Family’s heartbreak and loss in wake of brutal murder of Cairns mum Crystal Ratcliffe

Powerful and moving victim impact statements from the children and sister of murdered mother Crystal Ratcliffe have been read out in court as her de facto was sentenced for his “rageful” knife attack.

AS TEENAGERS Ruby and Tyler Ratcliffe walked to their dad Ricky James Cowan’s house from school on the afternoon of October 13, 2016, the suburb of Woree was filled with the wail of sirens.

To this day, Ruby, now 18, can’t listen to that sound without panic rising in her chest.

She was oblivious at the time that the sirens were for her mum, 38-year-old Crystal Ratcliffe.

Ruby’s experience was contained within a powerful and moving victim impact statement read to the court by Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane in the Cairns Supreme Court on Tuesday, as Cowan, 53, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his de facto of 18 years.

Also read to the court was Tyler’s victim impact statement, which said: “Every day since my mother has left this earth I think about her. She will always be on my mind”.

Both siblings detailed the immense trauma Cowan’s actions had wrought on their young lives, with the murder essentially rendering them orphans.

Crystal Ratcliffe, 38, who was stabbed to death by partner Ricky Cowan, 48, in his Woree home.

But lingering through their statements, the victim impact statement of Crystal’s sister Melissa Ratcliffe, the submissions of Mr Crane, their father’s expression of apology and remorse through his defence barrister Joseph Jacobs, and the sentencing remarks of Justice Jim Henry, there hung a single question.

Why?

To date, there has been no answer.

The court on Tuesday heard Cowan and Ms Ratcliffe had been separated for two and a half years, but that in mid-September 2016, Ms Ratcliffe sat down with her children and told them she wanted to permanently end the relationship with their father, and had told him as much.

The court heard Cowan told a friend Ms Ratcliffe needed space and wanted a break, and that from that point, he became fixated on why Ms Ratcliffe needed space.

Mr Crane said Cowan began to call Ms Ratcliffe incessantly, he would arrive at her house unannounced, and would repeatedly threaten to kill himself.

Cowan became obsessed with the idea Ms Ratcliffe was seeing someone else, as was evidenced by his text messages and entries in his diary.

On October 7, Mr Crane said Ms Ratcliffe told Cowan she was permanently ending the relationship.

That sparked a barrage of phone calls from Cowan, and over the next few days, increasingly passive-aggressive, jealousy-laced, and at times suicidal communications and interactions, which Mr Crane noted was in the context of evidence of Ms Ratcliffe only trying to placate him.

The crime scene in place at Woomala St in Woree where Crystal Ratcliffe, 38, was fatally stabbed and her partner Ricky Cowan suffered critical self-inflicted injuries.

Cowan rounded out his diary entry for the day with the capitalised words: “WORST DAY OF MY LIFE, THANKS CRYSTAL BABE”.

Then at 3pm on October 12 as Ms Ratcliffe picked up her children from school, Cowan rocked up.

They argued in front of the children and Cowan said he was lonely at home, the court heard.

There was an agreement that Ruby and Tyler would walk to Cowan’s home after school the following day.

That night, Ms Ratcliffe arranged for a friend to pick her up and drive her to the home of a man who Mr Crane referred to as Gary.

Mr Crane said the Crown had connected circumstantial pieces of evidence which suggested Cowan knew she was there.

On October 13, Ms Ratcliffe ventured to Cowan’s home to drop off some money to pay for an electricity bill at around 8.30am.

Justice Jim Henry said Cowan called triple-0 at 2.51pm, where he spoke to an operator in a manner that suggested he was conscious, speaking coherently, and had made a “calculated decision not to reveal the entire truth of what had occurred”.

At some point after killing Ms Ratcliffe, Cowan stabbed himself 10 times in the torso.

An officer who broke in through the window of Cowan’s bedroom discovered Ms Ratcliffe’s body – stabbed 40 times in the chest and neck – on the floor in a space where the bed had moved away from the wall.

Ricky Cowan after suffering self-inflicted stab wounds, was taken to hospital.

The court heard Ms Ratcliffe’s injuries and the way the furniture in the room was positioned was indicative that she had tried to fight off Cowan’s attack.

The officer also found a non-responsive Cowan – though Justice Henry observed that the nature of his injuries was such that it was unlikely he would have been entirely genuinely unresponsive.

Mr Crane said the varying sizes of Ms Ratcliffe’s stab wounds demonstrated a persistent and focused attack.

“It’s a rageful attack,” he said.

Through their collective victim impact statements, Ms Ratcliffe was remembered by her children and her sister as a brilliant, kind, smart, genuine, hardworking, humble and caring woman.

“My mum Crystal was such a loving person and she cared about me and my brother so much,” Ruby’s statement said.

“She always went above and beyond for us. My mum did her very best to make us happy … There has been an enormous empty space left in my heart.”

Tyler, through his victim impact statement, said Cowan had taken “everything away from us”.

“She did not deserve what happened to her. We didn’t deserve it.”

Ricky Cowan being taken to hospital.

Melissa Ratcliffe told the court she detested having to write a victim impact statement, trying to squeeze “every moment of despair, every anger filled day, all the lost time, unanswered questions, permanent psychological scars” into a few paragraphs.

“The idea that one could describe the full impact of this revolting crime is unreasonable. It colours all aspects of my life.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence in Queensland, call DVConnect on 1800 811 811 anytime 24/7 or visit DVConnect.org. In an emergency, call 000.

Originally published as Family’s heartbreak and loss in wake of brutal murder of Cairns mum Crystal Ratcliffe