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Father cries as church group accused of killing girl gives closing submissions
By Cloe Read
A father accused of murdering his young diabetic daughter two years ago says he believes the girl is “only sleeping” and she will rise again, as 13 other members of his fringe religious group said their beliefs justified their alleged involvement.
With his hands clasped speaking at the lectern in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Jason Richard Struhs, 53, became emotional, saying there was not a day that goes by that he does not miss his daughter Elizabeth Rose Struhs.
Kerrie and Jason Struhs with their eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth.Credit: A Current Affair
“To all of you it looks like God has failed. But I know Elizabeth is only sleeping and I will see her again because God has promised that she is healed,” Mr Struhs said through tears.
The young girl, who had type-1 diabetes, died in January 2022, after going almost a week without her insulin shots. She died on a mattress on the floor of her Toowoomba home, with various members of her parents’ religious group around her in her final hours.
Paramedics were called to the house 36 hours later, where they found Elizabeth’s body partially face down, with a blanket covering parts of her.
Elizabeth was a type-1 diabetic who needed regular insulin shots. Credit: Nine News
On Friday, ending an eight-week trial, the group told Justice Martin Burns they believed God would raise Elizabeth from the dead. They also said they believed the allegations against them were a “genre of fiction”, and that information had been misconstrued.
One of the members said that he knew they looked like “fools and idiots” who were deceived, brainwashed and a laughingstock, but he “knew the opposite is true”, and that God’s word was true.
When the leader of the group, who called themselves “the Saints”, addressed the court, he at times appeared frantic, gesticulating as he spoke of various parts of the bible and religion. His closing statement also referenced global conflicts and pig organ transplants in humans.
Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, who is also charged with murder, told the court that the prosecution’s allegation that they had reckless indifference to the girl’s life was “abhorrent” because “the evidence clearly shows that we had anything but reckless indifference for Elizabeth”.
He said the group had the “utmost care and concern” for the girl, and he never encouraged anyone to stop medication.
The girl’s mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, and 11 other members of the group are facing a charge of manslaughter for their alleged involvement in Elizabeth’s final days.
When Mrs Struhs moved to the lectern, she told the court she did not feel the “need to say much”, and referred to her closing statements at her previous trial for which she served time in prison for failing to provide for Elizabeth in 2019.
Elizabeth died three weeks after her mother was released from prison. Her father had four months earlier decided to join the Saints, and eventually made the decision not to give Elizabeth insulin, in line with the church’s belief that God would heal her.
The Saints members and charges laid
- Jason Richard Struhs, 53, Elizabeth’s father - Murder charge
- Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, the congregation leader - Murder charge
- Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, Elizabeth’s mother - Manslaughter charge
- Zachary Alan Struhs, 21, Elizabeth’s brother - Manslaughter charge
- Loretta Mary Stevens, 67 - Manslaughter charge
- Therese Maria Stevens, 37 - Manslaughter charge
- Andrea Louise Stevens, 34 - Manslaughter charge
- Acacia Naree Stevens, 31 - Manslaughter charge
- Camellia Claire Stevens, 28 - Manslaughter charge
- Alexander Francis Stevens, 26 - Manslaughter charge
- Sebastian James Stevens, 23 - Manslaughter charge
- Keita Courtney Martin, 22 - Manslaughter charge
- Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34 - Manslaughter charge
- Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26 - Manslaughter charge
Mr Struhs told the court it was only his and Elizabeth’s decision to stop her insulin.
Justice Burns told the congregation he would now consider the cases against each of them, and explained there would not be a verdict for some time.