Nine words that stunned Australia: The brutal murder of Janine Balding
One evening in early September, a 14-year-old boy in Sydney’s Sutherland uttered nine words that set a horrific chain of events in motion.
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
“Why don’t we get a sheila and rape her?”
Those nine chilling words uttered from the mouth of 14-year-old boy would set the wheels in motion for one of Australia’s most stomach-churning murders.
The last night of Janine Balding’s life is truly a twisted tale of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
On the morning of September 8, 1988, the 20-year-old bank teller parked her car at Sydney’s Sutherland train station, before heading into the city for work.
That evening at around 6pm, she was walking to her car when she was approached by a group of dishevelled homeless teenagers, who - unknown to her - had the very worst of intentions.
After distracting Janine by asking her for the time, and whether she had any money or cigarettes, one of the youths pulled out a knife.
The teenager warned Janine that he would “cut her face” if she did not do exactly as he asked, and then snatched the woman’s car keys from her hands.
The pack – which included five males; Matthew Elliot, 16, Bronson Blessington, 14, Stephen ‘Shorty’ Jamieson, 22, Wayne Wilmot, 15, and one female; Carol Arrow, 15 – then forced Janine into the back seat of her own vehicle, before speeding off.
They drove the hijacked car for nearly an hour out west to Minchinbury, with each minute being described as “hell on earth” for Janine, as she was beaten and raped at knifepoint.
Any hope the young woman had of being set free from the brutal torture being inflicted upon her was horrifically quashed after one of the youths declared a sickening plan.
‘I think it’s a nice night for a murder!’
Those were the words that sealed Janine’s fate, and at this point, she knew her life was going to end.
Driving down the M4, the group pulled over into an emergency stopping lane beside some deserted land.
Dragging the terrified woman out of the car, the pack gagged Janine with a scarf and hog-tied her, before pulling her along the ground and throwing her over a fence.
Elliot, Blessington, and Jamieson carried her to a nearby dam, where she drowned.
After she was dead, the gang stole Janine’s jewellery from her body, and took her bank cards and PIN number, which she had written down on a piece of paper in her wallet.
From missing to murdered
Leaving her body there, the group got back into Janine’s car, but the vehicle broke down shortly after their journey began.
Making their way to Mount Druitt by foot, they sold the jewellery and withdrew some cash using her bank cards.
Hopping on a train back to Sydney CBD, the group split up – with Blessington and Elliot regaling the details of their crimes to another street kid, before going to Hyde Park to sleep.
The next day, the pair took a train to East Gosford, where they threw Janine’s bank cards into the bushes, before stealing another car and driving to a youth centre.
The two decided to confess to the police about the car theft, and hinted at knowing where Janine Balding’s body was.
At the time, Janine’s parents Beverley and Kerry had reported her disappearance and she was classed as a missing person – but police were now facing a far more sinister reality.
The criminals eventually led detectives to the dam where Janine was killed, and the three other assailants were also arrested.
Never to be released
All five of the group members were charged over the murder of Janine Balding and each faced court.
Matthew Elliott, Bronson Blessington and Stephen Jamieson were each given life sentences plus 25 years.
Blessington, being just 14 at the time, made history as the youngest person in Australia to have ever received a life sentence.
The judge in the case called their crimes “barbaric” and recommended that Elliot, Blessington and Jamieson should “never be released”.
“To sentence people so young to a long term of imprisonment is of course a heavy task” he said during the trial.
“However, the facts surrounding the commission of these crimes are so barbaric that I believe I have no alternative other than to impose upon [these] young prisoners, even despite their age, a life sentence.
“So grave is the nature of this case that I recommend that none of the prisoners in the matter should ever be released.”
Lighter sentences were given to Wayne Wilmot and Carol Arrow, as they did not physically participate in the murder of Janine.
Wilmot served seven-and-a-half years in jail, while Carol Arrow spent 19 months in custody, and was subjected to a three-year good behaviour bond.
Where are they now?
Stephen Jamieson, now 56, is currently housed in Goulburn Correctional Centre in maximum security.
Bronson Blessington, now 48, is currently housed in South Coast Correctional Centre in maximum security.
Matthew Elliott, now 50, is currently housed in Long Bay Correctional Complex in maximum security.
Wayne Wilmot, now 49, is also house at Long Bay Correction Complex in maximum security, as he was deemed a “serial sex offender” and served sentences for sexual assault and kidnap, unrelated to Janine Balding’s case.
The whereabouts of Carol Ann Arrow, now 49, are unknown.
‘The other Anita Cobby’
Many have likened the brutal nature of Janine’s case to that of Anita Cobby, who was raped and killed by a pack of men two years earlier, in February 1986.
The 26-year-old nurse had finished work at Sydney hospital at 3pm, before heading for dinner with friends in nearby Redfern.
Catching a train from Central station to Blacktown, Anita decided to walk home after finding the public phone was out of order, and no taxis were in the taxi rank.
It was then, at 10pm, where she was set upon by a car full of five men.
Slowing down beside her, two of the men got out and dragged her into the car.
Similar to Janine’s case, Anita was repeatedly raped and beaten inside the vehicle, before being dragged out to a field in Prospect.
The men inflicted further physical and sexual violence upon her, before slitting her throat.
Her bloodied and naked body was not discovered for two days.
Her memory lives on
Janine Balding would have turned 55 this year.
Her mother Beverley, along with the rest of her family, have worked hard over the years to keep her legacy alive.
She co-wrote a book called The Janine Balding story – A Journey Through A Mother’s Nightmare, with the help of journalist Janette Fife-Yeomans.
On an episode of Crime Investigation Australia, Beverley said she would never be able to forgive her daughter’s killers.
“They took Janine’s life for no reason” she said.
“She didn’t know them, she was a stranger to them. I will never be able to forgive them Not ever.”
“If you ever do get out, there is nowhere you will be able to hide, we will find you” Janine’s brother, David – who was 10 at the time of his sister’s murder – added.
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In October 2013, shortly after what would have been Janine’s 46th birthday, Beverley died after a short stay in hospital.
In March 2022, Janine’s father, Kerry, was reported to have passed away peacefully in hospital.
The pair are buried next to their daughter in Wagga Wagga Lawn Cemetery.
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