The Saints leader Brendan Stevens questions why group are in jail on remand for death of 8yo girl
The leader of a religious group accused of withholding lifesaving medication from a girl says he never asked to be put in jail on remand despite being charged with murder.
The leader of a religious group accused of withholding life saving medication from an eight-year-old girl who later died has told a court the justice system is “corrupt”.
Brendan Luke Stevens, the leader of the Queensland religious circle known as The Saints, questioned the legitimacy of the criminal case against him and his 13 co-accused in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The Crown alleges Elizabeth Struhs, a type 1 diabetic, was deprived of her insulin medication for days by the tight knit group, including her parents Jason and Kerrie Struhs.
It will be further alleged in court the group, who believe in the healing power of God, opted to pray for God to heal Elizabeth instead of seeking medical attention.
Elizabeth was found dead at the Struhs family’s Rangeville home, near Toowoomba, on January 7, 2022.
Mr Stevens and Jason Struhs are both charged with Elizabeth’s murder.
Initially 12 other people – including Mrs Struhs and Elizabeth’s elder brother Zachary Alan Struhs – were also charged with murder before the Crown downgraded their charges to manslaughter.
When the matter was listed for trial review, Mr Stevens, who still faces a murder charge, told the court he found it hard to believe people can be kept in jail on remand without sufficient evidence to prove murder.
“We didn’t ask to be put in prison, why would we ask to be get back out of prison,” Mr Stevens said via video link on Thursday.
“Why were we put in if it was so free for us to ask to get out, isn’t that just a little counter intuitive and contrary to justice?
“Why were we all charged with murder and locked up and then six months later they … downgrade us?
“It’s amazing isn’t it that police can say that ‘you’re all charged with murder’ to make sure you’re locked up but (then say) ‘we have no evidence which is why when we look at it we’ll take away the murder charge’ and downgrade it to manslaughter.
“Which means there’s corruption in the first place (with) the charge and such events there being no evidence to support it.”
Justice Martin Burns, who will preside over the judge-only trial, told the 14 co-accused they had the right to apply for bail.
“There is a solution to all of this too, and I don’t want to sound patronising but that’s where you could apply for bail and you wouldn’t have any of these restrictions,” he said.
None of the 14 co-accused has ever made an application for bail before the Supreme Court, which is the only legal avenue to do so when charged with murder in Queensland.
The court was told that the group are also having their mail delayed between the prisons, as they write letters to each other.
“We sometimes have to wait up to a month from just down the road at the prison, they’ve been withheld for weeks at a time and then we get the mail,” Mr Stevens said.
“There’s no endeavour to freely move the communication between us.”
Justice Burns said he didn’t control the “mail service” and had provided many avenues for them to communicate freely with each other.
The court was told they get to have weekly video link meetings to discuss their case, as each person is self-represented in the trial.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco, who recently took over the prosecution case, told the court she expects to call about 60 witnesses during the trial.
The trial is expected to run for seven weeks.
Those now facing manslaughter also include Mr Stevens’ wife Loretta Mary Stevens and their six adult children – Acacia Naree Stevens, Therese Maria Stevens, Sebastian James Stevens, Andrea Louise Stevens, Camellia Claire Stevens and Alexander Francis Stevens.
Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch and his wife Samantha Emily Schoenfisch and another woman, Keita Courtney Martin, are also charged with manslaughter.