Sian Kingi’s parents launch petition to keep monster in prison

The grief-stricken parents of Sian Kingi are appealing to all Queenslanders to help them keep the monster who murdered their daughter behind bars.

Sian Kingi was just 12 when raped and murdered by Barrie Watts.

The grief-stricken parents of Sian Kingi are appealing to all Queenslanders to help them keep the monster who murdered their daughter behind bars.

Lynda and Barry Kingi will today launch a petition calling for the Queensland Parole Board to reject Barrie Watts’ bid for parole.

Noosa schoolgirl Sian was 12 when she was grabbed by Watts and his wife Valmae Beck on November 27, 1987, as she rode her bike home from the shops.

Her body was found a week later, 15km away in bushland.

She’d been bound, raped, strangled and stabbed in one of the most horrific crimes in Queensland history.

Sian’s parents, while not strong enough to be interviewed, said they wanted to express their sincere gratitude to those supporting their efforts to keep their daughter’s killer behind bars.

Sian’s teachers and school friends from Sunshine Beach State School have spoken of their grief at losing their friend in the hope people will understand the lasting impact of Watts’ crimes and support the petition.

“We thought he’d been jailed forever,” close school friend Emma Anderson said.

“Or that if he was to ever get out, it would be when he is old and decrepit.

“He is still a risk to society.

“I think when you are 12 and something like that happens to your friend, it’s very difficult to process. I still process it today. But it’s her family who suffered the most.”

Watts is in his late 60s and is currently in the residential section of Wolston jail, while Beck died behind bars.

Barrie Watts is arrested in 1987.

Chrissy Pobar was Sian’s Year 7 teacher and still teaches at Sunshine Beach State School. She said the trauma of Sian’s murder still affects her.

“I don’t believe you can change people like that,” she said.

“He is an evil you can’t comprehend.

“Hundreds and hundreds of people were scarred by this. Together we need to make sure something good comes of this – and that’s by making sure he never gets out.”

Bianca Mayers was in the year below Sian at school but the Kingis were family friends.

“She was kindness and warmth. She had that purity and innocence about her,” she said.

“You’d look at her and feel happy – she’d make you feel that way.

“How could someone who intentionally did that to an innocent child, how can they ever be rehabilitated?”

Another close school friend, Nathan Bath, said the news Watts had applied for parole had hit him hard.

“Here we are, 35 years later, and all that raw childhood emotion just comes out,” he said.

“I feel like I’m 12 again. It’s the worst feeling.

“I can’t go past that park. I just think of Sian every time.

“The terror and the fear she would have gone through keeps me awake at night.

“But nothing her friends feel compares to Sian’s parents and family and what they go through.”

Friends and teachers of murdered Sunshine Coast schoolgirl Sian Kingi are calling on Queenslanders to sign a petition started by her parents to keep Barrie Watts behind bars. From left, teachers Helen Park, Chrissy Pobar and Jenny Forsyth, and friends Nathan Bath, Em Parnell and Emma Anderson at Sunshine Beach State School. Picture: Brad Fleet

Former police commissioner Bob Atkinson, who investigated and arrested Watts while working as a detective in Noosa, said yesterday he supported the Kingis’ efforts to stop their daughter’s killer getting parole.

Mr Atkinson said he believed Watts would still be a danger to the public.

State Member for Sunshine Coast and former detective Dan Purdie set up the petition on behalf of the Kingis after speaking with them about their fears Watts could be released.

“We don’t want to be having this conversation in years to come to make sure Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Cowan doesn’t get parole,” he said.

“For the worst of the worst offenders – child murderers like Barrie Watts and Brett Cowan – life should mean life.

“Families, friends and communities shouldn’t have to go through this pain every time these people become eligible for parole.

“We’ve seen and heard first-hand how it does open old wounds and bring back horrible memories.

“It’s not necessarily about people being further punished. The worst of the worst should lose their right to be integrated back into society because they will forever be a risk to any community they are released into.”

To sign the petition, go to change.org/signforsian