Another tearful plea by mother ends in a "Plea" of Guilty

More than two years after the remains of six-year-old Sydney girl Kiesha Weippeart were found in a western Sydney bush reserve, her mother has pleaded guilty to murdering her.

Kristi Anne Abrahams, 30, was due to face trial for the 2010 murder in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday morning.

But in a shock move, Abrahams stood before Justice Ian Harrison and a court room packed with Kiesha's relatives and supporters, and quietly pleaded guilty to murder.

There was initially some confusion in the gallery about the plea, so quietly was it uttered. But as news filtered through, Kiesha's relatives gave a collective sigh of relief.
The six-year-old was reported missing from her home at Mt Druitt, in western Sydney, on August 1, but the charge was not laid until after her remains were discovered in bushland eight months later in a grave at Shalvey in April 2011.
Kiesha exhibited wounds consistent with long term abuse and serious blunt force trauma injuries to the jaw area, suggesting she had been slammed into the ground.
For some months, Abrahams and Kiesha's stepfather, Robert Smith, claimed to know nothing about her fate, issuing a number of public pleas for information about what happened.

But thanks to a meticulously planned and executed police investigation, undercover officers were able to befriend the couple and draw out a confession, arresting the couple at Kiesha's burial site.

When Kiesha went missing, her parents reported she had been kidnapped from her home, but police found no trace of an intruder.
Abrahams then fronted the media and made emotional appeals for information.

He told police he treated his stepdaughter Kiesha Weippeart "just like she's my own".
But when the little girl was killed at home, Robert Smith burnt her body and buried it in a shallow bushland grave before pretending she had disappeared.
Smith, 33, had "ample opportunity" to seek medical help for six-year-old Kiesha, who was knocked unconscious by another person at her Mt Druitt home in July 2010, the Supreme Court in Sydney heard on Friday.
Instead, "He saw her condition deteriorate and did nothing about it", court documents said.
Crown prosecutor Keith Alder said Smith went to work the day after Kiesha was injured, leaving her in a "comatose" state and returning home that night to find her dead.
"He knew (Kiesha) had been knocked out," Mr Alder told Smith's sentence hearing.
"He knew he couldn't wake her. He had ample opportunity to get her medical assistance."
Smith has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the girl on the grounds of negligence and to being an accessory after the fact of murder.
Another person, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will stand trial for Kiesha's murder later this year.
According to an agreed statement of facts tendered in court, Smith told police he heard a "loud bang" from Kiesha's bedroom and discovered she had been knocked out.
"I must have the worst luck and I was like, I didn't do anything but I'm there, I'm in the picture, I'm part of it," Mr Smith later told an undercover police officer.
After Kiesha died, the court heard Smith stuffed her body into a suitcase and left it in her room for about five days before he and his co-accused took it to a pre-prepared grave at nearby Shalvey on July 18, 2010.
"(Smith) then doused the deceased's body in petrol and set the deceased's body alight," Mr Alder said.
Kiesha was eventually reported missing from her home at Mt Druitt, in western Sydney, on August 1, sparking a large-scale police search and nationwide media frenzy.
In police interviews, Smith described Kiesha as "good, always happy" and he told police, "We get along fine. I treat her just like she's my own".
Kiesha's remains were discovered in bushland at Mt Druitt eight months later in April 2011 - on what would have been her seventh birthday - following a lengthy undercover police operation.
Smith and his co-accused were arrested at her grave.
An exact cause of death has not been established, but a post mortem examination found Kiesha may have sustained a severe head injury around the time of her death.
Defence barrister Mark Austin told the court Smith was a "passive" man who was physically and verbally abused by his co-accused, leading to feelings of "helplessness and high levels of anxiety".
Mr Austin described Smith as "fundamentally quiet by nature" and suffering from low self-esteem.
"His failure to obtain medical assistance (for Kiesha) can be explained by these aspects of the relationship (with the co-accused)," Mr Austin told the court.
Justice Megan Latham noted that Smith appeared to be the "prime mover" in the disposal of Kiesha's body.
"He was particularly involved and the prime mover, if you like, in the disposal of the body, including burning the body in such a way that prevents the crown from proving conclusively the cause of death," Justice Latham said.

PeterMac wrote:Not a fridge, then?

Newintown wrote:

PeterMac wrote:Not a fridge, then?

Perhaps they didn't have a fridge/freezer big enough, or they couldn't afford to buy one/hire one after having kept the decomposed body in the suitcase for a week. What a horrible ending to a poor little girl who did no harm to anyone

ShuBob wrote:The part of the sad story I find encouraging is the use of undercover cops to befriend the couple and extract a confession.

We may not get an outright confession in the other case but who knows if undercover cops have been used and have been able to glean certain important information. I remain optimistic.


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My reply to ShuBob

That's why Kate McCann wouldn't speak to the lady who came in to help very early on, the child protection lady  (sorry, I can't remember her name right now - Yvonne Martin perhaps?), Kate Mc was no fool, she knew that anything she said to this person would be held against her (obviously being a doctor she knew all the ins and outs of child abuse procedure etc).

ShuBob wrote:The part of the sad story I find encouraging is the use of undercover cops to befriend the couple and extract a confession.

We may not get an outright confession in the other case but who knows if undercover cops have been used and have been able to glean certain important information. I remain optimistic.