Keith Lees arrested 27 years after he allegedly murdered 25-year-old Meaghan Louise Rose and claimed insurance payout

A woman found dead at the base of a cliff on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast 27 years ago was murdered by her partner just days after he became eligible for an insurance payout from her demise, police will allege.

Meaghan Rose.

A woman found dead at the base of a cliff on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast 27 years ago was murdered by her partner just days after he became eligible for an insurance payout from her demise, police will allege.

Meaghan Louise Rose’s family has steadfastly challenged the original police view that she died by suicide, and on Friday came the breakthrough they had been waiting almost three decades for.

Keith Lees, already convicted of a separate murder, was arrested at a property in Dural in Sydney’s northwest after a year and a half on the run and following a public appeal to find him.

Keith Lees on CCTV footage in 2023. Picture: Queensland Police Service

Police will allege the now-72-year-old murdered Ms Rose in 1997. Her body was found at the base of the 30m Point Cartwright Cliffs at Mooloolaba.

An insurance policy was taken out for Ms Rose, which was not valid for suicide for 13 months. The disability support worker and Young Australian of the Year nominee was murdered three days after the waiting period was up, it is alleged.

Mr Lees had been in a relationship with the 25-year-old at the time of her death, and allegedly claimed a benefit of more than $200,000.

The couple had met in their hometown of Morwell in regional Victoria and had been together for about a year before moving to Queensland with Mr Lees’ son. But Ms Rose had told her family she was going to leave Mr Lees and pleaded with her sister Fiona Ratcliffe to join her in Queensland.

Police found a wine cask and glass at the top of the cliff, and Ms Rose’s Suzuki hatchback parked nearby, and determined it was suicide. That changed after Queensland homicide cold case detectives began reviewing the case in 2022.

After Ms Rose’s death, Mr Lees is alleged to have returned to Victoria in 2000 with his son, moving in with father-of-two Barry Waters who had recently separated and was in the same church group. The headless body of Mr Waters, 42, was discovered by a ranger in bushland at Reefton in the Yarra Ranges in 2002, 11 months after he vanished.

Mr Lees was alleged to have had an affair with Mr Waters’ wife, taking her on a “romantic” holiday about a week after the killing, a court was told. In 2004, he was jailed for 20 years, with a non-parole period of 16 years.

Mr Lees. Picture: Queensland Police

As part of the renewed police investigation into Ms Rose’s death, Queensland detectives questioned Mr Lees in Victoria in June 2023.

A day later, his car was found abandoned beside cliffs at Portland in Victoria, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was suspected to have tried to stage his own death.

Hours after the Queensland government announced a $500,000 reward for any information leading to the apprehension and conviction of Ms Rose’s killer or killers, police issued an urgent public missing persons report seeking to find Mr Lees.

Police will further allege Mr Lees provided a false name when spoken to by police in Port Fairy, Victoria, on June 26. He was last seen at a Waurn Ponds shopping centre and then leaving a Shepparton Train Station, both on June 27. Police will allege Mr Lees attempted to bite an officer while in custody on Friday.

Ms Rose’s sister Christine Richards said the arrest was overwhelming after “27 years of waiting for this to happen”.

Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said in 2023 that Ms Rose’s parents “always believed that Meaghan did not commit suicide”.