Michelle Leask reveals horror life with baby killer Rick Cataldo

A mother who did not help her seven-week-old baby after sustaining horrific injuries at the hands of her father has spoken for the first time about her role in the death and how she helped catch a killer.

A mother who did not call for help after her seven-week-old baby was horrifically injured at the hands of her father has spoken for the first time about the death since the pair was convicted of manslaughter.

In an exclusive interview, Michelle Leask — the former partner of co-accused baby killer Rick Cataldo — has revealed how she wore a wire while working with police to extract a conviction from daughter Lily Rain’s violent father, and how she lives daily with the guilt of letting her daughter down.

Leask’s tell-all comes days after the death of Cataldo on May 15 when his car crashed into a power pole in Thornlands, southeast of Brisbane.

“I cried with absolute happiness,” Leask said about hearing the news Rick Cataldo had died.

Scenes at the site of the fatal crash at Thornlands, which killed Rick Cataldo. Picture: 9 News

“I received the text message while I was sitting at my desk at work and had dropped my phone in complete shock when I read and re-read what I had just received,” Leask, who now lives at The Gap, said.

“I was shaking and in disbelief that he was finally out of our life, forever.

Michelle Leask with her daughter, Lily Rain Cataldo, who died in 2012.

“He wasn’t going to take me to court again to try and vary the DVO I had against him, or gain visitation to see our son, he wasn’t going to try and find out where we lived and he wasn’t going to harass our son when he turned 18.

“That was it, it was done.“

Michelle Leask at home with a picture of Lily. Picture: John Gass

Leask, who has a 13-year-old son to Cataldo as well a two-year-old daughter to her new fiance, was given a five-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter for Lily’s death after co-operating with police to help convict her ex-partner.

Cataldo, formerly of Deception Bay and Burpengary before recently moving to Thornlands, also pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years jail but served just under four years behind bars before being released on parole.

More than a decade after her daughter’s harrowing death, and six years after the parents appeared in court, Leask has opened up on explosive the 15 years that followed her first meeting with Cataldo.

HER PART IN LILY’S DEATH

Although she wasn’t present at the time her daughter suffered the injuries which ultimately led to her death, which included a crushed skull, Leask failed to give Lily the care she needed to stay alive.

During Cataldo’s court case, it was revealed Lily could have survived if she was taken to a hospital for treatment but neither Cataldo or Leask took the necessary steps to avoid the death of their daughter.

Michelle Leask leaves the Supreme Court in Brisbane in 2017 after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of her daughter, Lily Cataldo. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

For this, Leask was convicted of manslaughter and given a five-year suspended sentence.

While reflecting on the part she played in the most horrific event in her life, Leask said in hindsight, she would have stopped at nothing to take care of Lily.

“With the knowledge that I have now, I would have done absolutely everything differently,” she said.

“I’m an incredibly stubborn, strong person now and I would have done anything in my power to attract attention to get Lily to the hospital when I realised she seemed unwell.

“I would have threatened him (Rick) with a knife to let me leave.”

Leask said on top of a diagnosis of autism, which she says means she does not have the same level of common sense as a neurotypical person, the mental and physical abuse she had sustained across her relationship with Cataldo played a role in what she did.

Michelle Leask. Picture: John Gass

“Back then I was very mentally battered, uneducated, terrified and vulnerable and had virtually no life experience so didn’t think about doing the above things,” she said.

“I didn’t have a phone, Rick wouldn’t let me have one, it was difficult getting my hands on one as he usually kept his phone on him at all times.

“His computer was password protected so I never had access to that either, I was refused access to my bank card so I had no money, we left the house only once a week to do grocery shopping.

“It’s not like I had all the time in the world to go to a pay phone and ring someone.”

During her court case in 2017, Justice Burns said Leask should not go to prison because she was an “especially vulnerable person” and in fear of her defacto partner who physically and emotionally abused her.

“You hoped your baby would get better,” Justice Burns said.

Leask said she would never forgive herself for not protecting her daughter.

“It’s a life sentence of guilt that I’ll never forgive myself for, I hate myself every day for it, I know I failed her,” she said.

THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND CATALDO’S RED FLAGS

Leask and Cataldo met while working at Pizza Hut at Keperra in 2008 — they were 17 and 20 at the time. He was the delivery driver and she worked at the front counter.

But then a movie date sparked a relationship that would end in horror.

Leask didn’t see any reason to be worried early on but that quickly changed as the red flags started appearing.

Michelle Leask with her former partner, Rick Cataldo.

Cataldo was later fired from his job and Leask said he forced her to quit her job too.

“(He) told me I was being unroyal to him by keeping my job there … only one month into our relationship, there were already red flags,” she said.

Leask, who is legally blind, said she took what he said literally and believed she was an disloyal girlfriend if she didn’t do what he said.

“I remember I had started to cry in the car because he had said this in a very condescending manner and was starting to raise his voice at me,” she said.

Rick Cataldo arrives at the Supreme Court in 2017. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

“He said he’ll stop being angry at me and love me again if I go in and quit right at that moment, so although I loved my job there and I really didn’t want to quit, I did.”

Another moment memorable for all the wrong reasons came just a month later at Christmas, when Leask realised how much of a heavy a drinker Cataldo was when she accompanied him to a work function on a boat.

Rick Cataldo, a Brisbane dad who brutally bashed his seven-week-old daughter to death.

She said after sculling vodka shot after vodka shot, Cataldo needed an ambulance to help him before unleashing a verbal and physical tirade on her in front of hundreds of people at South Bank.

“He kept yelling and screaming at me calling me a b-tch, pathetic and a loser. No one came.

“The day after, I received flowers from the florist from Rick with a letter apologising for his actions, so I forgave him despite how upset this made my parents.

“I knew people made mistakes so I was willing to give him a second chance.”

THE DAY THAT CHANGED HER LIFE FOREVER

In April 2012, Lily Rain was in the care of her father Rick Cataldo when she suffered horrific injuries including skull fractures and brain injuries in what was believed to have been caused by one substantial or multiple blows.

Lily Rain Cataldo, who was killed at just seven-weeks-old after she was bashed by her dad Rick Cataldo.

The injuries came after Lily screamed while with Cataldo but later Leask noticed her daughter crying in pain and wanted to take her to hospital but was talked out of it Cataldo.

Lily’s condition continued to deteriorate before she died on May 8, 2012.

Lily Rain Cataldo, who was killed at just seven-weeks-old after she was bashed by her dad Rick Cataldo.

“I don’t think there is enough words to describe how I was when Lily died,” Leask said.

“I couldn’t be alone in a room without having a panic attack.”

Leask’s downward spiral following her daughter’s death included falling into heavy drinking, something she says she was forced to do by Cataldo but quit later on.

“(Rick) eventually let it go but continued to drink himself and be violent,” she said.

HOW MS LEASK HELPED CONVICT CATALDO

Michelle Leask did not spend a day behind bars despite her conviction and a significant reason for that was her co-operation with police to bring Cataldo to justice.

“When I first escaped Rick I rang the Redcliffe police immediately and said I want to do anything to help with the investigation,” Leask said.

Rick Cataldo.

“I want to know what happened to my daughter and how she sustained her injuries, I’ll do anything.”

Police officers then visited Leask at her mother’s house when a plan was hatched to catch Cataldo talking about the days in question with Lily.

“I had to casually ask questions about the days with Lily here and there, such as, ‘when Lily was crying a lot that day why didn’t you let me take her to the hospital’ and ‘when Lily died and I took her to hospital, why were you on Google looking up about the process of an autopsy and not with me at the hospital?’.

“He was very drunk that day, which gave me an advantage, and he answered the questions truthfully.

“I was glad to help and put him away, I finally felt like I took back the power that he took from me for four years of my life.”

THE YEARS SINCE THE TRAGEDY

Ever since the tragic day in 2012, Leask says she has given her all to rebuilding her life.

She saw a psychologist for seven years from 2013.

Leask also finished her Diploma of Counselling at TAFE Queensland in 2014 and despite feeling like she may never find love again, it was here where she did, meeting her fiance who she is set to marry later this year.

Michelle Leask with her 13-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.

In 2015, Leask started a Bachelor of Counselling degree at the Australian College of Applied Psychology but was unable to finish because she was unable to gain a blue card after being convicted following Lily’s death.

But two years later, she started her job as an administration assistant for a family-owned accounting firm, where she still works today.

“I’ve been with my fiance for 10 years this September and we had our own child together in 2020,” Leask said.

“(Having another baby) was one of the most wonderful things I had ever experienced. She is truly my rainbow child and the absolute light and sunshine of my life.

“She helped me heal in so many ways after losing Lily.”

Michelle Leask preparing for her wedding later this year.

Leask said she could not wait to marry her partner, Sergio.

“He supported me throughout every single court hearing that I had, even getting in the photos that media took to support me,” she said.

“He’s seen me in both my good times and my very dark times when I couldn’t leave my bed due to depression and anxiety for days on end, he’d bring my chocolate and cuddles and tell me he loves me no matter what.

“I couldn’t have asked to marry a better person.”

REFLECTING ON THE PAST 15 YEARS

Michelle Leask. Picture: John Gass

Grief, anger, frustration and happiness — they are the emotions Leask feels as she reflects on a horrific past 15 years less than two weeks after the death of a man who had inflicted so much pain.

“Grief on what got taken from me and I worked with everything in my power to get back,” she said.

“Grief that I don’t have an 11-year-old Lily here with me about to start high school next year. “Anger that the situation I was in with Rick affected my future, such as obtaining my dream career, and being able to travel around the world freely.

“Frustration that I know if I had the knowledge that I do now, I would’ve left Rick the moment that he forced me to quit my job at Pizza Hut, because I am able to spot red flags immediately now.

“Happy that I got out when I did, because with how violent Rick was at the end of our relationship, I know I could’ve possibly been killed by him.”

Originally published as Michelle Leask reveals horror life with baby killer Rick Cataldo