Elizabeth Struhs trial: Court hears triple-0 call made after Elizabeth Struhs death
The triple-zero call made by Jason Struhs around 36 hours after his daughter Elizabeth’s death has been played at the Supreme Court trial.
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The triple-zero call made by Jason Struhs around 36 hours after his daughter Elizabeth’s death has been played at the Supreme Court trial.
The call was made around 5pm on Saturday, January 8, 2022.
Mr Struhs’ voice is consistent and matter-of-fact throughout the call, with no wavering or emotion as he spoke to the operator.
At the outset of the call, Mr Struhs confirmed his address on Meredith Crescent in the Toowoomba suburb of Rangeville, and was then asked what had happened.
“My daughter has passed away in her sleep,” Mr Struhs told the operator.
“Are you with her now?” the male operator asked.
“Yes I’m in the house,” Mr Struhs said.
“I just want to confirm she is definitely beyond any help, is that right?” the operator asked.
“No, there is no helping her,” Mr Struhs responded.
Mr Struhs then confirmed his daughter’s full name and date of birth.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” the operator asked.
“No, that’s fine, thanks mate.” Mr Struhs said finally.
Queensland Ambulance Service advanced paramedics Scott Rice and Sarah Gale were dispatched, arriving around 5.15pm. They had an unnamed student paramedic with them.
Mr Rice told the court they were greeted at the door by a “large group” of people who didn’t say anything to them, but rather parted and ushered them inside.
“Elizabeth lying on her belly on a mattress on the living room floor, with her head to the side … the patient was still wearing a T-shirt and pyjama shorts and there was a blanket covering her lower half,” Mr Rice testified.
“I assessed her, rolled her onto her back and used the ECG [machine] to confirm no cardiac activity … there were also signs of lividity, blood pooling, parts of her skin were incredibly pale, cold to touch – she was quite clearly deceased.”
Meanwhile, Ms Gale had been talking to Jason Struhs separately in the house.
“He told me she had died yesterday morning,” Ms Gale told the court on Friday.
“This was very unusual, I clarified that she passed away yesterday and asked why they didn’t call the ambulance earlier?
“He replied: ‘We were praying that God would bring her back.’
“He seemed very calm and collected throughout, he didn’t really show any outwards signs of emotional or distress, as you would expect [him to].
“While we were waiting outside [for the police to arrive], I heard what sounded like a group of people singing inside.”
Another witness was Senior Constable James Dolley, who was one of the responding local police officers. He interviewed Therese Stevens at the scene that day.
Senior Constable Dolley’s body-worn camera footage was played to the court.
While he is speaking to Therese Stevens, the group can be heard in the background singing.
“She had been sick for a while and we had been looking after her,” Ms Stevens told Senior Constable Dolley.
In a later exchange, Ms Stevens explained the group’s beliefs to the police officer.
“God will raise her from the dead and we believe that she will come back,” she said.
“We do recognise that her body has passed away, but her spirit remains.
“So for us, we’ve not said that she’s dead, it was more like ‘she sleeps now’ because we believe that it is only sleep, and at some point, God will rise again.”
Singing, playing guitar as Elizabeth’s body remained on floor
Senior Constable Rachel Doljanin, a scenes of crime officer who photographed evidence throughout the Struhs’ house, told the court that she heard singing and someone playing a guitar upon arrival at the property.
The court was shown a series of photos taken by Senior Constable Doljanin, including one shot of Elizabeth Struhs’ uncovered body on the mattress.
She was wearing a black and white striped T-shirt, pyjama shorts, her arms were placed across her stomach, her head was tilted to the left, and her eyes were closed.
A further photo showed her lower body covered with a purple blanket, and a yellow sheet covering her face.
Other photos taken by Senior Constable Doljanin included hand-written posters dotted throughout the house with messages such as “Jesus is the joy” and “I am healed of diabetes”.
Another shot depicted a hanging whiteboard with the message written: “Elizabeth is healed, amen, she is only sleeping.”
A forensic pathologist told the court she believed Elizabeth died from diabetic ketoacidosis which was consistent with insulin withdrawal for several days.
Dr Nardine Forde said diabetic ketoacidosis, which is when there is not sufficient insulin to convert glucose to energy forcing the body to look for other sources, could lead to a number of complications.
“Over time the person with it would lose consciousness, they wouldn’t be dehydrated, they potentially would have low blood volume within their circulation and therefore have poor perfusion of their organs,” she said.
Dr Forde said Elizabeth, who suffered type 1 diabetes, had “extremely high” levels of glucose during the autopsy and it likely would have been higher prior to death.
Dr Forde told crown prosecutor Caroline Marco it was difficult to determine at the time of post-mortem what the cause of diabetic ketoacidosis was in this case.
“Would it be consistent, if I was to give you a hypothetical, with a situation where insulin was withdrawn on January 3 2022 completely from the child?” Ms Marco asked.
“That would certainly be a reasonable explanation as to why she would have developed diabetic ketoacidosis,” Dr Forde said.
Under cross-examination from Lachlan Schoenfisch, Dr Forde confirmed that type 1 diabetes was a natural disease.
“So there was nothing that Mr or Mrs Struhs did to cause type 1 diabetes in Elizabeth?” he asked.
“To cause type 1 diabetes, no,” she responded.
At the time of the autopsy Elizabeth weighed 21.4kg which put her in the third percentile on the growth chart.
“My understanding is that 3 per cent or less of the population would be at that weight,” Dr Forde said.
‘Religious persecution’: Group leader rejects murder charge
The alleged leader of a fanatical religious congregation has described the charges against he and the 13 other members over the death of Elizabeth Struhs as “religious persecution”.
Eight-year-old Elizabeth Rose Struhs died in her family’s Toowoomba home in January 2022 after her parents, Jason and Kerrie Struhs, allegedly took her off lifesaving insulin used to treat her diabetes, in an attempt to “prove their faith” in God’s healing powers.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco concluded her opening submissions late on Thursday afternoon, prompting Justice Martin Burns to invite the self-represented defendants to give their own opening submissions before the prosecution’s witnesses are called.
Brendan Stevens, the alleged leader of The Saints hard line group, spoke for 10 minutes in Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday in defence of he and the 13 other accused.
At times, Mr Stevens went off on tangents unrelated to the case and more generally about Christianity in Australia, some other sections were inaudible.
“The perspective we would like to present is that this isn’t really a trial about the murder of a child at all, it is religious persecution,” Mr Stevens told the court on Friday morning.
“We believe in the word of God … There is this hypocrisy in this land generally and we have chosen to walk with God.
“They [the Crown] have entered straight into that debate about faith. It’s not about murder.
“The Bible is filled with Jesus Christ working miracles, including raising people from the dead. We are within our rights to believe in the word of God.”
Mr Stevens said he and the fellow accused “don’t particularly care … about what the judgment is” at the end of the trial, referring to respecting the will of God.
“We don’t come to fight the charge … that is why we have resisted the encouragement to use legal representation and apply for bail,” he said.
“This is what has happened, God has allowed it, we have found great joy in the fact that many people in prison have heard the word of God [during their time in custody].
“We are happy to suffer the persecution that comes to us … we don’t fight that.
“We are not looking for the legal loopholes, we see all of that as wrong, we are just happy to walk with God.
“We believe this is a charge brought against believing in God.”
As Mr Stevens spoke, other members of The Saints smiled and nodded along in the courtroom and the occasional “hmmm” was heard in agreement.
Mr Stevens and the 13 accused took a 30-minute adjournment on Friday morning to formulate Mr Stevens’ remarks, which seemed to be written on a single post-it note.
The prosecution will now start calling its 60 witnesses.
Jason Struhs, 52, and the group’s alleged leader Brendan Stevens, 62, are charged with murder. The 10 other members of the congregation are charged with manslaughter.
They are Loretta Mary Stevens, 67, Therese Maria Stevens, 36, Andrea Louise Stevens, 34, Acacia Naree Stevens, 31, Camellia Claire Stevens, 28, Alexander Francis Stevens, 25, Sebastian James Stevens, 23, Keita Courtney Martin, 22, Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 33, and Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 25.
All are representing themselves and had pleas of not guilty entered on their behalf.
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