‘Everything about them changed’: Married couple stopped wearing glasses, using creams, ointments after joining group, court told
A couple charged with causing the death of an eight-year-old diabetic girl completely changed their lifestyles shortly after joining a cult-like religious group, a court has been told.
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A married couple charged with a diabetic girl’s manslaughter began to stop using their glasses and threw out all creams and medications, a court has been told.
Lachlan Schoenfisch and his wife Samantha are two of 14 defendants charged with killing Elizabeth Struhs, who is alleged to have died at her family’s Rangeville home between January 6-7, 2022.
The Crown contends members of a faith-healing religious circle known as The Saints withheld the girl’s lifesaving insulin medication for days until she died.
Elizabeth’s father Jason Richard Struhs, 57, and 62-year-old Brendan Luke Stevens are both charged with her murder.
Her mother Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, and elder brother Zachary Alan Struhs, 21, are facing charges of manslaughter.
Loretta Mary Stevens, 67 – the wife of Brendan Stevens – and their adult children Acacia Naree Stevens, 31, Therese Maria Stevens, 37, Sebastian James Stevens, 23, Andrea Louise Stevens, 34, Camellia Claire Stevens, 28, and Alexander Francis Stevens, 26, are also charged with manslaughter.
Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34 and his wife Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26, and a third woman, Keita Courtney Martin, 22, are also charged with manslaughter.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Monday, family members of some of the defendants stared down their sons or daughters as they were called to give evidence at Brisbane Supreme Court.
Janet Crouch, the mother of Samantha Schoenfisch, gave evidence she learned her son-in-law and daughter talked about a “home-based church” they had begun attending over their old church, the Toowoomba-based Eastgate Bible Church.
Samantha was introduced to the group through two of the Stevens children who worked with Lachlan – which she originally called “the weird sisters”.
Samantha allegedly said she really admired a woman known only as “Kerrie” (Kerrie Struhs) due to her convictions and belief in God.
“She said (Kerrie) was amazing, that she was willing to go to prison for her beliefs … not getting medical help,” Ms Crouch said.
Ms Crouch said her daughter talked about Brendan Stevens being a “messenger”.
She said her daughter also refused to let her rub Vicks, claiming it was a “medication” and forbidden by their beliefs.
Cameron Schoenfisch, the father of Lachlan Schoenfisch, said he and his son disagreed on “speaking in tongues” – something Lachlan claimed he saw in Samantha following their baptism into the group.
He said he began to notice changes in his son after he joined the group.
Cameron explained his son began to “rant against pharmaceuticals, ointments, creams, doctors and vaccines”, refusing to get his Covid-19 jab at the time.
Initially Lachlan had expressed amusement at anti-vaxxer messages over the vaccine but Cameron said “within three weeks” he began to claim the jab would “damn your immortal soul”.
His son also began to not wear his glasses.
“Everything about them changed,” Cameron said, including how they dressed and their activities like going to restaurants.
“He had been wearing glasses … (then) I noticed he wasn’t and was complaining about sore and tired eyes.
Lachlan also accused him of being “worldly and shallow” and treating money “as his God”, Cameron said.
In his evidence, Cameron said his son became harder to get in touch with, telling the court he and his wife drove around Toowoomba “for hours” trying to find them following news of Elizabeth’s death.
After finding the couple at their home, Cameron and his wife ended up leaving in tears after allegedly seeing their son unconcerned about the girl’s death.
“I believe he was in a cult,” he said.
In her cross-examination, Samantha Schoenfisch asked her father-in-law if he thought his son was “uncomfortable” sharing his new beliefs with him when he first joined the group.
“No,” Cameron answered.
Lachlan had begun to treat his mother and father in “completely unscriptural” and dishonoured and disrespected them, the court heard
“If you want to start arguing scripture, I can go round and round all day,” Cameron told Samantha.
“Every time we met together somewhere, at the end of a conversation he always had a throwaway ‘I got you there’ line, which was beneath me to respond to.”
Asked if he felt he was “more forceful” in his doctrine towards the couple, Cameron answered: “I would have said I was quite gentle towards you. Because if I had not been gentle, you would have known about it.”
Accused killer squares off with mum
Danielle Martin – the mother of Keita Courtney Martin – squared off with her daughter during proceedings as they clashed over her association with the Stevens family and on her mother’s faith.
Keita’s mother told the court her daughter slowly became more and more involved with the religious group The Saints until she moved away from her family home in 2019.
An attempt to confront the group’s leader Brendan Stevens allegedly resulted in an explosive confrontation where he told Danielle and a friend he hoped they were “struck down”, the court was told.
Keita also squared off with her mother over their faiths and her contact with the Stevens family.
Elizabeth, a Type-1 diabetic, died between January 6-7, 2022 at her family’s Rangeville home, in Toowoomba.
The Crown contends her insulin medication was withheld for six days before her death, in line with the religious group’s hard line beliefs on the healing power of God.
It is alleged Jason Struhs made the decision to stop administering the drug to Elizabeth while the other members of The Saints “manipulated” him into joining their congregation and adopting their beliefs.
Towards the end of 2016 she or her grandmother would drive her child to the Stevens’ house for drum lessons with Alexander Stevens each week.
Danielle Martin explained her daughter began to spend more time at the house, eventually attending what she said were “meetings”.
She gave evidence she met the Stevens family and Brendan and his girls asked questions “about her life”.
“I was in the process of trying to buy a home so he asked me about that … about living in Toowoomba,” Danielle said.
“He said borrowing money wasn’t good.”
Danielle told the court her family was due to celebrate Easter in 2018 but Keita “refused to come home” because she did not believe in it anymore.
Danielle said Keita was “upset” about her mother’s request to come home for Easter, journaling about Brendan and Loretta Stevens “counselling” her how to respond.
“They were massaging her (Keita’s) back and playing with her hair to console her,” Danielle said Keita wrote in her journal.
“I was enraged.”
Danielle then confronted Brendan at his house, demanding her child.
The court was told Keita was given a mobile phone by Brendan that Danielle took off her following the Easter incident.
Danielle gave evidence she set “boundaries” for Keita’s interactions with the Stevens family – eventually forbidding her to go entirely.
After learning about her daughter still having contact with the family, Danielle again confronted Brendan at his home.
“I loved my daughter and went to fight for her,” Danielle said.
She told the court Brendan was “yelling” over her, calling her and a friend “filthy, evil, loudmouthed women”.
“He wished we would be struck down on our way home,” Danielle said.
“Once he started abusing us, we decided it was time to leave.”
The court was told Danielle gifted Keita concert tickets for one of her favourite bands for her birthday but they were returned several days later.
Keita received gifts in the form of cards from members of the congregation, reassuring her through her “trials”.
One allegedly said: “We are your true family.”
Danielle told the court her daughter was experiencing period cramps and did not take any pain relief medication on Brendan’s instruction.
The statement prompted laughter from members of the group.
Keita left the family home about Christmas 2019, moving into the Stevens’ family home at age 17.
Danielle said police could not compel Keita to move back home as she was over the age of 16.
Her daughter only came home once a week to give drum lessons to another person at Danielle’s home.
Danielle gave evidence her daughter was “not allowed” to associate with her.
When her daughter was charged with Elizabeth’s manslaughter, Danielle said she visited Keita once in jail and exchanged a few letters, but contact otherwise ceased.
During her cross-examination, Ketia asked her mother tangents about her faith, including how she left her old church and did not consider herself a practising Christian.
She asked if Danielle was willing to “forsake” Christian gatherings for personal reasons and if she did didn’t understand her daughter’s “sacrifice” to “follow the Lord.
Her mother denied this, saying she just wasn’t happy about her child attending the Stevens household.
Danielle said she didn’t know why her daughter wanted to stop spending time with her when asked by Alexander Stevens if her daughter felt “unloved and uncomfortable around her.
Danielle also said she could not recall if her friend spat on Brendan during the confrontation at his house.
Sister of dead 8yo girl breaks silence
Jayde Struhs, Elizabeth’s elder sister, took the stand earlier in the day, telling the court she left the group in 2014 over conflicts about her sexuality.
She gave evidence of how she came to know the Stevens family and detailed life inside the congregation – where Christmas was not celebrated and how the group split off from a Brisbane-based church.
“Walking out, I realised I didn’t want to have to confront that,” Jayde told the court about her decision to leave her family.
“It’s not something I wanted to do. I didn’t feel safe there.”
Jayde Struhs said she first met Brendan Stevens and his family when she was in grade one at Tarampa State School.
She was five-years-old at the time.
The court was told Brendan and his family lived on school property, owned by the principal.
Jayde Struhs gave evidence the Stevenses invited her family back to their home where Kerrie Struhs bonded with the couple over their religious beliefs.
The families would also attend a Brisbane-based church called Revival Centres International where Jayde testified Brendan Stevens would at times “read scripture” at the church.
Jayde said she was baptised by Brendan Stevens and “received the Holy Spirit” at the church.
She explained this process involved “receiving the language of God” which involved the speaking of tongues.
Ms Marco asked what this “speaking in tongues” sounded like.
Jayde answered: “Like a different language.”
A few years later Jayde explained the group split off from the church and began to hold services at the Stevens house in Gatton, which were led by Brendan.
By this time, she was 10.
“There was a big deal … when my mum and Brendan and the Stevenses felt like they needed to leave Revival Centres International,” Jayde said,
“The small amount I remember is that the church was not on the righteous path and going down a different route.
“At that stage Brendan was trying to be a pastor there … that didn’t happen.”
Jayde said Christmas was branded a “pagan festival” and not celebrated in the household.
It was something which caused more friction with her parents, Jayde said.
Jayde said the members were urged to “spread the word of God” at any opportunity, including while at school.
“It was something that was heavily encouraged … I would do that within the school environment,” she said.
“It was encouraged any assignment would be put back to a religious perspective so we could share that at any point.
“School was always an opportunity to talk about God rather than an education.”
Jayde said the group shared the view that God could “heal” people through prayer and were told not to rely on medicine.
She said it was shared through scriptures in the bible – something which became “stronger” after leaving Revival Centres International.
“If anyone was ill or hurt themselves, that’s the first thing we would hear every time,” Jayde said.
Jayde said her father still took his children to get vaccinated, but she otherwise never went to the dentist or took any medication if they were sick.
Jayde said she eventually stopped trying to “spread the word” when she reached high school.
In her evidence, she described being told to “be cautious” of interacting with people who did not share their views.
Jayde said this extended to family members who did not share their beliefs over fears they would be pulled “off the path of God”.
“Others were different from us,” Jayde recalled being told.
“Relationships were a big one. If we were in one, it would be within the church only as it was conflicting to outside.”
Jayde said her mother would also give a tithing to Brendan in the form of $50 each week.
“It was very consistent and continued throughout the years,” she said.
“It was a conflicting thing in our household. I would hear arguments about it.”
Jayde said she discovered she was gay at age 16.
The church viewed homosexuality an “abomination” in the eyes of God, the court was told.
“My mother heard the news … I tried to express to her this was what was going on with me. It didn’t go well from the views,” Jayde said.
“Mum rang Brendan … they picked me up … (and) Brendan was reading me a lot of scriptures about why I can’t be gay, because of God, and that I needed to turn back and find him.”
Jayde gave evidence that Kerrie and Brendan tried to tell her she was not gay and urged her to “follow God” or “a lot of bad things would happen” if she continued.
It culminated in Jayde leaving the family home in 2014 – at age 16.
“I was scared of what was going to happen to me if I didn’t accept myself,” she said.
“It was talked about I would endure hell forever. It was something I was very scared of.”
Coronial counsellor Julie Baker said she contacted Jason Struhs on January 11, 2022 to advise him that he could appoint a funeral director for Elizabeth.
She gave evidence Jason told her he didn’t believe in funerals and he would “not be burying a bag of bones”.
The court was told Ms Baker confirmed if he would be okay if a government-appointed funeral director would take care of Elizabeth’s remains.
“He advised there was no-one else available,” she said.
The trial continues.
Originally published as ‘Everything about them changed’: Married couple stopped wearing glasses, using creams, ointments after joining group, court told
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