How Jessica Geddes’ cries for help were ignored before she was killed by her violent boyfriend

Jessica Geddes’ abusive boyfriend threatened to send her home in a body bag. Days later, she was dead. Now, her mum has detailed how her daughter was continually failed by the Victorian system.

Jessica Geddes’ mother Saasha Brimble and daughter Arianna-Leigh Geddes. Picture: Michaela Harlow

A grieving mother says her kind-hearted daughter who was killed by her violent and controlling boyfriend following years of extreme abuse was failed by the Victorian system.

The last time Saasha Brimble spoke to her eldest daughter, Jessica Geddes, she could do nothing but helplessly listen to her partner physically and verbally abusing her through the phone.

But it is what he said next that continues to haunt Ms Brimble.

Robert Rickerby threatened to send the 27-year-old home to her parents in a body bag.

Days later, Jessica was found dead in an Endeavour Hills home.

It took 18 painful months from that day in November 2020 for Rickerby, 30, to finally be charged with her murder.

But three weeks ago, on the eve of his murder trial, Rickerby struck a deal with the prosecution and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Jessica Geddes was found dead in an Endeavour Hills home at the age of 27.

Over the course of their volatile relationship, Jessica alerted police, hospital staff, friends, neighbours and even a 7-Eleven worker to Rickerby’s abuse.

But her cries for help fell on deaf ears.

“I had a detective tell me my daughter might still be alive if (police) did their job right,” Ms Brimble told the Sunday Herald Sun.

On Monday, Rickerby will be hauled into the Supreme Court for a hearing where he will come face-to-face with Ms Brimble as prosecutors argue their case before he is sentenced.

Ms Brimble said her bubbly and driven daughter, who lived in Queensland, met Rickerby through a dating site in September 2017.

But within days, he whisked Jessica away to Victoria, leaving her five-year-old daughter Arianna-Leigh behind.

Robert Rickerby struck a deal with the prosecution and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Ms Brimble described her daughter as a bubbly and driven person.

For the next three years, Jessica was bashed, isolated and starved.

Rickerby took control of her life, claiming her Centrelink payments for himself and ensuring she had no money to buy food, clothes or personal items.

She sustained more than 50 skeletal injuries, according to a post-mortem examination.

Court documents previously obtained by this masthead revealed that her injuries included 16 rib fractures, four fractures in the vertebra and 10 fractures across both hands.

Shockingly, the injuries occurred over “days, weeks, months and possibly years” and were not self-inflicted or treated, according to a forensic pathologist.

Before meeting Rickerby, Jessica weighed a healthy 79kg but she dramatically dropped to 46kg by the time of her death.

“He was breaking my girl. He was breaking her slowly,” Ms Brimble said.

Jessica, who had struggled with mental health issues, remained tight-lipped about her address, refusing to share it with loved ones.

“I would have been there in a heartbeat but I didn’t know where she lived until four days before she passed away,” Ms Brimble said.

“I would have had a team with me, a squad with me trying to get her.

“I felt like my hands were tied. I couldn’t ring the police and tell them where exactly to go.”

But in moments of desperation, Jessica summoned the courage to alert authorities to Rickerby’s abuse.

In one horrifying incident in September 2019, Jessica went to her mate’s house for help with blood oozing from a large forehead wound.

Jessica said Rickerby assaulted her, prompting her friend to call the police.

When officers arrived, Jessica told them Rickerby punched her multiple times and struck her on the head with a hammer.

And she said it was not the first time he had attacked her.

Ms Brimble said Jessica remained tight-lipped about her address. Picture: Michaela Harlow

Rickerby was arrested but denied any involvement in the assault, claiming Jessica was prone to self-harm.

Despite police preparing a brief of evidence, he was not charged over the incident.

He later told a friend he had hit Jessica that day.

One month earlier, Jessica was admitted to Dandenong Hospital after a psychiatric episode where she told staff Rickerby was physically abusing her.

In October, she returned to the same hospital with fresh facial injuries but left before she was examined.

The hospital requested police to attend her address, but it is unclear whether they ever did.

Three more months passed and Jessica sought refuge at a neighbour’s house.

Wearing a torn shirt, she appeared hysterical and scared, prompting the neighbour to call triple-0.

Jessica repeatedly asked for help and said if she went back to Rickerby, he would assault her.

But as Rickerby arrived at the property, Jessica wet herself before he coaxed her away.

There was no significant follow up or investigation conducted by police.

Jessica’s weight dramatically dropped after meeting Rickerby.

It took police 18 months to charge Rickerby.

On another occasion, a neighbour witnessed Rickerby verbally abusing and aggressively shoving Jessica.

The young mum even confided in a 7-Eleven worker, telling them that Rickerby would beat her.

Six months before her death, Jessica feared for her life more than ever.

Typing a flurry of text messages to her father Bevan on May 10, 2020, she wrote: “Hey dad, are you awake, I just might’ve found out my bf (sic) is cheating on me constantly and I literally am probably going to get murdered now just for talking to you.”

Ms Brimble recounted her conversation with Jessica when Rickerby threatened to send her back to Queensland in a body bag.

“It was the last time I spoke to her on the phone,” she said.

“Robert was going off. I screamed at him not to touch her then he hung up the phone.

“That was the last time I knew she was alive.”

Mr Brimble said the last time she spoke to Jessica, Rickerby threatened to send her home to Queensland in a body bag. Picture: Michaela Harlow

By November 6, Jessica’s fears would be realised.

On the day of her death, Rickerby spent the morning and early afternoon participating in a court-mandated meeting with Relationship Australia.

But the strategies of the facilitators were cast aside.

That same afternoon, Rickerby killed Jessica by “inflicting an act of violence” which “caused her injuries and ultimately her death”, according to police.

CCTV footage captured the confessed killer at 5.15pm walking out of the house and sitting in his car for two minutes, before trying to call his father.

Fifteen minutes later, he ordered pizza.

He waited about half an hour before driving to pick it up, arriving home at 6.08pm.

After several minutes, he started bombarding his parents with calls and texts, spinning lies and telling them he came home with the pizza to find her unresponsive.

He finally called triple-0 at 6.41pm – 33 minutes after returning home – but it was too late.

Paramedics discovered Jessica’s bruised and battered body – naked from the waist down – on the bedroom floor, described as the only inhabitable room of the squalid house.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ms Brimble and Arianna-Leigh at Jessica’s funeral.

Rickerby told the triple-0 operator that he came home and found Jessica unconscious on the bed, but later told paramedics he came home, found her on the floor and believed she was sleeping.

His story changed once again, telling police that he found her unconscious on the floor and called triple-0 in a panic.

In any case, half-empty pizza boxes found by police suggest that as Jessica lay dead or dying, Rickerby had five slices for himself.

Investigators who scoured the home, which had no electricity, found Jessica’s blood stained on surfaces of the bedroom, hallway, laundry and bathroom.

Ms Brimble said Rickerby was “sick”, “twisted” and “evil” for what he did to her daughter.

“I’ve come to terms with the fact that she isn’t coming home but I just haven’t come to terms with how horrific her death was,” she said.

“I don’t understand why he hurt her so badly on that last day.

“He stripped her dignity, for her to be found naked from the waist down.”

Jessica and her daughter Arianna-Leigh.

Rickerby was questioned into the early hours of November 7, 2020, but released without charge.

He relocated to Queensland within a month, where he was again questioned by investigators in October 2021.

But it was not until April 2022 – 18 months after Jessica’s death – that police finally charged Rickerby with murder.

The charge was laid eight days after the Herald Sun revealed Ms Brimble’s anguish over her daughter’s suspicious death.

During that time, Ms Brimble did everything in her power to shine a light on the killing, even writing in a local community group on Facebook.

“Daughter murdered in her boyfriend’s home. Endeavour Hills. 6/11/2020. Know her name. Jessica Geddes. #Justice4Jess,” it read.

Ms Brimble said the system failed Jessica. Picture: Michaela Harlow

Ms Brimble said she believed police would not have arrested Rickerby without media attention.

“I don’t think the police really wanted to deal with the matter,” she said.

“I don’t think they were making her important enough. Was she not an elite, rich woman?

“I’m not really sure they were willing to accept the extremity of this.”

The Herald Sun put questions to Victoria Police about its investigation but a spokeswoman said: “As the matter remains before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Ms Brimble said the system not only failed her daughter, but other women too.

“I feel like there needs to be a coronial inquest put on this for the failure of the system that broke down and as a result Jessica is dead,” she said.

“The system is failing. It’s unjust. It needs to be held accountable.

“It needs to be changed so no-one else is sitting here talking about the losses they have endured.”