The Beast of Bondi: NSW Police identify Sydney grandfather as a serial rapist

A Sydney grandfather — dubbed the ‘Beast of Bondi’ by police — has been identified as the man behind up to 31 rapes of eastern suburbs women.

A grandfather from south east Sydney has been identified as one of the state’s worst serial rapists — known as the “Beast of Bondi” — who attacked as many as 31 women.

After nearly 40 years of investigations and using groundbreaking DNA methods from 12 crime scenes, police believe Keith Simms, who died in February at the age of 66 from kidney failure, terrorised women in the eastern suburbs from 1986 to 2001.

The crimes often followed the same pattern — Simms would break into a woman’s bedroom or catch them walking alone in public.

Wearing a balaclava and holding a knife, he would put a hand across their mouth and threaten to kill them.

Strike Force Doreen has been closing in after a DNA breakthrough in 2016.

Samples taken from the rape scenes were found to be a weak match to a male relative of Simms.

Keith Simms, the man police believe is the Beast of Bondi.

That DNA match allowed detectives to draw up a “family tree” of 324 males.

It was then whittled down to 120 people based on age and their known location at the time of the attacks.

Eventually it was Simms’ DNA that matched all 12 crime scenes.

Police claim Simms’ modus operandi in those 12 crimes matched those of another 19 during the same period: that being he used a balaclava, attacked a woman from behind or while they slept, put his hand over their mouth, threatened to kill them with a knife and then sexually assaulted them.

Simms died on February 20 this year before police had made the connection or had a chance to question him.

During his funeral in early March, family members described him as a loving family man, a wonderful grandfather and a patriarch who never left his children wanting anything.

Keith Simms’ funeral video.

While it was devastating news for investigators, Sex Crimes squad boss Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty said they continued their work for the victim survivors.

“Even though he had passed, we still went through with finding scientific evidence that he was the DNA match to the 12 scenes where we had a DNA link,” Det Supt Doherty said.

“It was important for the victim survivors and that is why we persevered. We wanted to let them know we were not just guessing it was him. It also meant we are not still looking for someone that is still out there.

“So those women who are walking down the street are still wondering: Is that him? They now know that person is deceased.

“It is so important for victim/survivors to come forward at the time to preserve physical evidence even if you can’t face a court matter at this time, later down the track we may be able to use it in investigations as well.”

Police allege Simms was behind rapes including at Waverley cemetery. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

And at Dunningham Reserve at Coogee. Picture: Glenn Dickerson

Det Supt Doherty said police have many counselling services to support them no matter what their decision about going to court.

Police tracked down those assaulted to let them know their attacker had been identified, with many of the victims being former backpackers who were visiting the Bondi area at the time from overseas.

“We were very careful about not wanting to re-traumatise them. Many had been contacted over the years and knew the investigation was ongoing,” she said.

Police believe there may be many more victims who never came forward for various reasons, like they were travelling and didn’t want to go through the trauma or court process, or were too embarrassed to report it at the time.

Det Supt Doherty said the investigation was a culmination of close to 40 years of work from the original detectives who had the foresight to take and store forensic samples, to the present team of investigators, scientists, and NSW Health DNA experts.

Artist impressions of ‘Beast of Bondi’ over the years.

The major breakthrough came in 2020, when enhanced DNA search capabilities allowed police to build a massive “family tree” with five branches of extended generations, similar to that used to catch the Golden State Killer who committed rapes and murders in California for a decade.

It gave them a massive suspect base but they quickly whittled it down, Detective Sergeant Shelley Johns said.

“We knew this person was a certain age, which cut out a lot of people. Others had already died, but we still had to keep them on the tree to know who they were linked to. We knew there was a band on the family tree in the right age bracket but there were still over 100 people,” she said.

Shelley Johns, Jayne Doherty and Daniel Walker from the Sex Crimes Squad Strike Force Doreen. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

In fact, police now had the prospect of looking at 120 potential people of interest.

“And not one person really stands out more than another at this stage, they were all equal in their ability to be the contributor to the DNA,” she said.

“So then, we have to chase down all those leads and rabbit holes. We would go in one direction, dead end, go in that direction, another dead end, but despite this, you are eliminating someone else along the way each time.

“Everyone did their bit, it was good old fashion detective work digging up old files from police stations, checking public records to see who was dead.”

The DNA technology helped investigators narrow their search down to Simms.

In September this year, police got a warrant for forensic material which they knew had Simms DNA which had been taken before his death.

Police have chosen not to explain this process in more detail because they believe it could give away methodology they could use in future investigations.

They did claim, however, it proved “beyond doubt” Simms’ DNA was linked to the 12 crime scenes.