Morgan Huxley: Baby-faced killer’s psychologist warns Daniel Jack Kelsall would kill again
IT’S been five years since Daniel Jack Kelsall sexually assaulted and stabbed Morgan Huxley to death in his Sydney unit. Now his psychologist has made a chilling claim about the baby-faced killer.
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FIVE years after “baby-faced killer” Daniel Jack Kelsall murdered Sydney businessman Morgan Huxley, his psychologist claims he would kill again, if given the chance.
In 2015, Kelsall was sentenced to at least 30 years for stabbing Mr Huxley to death in his bed, in an opportunistic and unprovoked attack.
MORE: Morgan Huxley’s killer loses his appeal
The young kitchenhand had just finished a shift at Sydney Cooking School in Neutral Bay when he spotted Mr Huxley, 31, a stranger heading home from The Oaks Hotel.
Kelsall followed Mr Huxley home, let himself into his apartment, and sexually assaulted him before stabbing him more than 20 times.
Forensic psychologist Dr Susan Pullman interviewed 22-year-old Kelsall in jail after he had been charged with Mr Huxley’s murder.
She was struck by his “chilling” nature and believes he may be incapable of rehabilitation.
Dr Pullman warned that if he was released he would commit a similar crime.
“As it stands now, I believe he would,” she said.
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“You couldn’t paint a story as to why he was the way he is, other than that this was a cold, calculated act. He’d been thinking about doing this for some time and when the opportunity arose, he did it.”
After 20 years interviewing murderers and terrorists, Dr Pullman notes Kelsall stood out. Unlike many offenders, whose crimes stem from violent environments, drug and alcohol abuse or mental illness, Dr Pullman could find no explanation or motivation for Kelsall’s savage crime.
“He was from a middle class family, (from Sydney’s) lower North Shore, he’d been given all the opportunities and here he was throwing it all away for a thrill kill — and that’s why I found it very chilling,” said Dr Pullman.
During his 2015 trial Kelsall claimed he suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and used mental illness as grounds to appeal his sentence in 2017.
His appeal was rejected when three psychiatrists failed to reach a diagnosis on his mental health.
“I don’t feel comfortable that this guy had a mental illness,” said Dr Pullman, who assessed the young Kelsall as highly intelligent and aware of his actions.
She is also sceptical about his Asperger’s claims.
“As I continued to interview him, his eye contact was very piercing, he wasn’t concerned about looking you straight in the eye which is quite unusual for anyone with autism,” Dr Pullman told Crimes That Shook Australia, the first televised investigation into Morgan Huxley’s murder, which airs tonight.
She noted discrepancies between Kelsall’s claims of “compulsive” “repetitive” behaviours. Kelsall told Dr Pullman that every time he took off his glasses he would be compelled to tap the side of them but during the hours she spent with Kelsall he took his glasses off several times, without tapping them.
“This guy is very, very bright and he clearly tried to manipulate the system, well in my opinion, he tried to manipulate the system in a way that made him appear there was some issue over his mental illness,” she said.
“I don’t see how he’s fundamentally going to change, I just think that’s who he is and that’s what scares me.”
Crimes That Shook Australia airs on Foxtel’s Crime + Investigation.