Caroline Reed Robertson, who strangled dancer Rachel Barber in 1999, freed on parole
UPDATE: CONVICTED teen murderer Caroline Reed Robertson should get on with her life free from vigilantes and heckling, her victim’s mother says.
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UPDATE: CONVICTED teen murderer Caroline Reed Robertson should get on with her life free from vigilantes and heckling, her victim’s mother says.
Robertson walked from prison today after being jailed for 20 years in 2000 for the murder of Rachel Barber, a girl she used to babysit.
Rachel’s mother, Elizabeth Barber, told the Herald Sun Robertson would remain on her mind every day.
“She won’t be any less (on my mind) and she won’t be any more.’’
She said she was aware Robertson would be living on the opposite side of Victoria away from her family and did not believe she was a threat to them.
“I don’t think she is dangerous to us,’’ she said.
“But I don’t want her to be dangerous to anybody.”
The Barber family is unaware if Robertson received any specialised treatment for her diagnosed personality disorder but had been informed she had studied while in prison.
Mrs Barber said she did not want Robertson to re-offend and the convicted murderer should be “thankful’’ she lives in a nation where she could resume her life outside of prison.
“I hope she sticks to herself,’’ she said.
“Mike, my husband, is really firm he does not want her harassed.
“My mother once said to me she hoped she (Caroline) would put something back into the community.
“I don’t know what kind of work she could do.
“She is an intelligent woman - not intelligent in that she plotted and murdered our daughter - but in terms of her IQ.’’
The Barbers do not wish to hear from Robertson who has never expressed remorse for her crime.
IDENTITY THIEF KILLER'S SHOCKING TRANSFORMATION
DEADLY OBSESSION LED TO MURDER
Robertson was just 19 when she murdered Rachel, who was four years her junior, aged just 15.
Rachel’s body was found with black electric cable knotted around her neck in a shallow grave at a Kilmore property owned by Robertson’s father in 1999.
Ms Barber said Robertson had shown “absolutely” no remorse for Rachel’s murder, and she would have preferred to see her serve 17 or 18 years in prison.
“Nobody wants their daughter murdered, and justice, as far as Rachel is concerned, will never be done,” she said.
“Because Rachel’s life has been taken away from her.”
A Corrections Victoria spokesman confirmed Robertson was released from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre this morning.
The outwardly reformed Robertson became eligible for parole on August 10, 2013, but her release was delayed following a public outcry by Rachel’s parents to keep her behind bars.
The Adult Parole Board granted her application in October last year, setting down core conditions of her parole that she must not break any law, must obey reporting conditions and must notify her parole officer of any change of address two days before any move.
At her trial, the court was told Robertson had a destructive obsession with her victim and wanted to “become” the younger girl.
The story was turned into a 2009 film, In Her Skin, starring Guy Pearce, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill.
Robertson, as revealed in the Herald Sun last year, transformed her looks behind bars and emerged unlike the plump, “pizza face” teen she hated herself for being.
She is leaner, with straight hair and a clear complexion.
Her transformation shocked Rachel’s parents, who had not seen Robertson since she was sentenced in November 2000.
Last year Mrs Barber told the Herald Sun: “There is a Rachel likeness there, the eyes.’’
“I kept thinking she looks like someone I know. I thought, ‘bloody hell’. It has that feel about Rachel ... at first glance it’s kind of weird. Everything is different, but she still has that look.
“She doesn’t look anything like Caroline. I wouldn’t have recognised her in the least. She’s totally different.”
Robertson, now in her mid 30s, has been a long-term relationship with an armed robber she met in prison.
Annette “Chubs” Taylor was maintaining a relationship with Robertson despite no longer being inside Deer Park’s Dame Phyllis Frost prison and were planning to live together upon her release.
A former inmate who knew Robertson said she had not spoken of her crime and believed she was rehabilitated.
Rachel’s former boyfriend, Manni Carella, has suffered anxiety attacks at the thought of Robertson being released.