Mum of slain diabetic girl planned to leave then-unbelieving father in months before insulin withdrawn, court told

A mother made a bombshell statement about her marriage to police before her child was allegedly killed by her home-based church group, a court has heard.

A mum charged over the death of her diabetic daughter planned to leave her then-unbelieving husband in the months before her daughter was allegedly killed by her home-based church group, a court has heard.

Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs revealed the marital bombshell during a recorded police interview days after her eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, died in their family home in early 2022.

Ms Struhs, 49, and her 52-year-old husband Jason are currently on trial charged with the child’s manslaughter and murder, respectively.

In the days after her daughter’s death, Ms Struhs was arrested and interviewed by police at Toowoomba Police Station.

Elizabeth Struhs was found dead at her family’s Rangeville home in early 2022. Picture: Supplied

In a recorded police interview Jason Richard Struhs (pictured) is heard saying he expected his daughter to rise from the dead as paramedics walked through the door to “prove” God was real “to the world”. Picture: Supplied

In the recorded interview she tells the officer she initially did not want to continue her 25-year marriage to Mr Struhs.

The court was told Mr Struhs did not share his wife’s faith-healing beliefs until August 2021 when he was baptised into the religious sect, known as The Saints.

Ms Struhs described her husband as a “very angry man” who gave herself and the family “a lot of grief” prior to his baptism.

“It wasn’t until I was sent to prison that he was at an all-time low,” Ms Struhs says in the interview.

“He asked my son to pray for him … (then) all anger left, he was at peace for the first time in his life.”

The Crown contends members of The Saints withheld Elizabeth’s insulin medication for several days, in line with their belief in the healing power of God over medicine.

Elizabeth’s condition worsened until she died from diabetic ketoacidosis between January 6-7, 2022 at her family’s Rangeville home.

Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs (left) and Jason Struhs are charged with Elizabeth’s manslaughter and murder respectively. Picture: Supplied / A Current Affair

Mr Struhs is charged with murder while his wife Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49 is charged with manslaughter.

The leader of The Saints, Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, is also charged with murder.

Eleven others, including Elizabeth’s elder brother Zachary Alan Struhs, 21, have been charged with Elizabeth’s manslaughter.

The court has already heard evidence Kerrie served five months in prison in 2021 for failing to supply her daughter with the necessities of life back in 2019.

During her police interview she explained how she had brought up her children in the “ways of God” despite Jason’s objection to the religion throughout their marriage.

“He was completely against me, he didn’t believe in God,” Kerrie tells officers in the recording, played to the court.

The court was told Jason’s change was “unbelievable” and for the better of her family.

“Initially when I got home I was not continuing our marriage,” Kerrie continues.

“There was no way, I’d had enough.

“But since this has happened … there’s no way I would give up my marriage.”

Kerrie also touches on her relationship with her eldest daughter Jayde, who left home at age 16.

She told police she felt Jayde’s beliefs were “conflicting” due to her father’s lack of belief.

Brendan Luke Stevens – the leader of the religious sect known as The Saints – is charged with Elizabeth’s murder alongside Jason. Picture: Supplied / A Current Affair

Jayde herself had given evidence earlier in the trial she feared for her safety after coming out as gay in high school.

She told Brisbane Supreme Court her mother and Brendan Stevens tried to convince her she was not as homosexuality was seen as an “abomination” by their beliefs.

“I was scared of what was going to happen to me if I didn’t accept myself,” she said earlier in the trial.

Jason Struhs’s recorded interview as also played to the court where he is heard saying he expected his daughter to be raised up in front of paramedics to “prove God was real to the world” as they walked through their door.

A sketch of the 14 members of the home-based church group who are on trial in Brisbane Supreme Court. Picture: Court Sketch / NewsWire

He also explains his daughter’s reaction the moment he said she wouldn’t need insulin anymore after seeing her readings appear normal.

“(It was) the biggest smile on her face I’d ever seen,” Jason is heard saying in the recording.

Jason described a “struggle” at home trying to supervise his daughter’s insulin intake in the shadow of Kerrie’s faith-healing beliefs.

“I blamed her (Kerrie) a lot for Elizabeth ending up in hospital, as well as myself,” he said.

“There was a lot of resentment there”.

Kerrie refused to see Elizabeth while their daughter was recovering in Brisbane, he said.

The court was told police attended the Stevens’s home in Toowoomba five days after Elizabeth died to gather more information on her death.

Brendan Stevens – who claimed to speak for all of the family – told officers no-one would provide such information.

Detective Sergeant Sharny O’Brien gave evidence Brendan was subsequently arrested and taken to Toowoomba Police Station.

He refused to take part in an interview and was later released without charge.

Sergeant O’Brien said a search warrant was also carried out at the Stevens’s home where all 14 defendants had their phones seized.

Several iPads were also taken by police.

The judge-only trial continues.

Originally published as Mum of slain diabetic girl planned to leave then-unbelieving father in months before insulin withdrawn, court told