Body in suitcase: Daniel James Holdom charged with killing Khandalyce Stevenson and her mother Karlie
MURDERED two-year-old Khandalyce Stevenson was seen by witnesses with a man several days after he had allegedly killed her mother in Belangalo Forest.
MURDERED two-year-old Khandalyce Stevenson was seen by witnesses with a man several days after he had allegedly killed her mother in the Belangalo Forest.
Police will allege Daniel James Holdom killed Karlie Pearce-Stevenson, 20, sometime around December 15 in 2008 before driving to Canberra with her daughter.
It’s then alleged Holdom killed Khandalyce while on the way to South Australia in the vicinity of the small NSW town of Wallaroo some time between 2.17am on December 19 and 12.52am on December 20. Police have not released how or exactly where she died.
The remains of mother and daughter were found five years and thousands of kilometres apart and the two crimes have only recently been linked by police.
Holdom, 41, was yesterday formally charged with the murder of the little girl whose remains were found in a suitcase dumped on the side of a South Australian highway near Wynarka, east of Adelaide, in July this year.
He had already been charged in October with killing her mother whose skeleton was discovered by trail bike riders in the Belanglo State Forest in 2010.
Holdom was formally refused bail by Magistrate Joan Baptie in Parramatta Local Court yesterday and ordered to appear at Central Local Court on January 28. NSW Homicide boss Detective Mick Willing said without going into detail both mother and daughter had suffered “violent deaths” but said the full police case against Holdom would eventually come out in court.
“All the details will come out in due course,” he said.
The family of Khandalyce released a statement through South Australian Victims’ Rights Commissioner Michael O’Connell on behalf of her family in Adelaide. “This is very much welcome news. “Khandalyce’s grandfather is aware of and grateful for the dedication and commitment shown by the police in investigating the two murders.”
It was only after a phone call to South Australian Crime Stoppers that the remains of Khandalyce were identified and then linked to the remains of her mother found in the NSW state forest made famous by backpacker killer Ivan Milat.
Ms Pearce-Stevenson was last seen driving near Coober Pedy in South Australia in 2008 after she left her home in Alice Springs to travel around Australia with her daughter.
Police have also alleged her identity, bank account and mobile phone were used for years after her murder to convince her relatives and social security services that she was still alive and to fraudulently obtain welfare benefits. No charges have been laid in relation to those allegations.
I WON’T FACE CHARGES, PARTNER SAYS
Sam Kelton
THE woman at the centre of the murder investigation of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce claims she “will not face charges” over the grisly crimes.
Wheelchair-bound Hazel Passmore broke her silence yesterday after her former partner Daniel Holdom, 41, was charged with the alleged murder of the toddler in NSW.
When asked if she thought her involvement in the investigation was over, Ms Passmore replied: “I hope so.
“I don’t know (if she will face any charge) ... I don’t think so. (There will be) no charges in relation to murder, anyway.’’
Ms Passmore has been interviewed at length by police a number of times since October, when Holdom was arrested in NSW and charged with Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s murder near the Belanglo State Forest.
Originally published as Body in suitcase: Daniel James Holdom charged with killing Khandalyce Stevenson and her mother Karlie