A decade on, Jill Meagher’s death still haunts Melbourne
It’s 10 years since Jill Meagher was raped and murdered by a man who shouldn’t have been free – and the harrowing crime still haunts the city.
Police & Courts
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On a barely lit side street named Hope, Jill Meagher was walking home the way she had done countless times before.
But on this night she was being followed by a man who should not have been on the streets at all.
Today marks 10 years since the death of Ms Meagher – whose rape and murder would change the justice system.
At first it was believed the 29-year-old Irish national was simply missing.
But it quickly became apparent Ms Meagher had met with foul play.
The search for her and then the circumstances of her death – at the hands of a convicted serial rapist – was met with an outpouring of grief and anger.
It sparked a community reaction, co-ordinated through social media, which led to more than 30,000 people marching on Sydney Rd, Brunswick – where she had been stalked before being attacked.
They held up placards demanding an end to violence against women as they mourned Ms Meagher.
Her death had not only impacted women, men and children who had never met her, it would expose a broken justice system.
Ms Meagher, who had lived in Australia during her youth, returned with her husband Tom Meagher in 2009, and landed a job at the ABC.
She had been on a night out with her colleagues, celebrating at the Brunswick Green and Bar Etiquette, before deciding to walk home.
The Meaghers’ Brunswick apartment was about 700m away.
Mr Meagher raised the alarm that his wife had not make it home early on Saturday.
Police, and media, attention would first move to him, unfairly shining a spotlight on the worried and grieving man as a suspect while he desperately looked for his wife.
The focus on him would not provide any answers.
The man police were looking for was living in neighbouring suburb Coburg having been released from years in prison.
Adrian Bayley was drinking in a pub in Melbourne’s CBD when he had an argument with his girlfriend on Friday, September 21, 2012.
Where he should have been that night was sitting in a jail cell.
Bayley’s history of sexual violence against women stretched back two decades and he had already spent long stints in prison by 2012.
While on the inside he had counselling to rehabilitate him, telling authorities he was reformed to get parole.
It was just a con.
Since his release from prison he had been back on the streets of St Kilda, attacking women, like he had his entire adult life.
He had also coward punched a man in Geelong and been to court and convicted.
Bayley appealed his jail sentence and was granted appeal bail.
This was where the system failed again.
Bayley’s parole should have been revoked. But it was missed by an overworked and underfunded Adult Parole Board.
Instead he would end up having an argument with his girlfriend in a CBD pub, and, after she left, Bayley went home, changed clothes, and headed to nearby Sydney Rd.
Bayley stalked Ms Meagher after spotting her walking and chatting on the phone in the early hours of September 22.
As she walked by a fashion store, Duchess Boutique, Bayley, wearing a blue hoodie, was captured by CCTV close behind.
There was a brief interaction before Ms Meagher walked away and turned left down Hope St on her way home.
It was in this dark, semi-industrial street, she was dragged into a dark laneway, assaulted and killed.
Bayley believed his DNA would lead police to his door.
But although he was a known sex offender, his DNA was not on the national crime database.
What Bayley had left behind though was an electronic trail.
Investigators detected his car had driven through CityLink’s toll road – a gantry registering his car.
They also tracked Ms Meagher’s mobile phone and Bayley’s phone travelling towards Gisborne at the same time. Only Bayley’s phone returned.
Victoria Police also put the “dogs” on him.
After Bayley was identified, these specialist police tracked his every move.
The release of CCTV from Duchess Boutique showed Ms Meagher’s last moments.
It was a strategic release by police while Bayley was under their radar.
They knew Bayley was the man in the “blue hoodie”.
It took police six days to arrest Bayley and six hours for him to confess.
Initially Bayley denied he was Ms Meagher’s killer.
But as the questions and evidence mounted, especially the discovery of Ms Meagher’s SIM card at his home, his confidence faded.
Although he would make admissions, he did not want to tell detectives how he killed her.
The then 41-year-old did, however, take detectives to the shallow grave he had dug to hide her body, 50km northwest of Melbourne.
It took about two hours to find her remains metres off Black Hills Rd in Gisborne South.
The case would trigger major reviews, particularly of Victoria’s parole system.
Bayley, while on remand, thought long and hard about his next move.
Although he would ultimately plead guilty to Ms Meagher’s rape and murder, he hoped for a better deal – manslaughter.
There would be no deals and Bayley was sentenced to life in jail.
But because of his guilty plea he was given a minimum term.
It wasn’t over.
He stood trial for two more rapes and was found guilty of both.
One of those convictions was later overturned on appeal.
Bayley is now aged 51 and will not be released until he is at least 80 years old.
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