Katrina Bohnenkamp: Teen’s inquest ends with sad tale of young life wasted
Katrina Bohnenkamp was a bubbly young girl with the world ahead of her – but when she vanished she was on drugs, injected with ice by an older man and surrounded by crims and sex offenders, an inquest has heard.
Inner West
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With an inquest which saw tears, expletive-laden tirades from the witness box and a series of bombshell accusations now over Coroner Carmel Forbes has the task of making findings in the sad case of teen runaway Katrina Bohnenkamp.
The full extent of her sorry final days were laid bare in the Coroner’s Court on Friday, with the inquest hearing the dark situation the 15-year-old found herself in.
“There was a lot of criminal activity going on in that house,” step-mother Karen Walters said of her home, which Katrina would often stay in.
The inquest has heard of rampant drug use in the boarding house on Homebush Rd, Strathfield, of the criminals and sex offenders who lived there and how she confided in her family about being forcibly injected with drugs by an older man.
What it has not heard is how or why she seemingly disappeared from it in October 2012.
The better part of Friday saw internal family feuds play out in open court, with more talk of rumours of sexual misbehaviour than the young girl presumed dead at the centre of the coronial inquest.
Katrina’s step-brother Hendrik “Rik” Olden watched through audio-visual link at Parklea Jail after the inquest was played a video on Tuesday of him telling police he saw her father Maiko Bohnenkamp standing over her lifeless body the week she went missing saying “I had to hit her”.
Mr Bohnenkamp gave evidence about the last night Katrina was seen in his Strathfield boarding house after he was arrested high on drugs.
“I was disgusted with myself about how I could not be a father and I struggle with it daily,” he told the inquest in tears.
Counsel Assisting Philip Strickland told the court the first time Mr Bohnenkamp was interviewed about his daughter’s disappearance was eight months after Katrina vanished.
Katrina has previously been described as a bright young girl by her sister Jade Simpson, a young girl who had the world ahead of her.
A $500,000 reward is on offer from the NSW Police for any information regarding Katrina Bohnenkamp’s disappearance.
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