal happens.