Whispering wall killer in dispute over child hours before murder

The man who killed himself and his baby daughter at South Australia’s Whispering Wall reservoir had been in a dispute with the child’s mum hours earlier.

Her mother’s favourite image of nine-month-old Kobi: ‘Here we have a beautiful face, which could probably be the face of domestic violence moving forward,’ Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said on Thursday.

Just hours after Henry Shepherdson argued in court to get access to his family, the Adelaide father inexplicably took the life of his beautiful nine-month-old daughter Kobi in front of sightseers at a popular Barossa Valley tourist location.

The horrific murder came on the same day police allege that Shepherdson appeared in the Adelaide Magistrate’s Court as part of a domestic dispute.

The 38-year-old had been subject to court-imposed conditions on his movements after being ­accused of domestic violence in December last year.

At that time, the court banned him from contacting or being within 200m of his family, and from publishing any material about them on the internet, as part of his bail conditions.

Shepherdson had expressed his love for his daughter in several Facebook posts.

“My little girl. My heart is so full,” he wrote five months ago in one post

He filmed Kobi on his phone for a full four minutes, dressed in pink, gurgling and happy in her bouncinette.

She is seen smiling back at him as he coos: “I love you Kobi bear, yes I do.”

Just before the video cuts out, he says: “You are so adorable, baba.”

On Wednesday, Shepherdson went back to the Magistrates Court, asking to vary the con­ditions on his movements and his internet access.

His case was referred to the Abuse Prevention Program, where participants are diverted away from the standard court ­process to undergo counselling and treatment.

By 4.30pm on Wednesday, Shepherdson was on the walkway of the Whispering Wall, carrying his daughter.

The 36m-high retaining wall for the Barossa Reservoir attracts hundreds of visitors every day for its unique acoustic effects.

Words whispered on one side of the wall can be clearly heard on the other, it is said, more than 100m away.

Tourists there on Wednesday afternoon they watched in horror as Shepherdson climbed over the railing with Kobi, who was in a child carrier, and jumped.

Some of those who saw the event were able to make their way down to the two bodies.

Shepherdson was dead, but the rescuers began heroic ­attempts to resuscitate Kobi.

Despite their efforts, and those of paramedics who arrived on the scene soon after, the little girl could not be saved.

Police at the gate of the Whispering Wall, Barossa Reservoir where Henry Shepherdson jumped to his death holding his daughter Kobi. Picture: Kelly Barnes

On Thursday, South Australia Police said the deaths were being treated as a murder-suicide.

Police were tight-lipped about the case, but early investigations revealed a history of domestic ­violence between Shepherdson and Kobi’s mother, Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said.

Shepherdson had “lawful ­access” to Kobi, Mr Parrott said, but he didn’t believe it was meant to be supervised access.

“The baby was not taken,” he said.

“There was a very short timeframe between the public having notified us that the incident had occurred and Kobi’s mother making contact with triple-0.

“Every relationship is a complex thing, particularly when there is also domestic violence involved in the relationship,” he said on Thursday.

“And whilst I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics of this particular situation, that will certainly form part of our investigation as to what was happening in the relationship and, obviously, what was done prior to this particular incident.”

Mr Parrott paid tribute to the bravery of Kobi’s mother, who released pictures of how she wanted Kobi to be remembered. “We have a beautiful face, which could probably be the face of domestic violence moving forward.”

The video Shepherdson posted of his daughter in November was the last on his Facebook page, and it was liked by only one person.

If Shepherdson had friends, there is little evidence of them in his social media accounts.

There is no reference in his posts to the mother of his child.

He loved cricket and basketball. He’d just bought a kayak. He liked the electro-pop music of Canadian singer Abel Tesfaye. Two years ago, he posted a meme from National Child Protection Week. When Kobi was born, he shared a photo of her, with the hashtag #RestInPeaceKobeBryant.

It may be that his daughter was named after the American basketballer, killed in helicopter crash in January last year.

But for the many of the hundreds who have since flooded Shepherdson’s page in an outpouring of grief, it was unsettling.

Many of the messages left on the page express contempt for Shepherdson.

“Rot in hell you bastard,” said one.

Shepherdson’s neighbour, Anastasia Kouts, 87, said she was heartbroken when she was told of Kobi’s death.

“She was such a happy child, a truly beautiful baby,” Ms Kouts said.

“I’m heartbroken, I’m so sad and devastated.”

Ms Kouts said she last saw the little girl a month ago.

“It was around Easter. I bought Kobi an Easter egg that’s still in the fridge,” she said.

Police left the scene at the Whispering Wall on Thursday afternoon, with gates to the dam locked. They said the site would remain closed “for the foreseeable future”.

Additional reporting: Patrick James Stephen Rice