‘Putrid grub’: Fury over stepdad Robert Smith’s parole release

There is community anger over the decision to grant parole for a man who concealed the murder of his stepdaughter by setting her body on fire.

Community members have slammed the decision to release a “putrid grub” who concealed the murder of his six-year-old stepdaughter by dousing her body with petrol and setting it on fire.

Robert Terry Smith is serving a 16-year sentence for manslaughter and being an accessory to the murder of Kiesha Weippeart after his partner killed her daughter in 2010.

The six-year-old’s stepfather has served 12 years behind bars and he will be eligible for parole next month.

Alison Anderson, a former friend of Abrahams, told reporters the decision to grant parole was “heart wrenching”.

She slammed Smith as a “putrid grub” and “an animal” who should remain behind bars.

Robert Smith will be released after concealing the death of Kiesha Weippeart.

“It’s just been one big kick in the gut today,” Ms Anderson said tearfully.

“I feel like we’ve failed … but we’re going to keep on fighting.”

Sobs and anger intermingled as she stood outside Parramatta Court with two other community members wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the message: “We say no parole for child killers never to be released.”

Although the court was told Smith had expressed remorse over Kiesha’s death, Ms Anderson suggested it was nothing but lip service.

However, former detective inspector Russell Oxford said he was comforted to hear Smith was remorseful.

“I’m really hopeful that he’s genuine and he’ll never forget what they did,” he said.

“At least this way we’ve got a little bit of opportunity to monitor him to see if he’s … genuine in his remorse.”

As one of the original investigators of the gruesome murder, Mr Oxford noted there was no sentence that could bring Kiesha back to her family.

Smith failed to call for help after Kiesha Weippeart, 6, was killed by her mother in 2010.

“The other reason I wanted to be here today was … she had no one speaking for her in all her life,” he said.

“She lived six years of abuse, and I just don’t want her to just be remembered as a statistic.”

Ms Anderson said Smith would not be welcomed back to his former community after “what he’s done to our little angel”.

At a meeting on February 17, the NSW State Parole Authority formed the “intention to grant parole” for Smith.

The 43-year-old appeared in Parramatta District Court on Tuesday to hear whether his parole would be granted by Judge Geoffrey Bellew SC.

He appeared via video link from jail wearing prison greens with his long, greying hair slicked back into a low ponytail. He wore a blank expression.

The court was told the victim’s family had not objected to Smith’s release but asked that he be prohibited from entering the Blacktown or Penrith areas in western Sydney.

Smith and Kristi Abrahams were jailed over the girl’s gruesome death.

Expert reports from the Serious Offenders Review Council and Community Corrections “unequivocally support” Smith’s release, Judge Bellew said.

The authorities reported he had behaved in a “generally positive manner” in custody and had completed numerous educational and therapeutic programs.

Judge Bellew granted the 43-year-old parole to allow him to serve the final four years of his sentence under strict supervision.

Smith had been a model inmate in prison while participating in multiple programs and employment, the court was told.

Judge Bellew granted him parole, and he will serve the next four years of his sentence under strict supervision.

“The authority determines that the offender should be released,” he told the court.

The court was told Smith would be released between April 21 and 28, not long after his upcoming birthday.

Abrahams with Kiesha and Smith on Kiesha's fourth birthday.

He will be supervised by Community Corrections and required to undertake psychological and medical treatment upon his release.

The determination comes 13 years after Keisha was killed by her mother Kristi Abrahams, who knocked the child unconscious after she refused to put on her pyjamas.

The six-year-old was then put in bed, where she died.

The court was told Smith was grossly and criminally negligent when he failed to seek medical treatment for his stepdaughter after knowing she had been badly injured.

Kiesha’s body was stuffed into a suitcase and hidden in the house for several days before it was taken to bushland in western Sydney.

Kiesha’s body was doused in petrol and set alight before it was buried in a shallow grave dug with a hammer.

Her mother was jailed for a minimum of 16 years for the heinous murder.

Alison Anderson slammed the State Parole Authority decision to release Smith under supervision. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The court was told Smith “assiduously applied himself to the execution of a plan” to conceal the murder, which involved disposing of his stepdaughter’s body, covering up evidence and lying to the authorities.

Judge Bellew noted the sentencing judge deemed Smith’s conduct after the murder as worse than the manslaughter offence.

Smith did not react to the decision to grant him parole, but community members sobbed outside court as they grieved Kiesha’s loss.

Kiesha was killed when she was only six years old.

Her mother and stepfather were jailed over her death.

Originally published as ‘Putrid grub’: Fury over stepdad Robert Smith’s parole release