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Tiahleigh Palmer’s killer found unresponsive in prison cell
By Cloe Read
The killer of Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer was found unresponsive in his prison cell on Tuesday morning.
Tiahleigh’s foster father, Rick Thorburn, 62, who is serving a life sentence for murdering the 12-year-old in 2015, was found by Wolston prison officers in his cell.
A picture of murdered Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, supplied to the state coroner by her family.
It is at least the second known incident where Thorburn has been found unresponsive in his cell.
A Queensland Corrective Services spokeswoman said Thorburn was transported to hospital from Wolston Correctional Centre after being found about 8.30am.
She said the initial advice was that Thorburn appeared well earlier in the morning, but was found unresponsive later.
“He was in a single cell at the time,” she said.
Rick Thorburn was arrested in September 2016 and charged with Tiahleigh’s murder, 11 months after she disappeared.Credit: Jorge Branco
“Responding officers commenced first aid and worked with Queensland Health staff to stabilise the prisoner until paramedics arrived.”
In September 2020, Thorburn was found unresponsive in his one-person cell at the same prison, in the south-west Brisbane suburb of Wacol, and was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Tiahleigh’s partially submerged body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River on the Gold Coast six days after she went missing while in the care of Thorburn and his family.
A coronial inquest last year concluded Thorburn most likely choked or asphyxiated Tiahleigh in their Logan home.
Thorburn’s son, Trent, admitted he had sex with Tiahleigh in the days before she was murdered. On an evening in the lead-up to Tiahleigh’s death, Trent told his mother he was worried he may have impregnated Tiahleigh.
On Tuesday evening, Thorburn remained in hospital.