Cannibal killer Aussie mum Katherine Knight ‘skinned and cooked’ husband
A detective has lifted the lid on what caused an Aussie mum to stab, skin and decapitate her husband before doing the unthinkable. Warning: GRAPHIC
Warning: Graphic
A cold-blooded killer brutally stabbed, skinned and decapitated her husband before cooking his head in a pot and serving it up on a plate with some veggies.
It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood horror blockbuster - but in reality, it’s the disturbing true story of one of Australia’s most evil psychopaths.
On this day 25 years ago, the tiny town of Aberdeen in country NSW became the site of one of the most gruesome crimes our country has ever known.
People were not only shocked with the sadistic nature of the crime, but the face of the person responsible for it.
From the outside, Katherine Knight seemed like your average, normal looking, run-of-the-mill Aussie mother and wife.
But little did anyone know, she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Her wavy auburn locks, soft round face and wide relaxed smile are not the usual features associated with a murderer.
But that deceptive exterior is what made her so dangerous.
Former detective turned academic Luke Taylor has now revealed why this particular crime was so hard for Australians to swallow.
“Katherine Knight shocked the entire country,” he told news.com.au.
“She is the embodiment of Basic Instinct fame. Maternal instincts and stereotyped femininity at loggerheads with a violent, ‘maleness’ that was born from an abusive childhood.
“What scares and interests so many Australians was reconciling so many male attributes to a female; abusive, domineering, abattoir worker, knife expert, outspoken.
“There were so many warning signs yet none were heeded.”
He went on to explain that Knight’s horrific crime against her partner challenges our views on domestic violence to the highest degree.
“Femininity in crime is an interesting investigation because we are seemingly so easily persuaded by attractiveness,” he added.
“The media plays a role in this. When a woman, and mother, doesn’t fit with our expectations, we judge harshly and Knight was all of these.
“She was a horror movie in the making, yet with an outcome so predictable that had it played out on the big screen, we would all pick the ending.
“With the butchering, skinning and hanging on the meat-hook it is truly a visual that no-one can avoid.”
Mr Taylor added that when it comes to shocking crimes like murder, females are more likely to be more discreet about it rather than using outright violence.
“Females are considered more averse to physical violence and are more attuned to finding alternate methods.
“This is true in suicide and premeditated murder. They may also enlist an accomplice.
“So to know of the sheer physicality, the planning, the warnings and carriage of the crime was something that captured the Australian psyche.”
Tainted upbringing
Katherine was born in Tenterfield, NSW, in October 1955, half an hour after her twin sister Joy.
Her home life was highly dysfunctional, allegedly tainted with domestic violence, rife alcoholism and sexual abuse within her childhood home.
Knight claimed she had been sexually abused from a young age by different men as she was growing up, but asserted that it was never by her own father.
Some of her classmates remembered her as a bully, who would stand over smaller children and fly into a “murderous rage” if things did not go her way.
On the flip side, others have stated she could be a very dedicated student, and even earned awards for her good behaviour.
Knight was reportedly fascinated with knives, and was over the moon to score her “dream job” as an abattoir worker when she was just 16.
She was later promoted and given her own set of butcher knives, which she would hang up above her bed wherever she lived “in case she needed them”.
Toxic relationships
Before moving in with her would-be murder victim John Price in 1995, the mum-of-four had a string of relationships that all had one thing in common – her extreme violence.
She married David Kellet in 1976, and reportedly tried to strangle him on their wedding night after he fell asleep following three rounds of intercourse.
While heavily pregnant, she burnt all her husband’s clothing and shoes before hitting him across the back of the head with a frying pan, all because he had arrived home late from a darts competition after making the finals.
She continued her violent behaviour into her next relationship with David Saunders, who she met in 1986.
The following year, she reportedly cut the throat of his two-month-old puppy right in front of his eyes, for no other reason than to demonstrate what she would do to him if he ever cheated on her.
On another occasion, Knight was said to have hit his face with an iron before stabbing him in the stomach with a pair of scissors.
Reprehensible and sickening, these incidents were just stepping stones to the stomach-turning horror of what was to come.
John Price, or “Pricey” as he was known about town, was a popular local figure in Aberdeen.
He was known for being a “top bloke” with a charming and down-to-earth demeanour.
John was likeable, generous, kind, and would always be the first to lend a helping hand to someone in need.
At the start of Knight and John’s relationship, it was said that she treated him well, and the pair enjoyed a romantic partnership and vigorous sex life.
But sadly, this honeymoon period would not last.
The sadistic murder of John Price
The gruesome bloody crime scene that detective Sergeant Robert Wells walked into on the morning of March 1, 2000, will be etched into his mind forever.
The husband, father, and grandfather, from the NSW north coast, said it was one of the worst cases he had ever witnessed.
“We didn’t get much information about what was going on at the house, just that we had to get there quick,” he told news.com.au.
“I was actually stationed in another police station, about 40 minutes away.
“By the time I got to the scene, Katherine was leaving in an ambulance. She had taken some pills. Not enough to kill her, but they made her sleepy.
“I walked inside and saw the human skin pelt hanging up, completely in tact in one piece.
“John Price’s decapitated and skinned body was lying on the floor in the loungeroom.
“We found his head, it had been boiled and cooked in a pot on the stove.
“There were a number of slices of rump, taken off his human rump, baked in the oven with some vegetables and put on plates, with the name of two of his children on them.”
Robert’s interview with Katherine Knight
After it was determined that she was lucid, and not suffering from any mental health conditions, detective Sergeant Wells sat down to talk with her.
He recalled how she was ranting and raving, claiming she had been a victim of domestic violence and abused by men throughout her life, but there was never any admission of guilt in relation to John’s murder.
Mr Wells recalled how there was a moment when he looked at her face and instantly knew everything she was saying was a lie.
“The fact was that Katherine Knight had been violent towards the men she had been in relationships with over the years,” he said.
“They were all quite smaller than her. It is very unusual for a woman to do this.
“In all my years on the force, I’ve never once been called to a scene where a woman was violently beating up on a man.
“Most of the time, from my experience, it is men being violent towards their female partners. Katherine Knight was a very unique case.
“In cases where men were hurt or killed in a domestic setting, it was by another male partner, family member, friend or acquaintance.”
‘A time of abject terror’: Judge’s sentencing
NSW Supreme Court Justice Barry O’Keefe sentenced Katherine Knight to life in prison on November 8, 2001.
She was the first woman in Australia’s history to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Speaking about the case, the judge said she “did not qualify for mercy” because of her “cruel, vicious behaviour”.
“She showed him no mercy. She has not expressed any contrition or remorse. If released, she poses a serious threat to the security of society,” he said.
“I’m satisfied beyond any doubt that such a murder was premeditated. I’m further satisfied in the same way that not only did she plan the murder, but she also enjoyed the horrific acts which followed in its wake as part of a ritual of death and defilement.
“The things which she did after the death of Mr Price indicate cognition, volition, calm and skill.
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“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that her evil actions were playing out of her resentments arising out of her rejection by Mr Price, her impending expulsion from Mr Price’s home, which he wanted to retain for his children.
The last minutes of his life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her.”
Knight is now 69 years old and is serving out her life sentence at Silverwater Prison, a women’s correctional centre located 20km west from Sydney’s CBD.
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