Barossa murderer Henry David Shepherdson had baby ban lifted

Whispering Wall murderer Henry David Shepherdson threatened to kill his daughter Kobi late last year — and was refused police bail due to his ‘penchant for firearms’.

South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Whispering Wall murderer Henry David Shepherdson threatened to kill his daughter Kobi late last year — and was refused police bail due to his “penchant for firearms”.

Shepherdson had also been accused of imprisoning Kobi’s mother in South Australia and had “an extensive history of violence” in Western Australia, including a knifepoint robbery in 2014.

That criminal history kept Shepherdson in custody until March this year, when the accusations of assaulting and threatening to kill Kobi were dropped.

It can also be revealed a court-imposed ban, preventing Shepherdson from going within 200m of Kobi, was lifted only hours before the murder on Wednesday. Shepherdson had been in court that day, when a variation of the ban was sought.

That means the little girl was lawfully in Shepherdson’s custody when he killed himself and murdered Kobi, nine months, at the Whispering Wall reservoir in the Barossa.

On Friday, SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said it did not appear that the legal system had failed Kobi and her family.

“It seems that there has been an agreement between the parties as to what is to progress, and what is to remain, in respect of the protective orders,” she said.

“It seems on the face of it, no (the system did not fail the family) but, again, that’s a matter that’s subject to police inquiry.”

Court documents, released on Friday, show Shepherdson, 38, of Torrensville, was arrested at Largs Bay on December 16 last year and was charged with two aggravated counts of threatening to kill or endanger life, and two aggravated counts of assaulting a child or spouse.

Shepherdson was further charged with one count of false imprisonment.

The documents allege the offences occurred on December 16 and that the victims were Kobi and her mother.

Shepherdson, they allege, threatened to kill Kobi’s mother, assaulted her and also prevented her from leaving the residence in which the offending took place.

They further allege Shep­herdson assaulted and threatened to kill Kobi “knowing that the victim was a child of whom he had custody as a parent or guardian”.

At 6.40pm that day, Shepherdson sought bail at the Port Adelaide Police Station, which was refused.

WA court documents show Shepherdson robbed the Ezy Plus deli in Kardinya at knifepoint in June 2014. He was arrested and charged days later.

In sentencing, WA Justice John Chaney said Shepherdson was born in Perth, that his parents separated when he was four, and he moved to Kalgoorlie with his mother. He spent most of his childhood there — his mother, however, abused heroin.

“You were reasonably successful at school and you completed Year 12, but by that time you had begun to experiment with alcohol and illegal drugs,” Justice Chaney said.

He said that, after finishing school, Shepherdson and his mother moved to Adelaide – they returned to Perth in 2012 after he had been in trouble with the law.

Justice Chaney imposed a two-and-a-half-year prison term — court records do not detail how much of that sentence he served before being released on parole.

Additional reporting: Lauren Novak