Jessica Camilleri’s sister tells of family’s heartache after beheading

The traumatised sister of Jessica Camilleri, who allegedly cut off her mother’s head in an apparent psychotic rage, says her family has been left torn by the shocking act.

• Accused beheaded Jessica Camilleri breaks down in court

EXCLUSIVE: The traumatised sister of Jessica Camilleri, who allegedly cut off her mother’s head in an apparent psychotic rage, says her family has been left torn by the shocking act.

Kristi Torrisi is mourning the death of her mother Rita, who died when Jessica allegedly launched a frenzied attack on her in the kitchen of the family home using several knives, yet understands her sister’s critical need for psychiatric support.

Jessica Camilleri is facing charges.

Rita Camilleri was stabbed and beheaded.

“My mother and my sister are both gone. We’re going through hell,” she said from her home in St Clair, in western Sydney.

“Jess is really, really not well, I can’t bring myself to talk about what we’re going through.”

Kmart worker Camilleri, 25, is accused of lunging repeatedly at her mother using knives following an argument over her medications.

A four-year-old boy hid in a room at the back of the house during the attack.

He is undergoing counselling and being encouraged to draw and talk about that night in a bid to help him process the trauma.

Flowers left at a vigil in memory of Rita. Picture: Christian Gilles

Camilleri is now behind bars, accused of cutting off her mother’s head and leaving it in a neighbour’s front yard last month.

She has suffered a history of mental health issues, including bipolar and depression.

Before that attack on her mother, Camilleri was charged four times with assaulting people but released each time on the grounds that she was mentally ill.

The crime scene in St Clair, where Camilleri allegedly left her mother’s head on the footpath. Picture: David Swift

Over the past five years Camilleri has appeared at NSW local courts for attacking people including her aunt, but was freed after successfully applying for an exemption known as a section 32 under the Mental Health Act.

These dealings with the legal system will now form part of the murder investigation.

Her repeat offending has also posed serious questions about the mental health care she received after being released into the community.

Forensic police examine Rita Camilleri’s house. Picture: David Swift

In the wake of Rita’s murder, NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said: “Every time there is a serious case like that we look at the learnings we can have.”

“Look, I think the balance between the victims and the mentally ill perpetrators is broadly right but if it can be recalibrated in anyway we will look at that,” he said.