The Evil Within - A Top Murder Squad Detective Reveals The Chilling True Stories of The World's Most Notorious Killers by Trevor Marriott Page B
Authors: Trevor Marriott
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had dropped his wallet, containing his birth certificate, at the scene of the last attack. When interviewed, he readily confessed to the series of attacks and to the surprise of the police he also confessed to another rape of a French tourist two years previously in Sydney.
Fraser was sentenced to a term of 22 years’ imprisonment witha maximum seven-year non-parole period. He was released in 1981, having served seven years. However, in 1985 he struck yet again. In broad daylight he stalked, attacked and raped a 20-year-old woman on an isolated beach. He approached his victim from behind and held her arm up against her back. Referring to this MO, police were soon able to identify the attacker and Fraser was arrested. He was sentenced to a further 12 years’ imprisonment. In sentencing Fraser, Justice Derrington said he regarded the prisoner as a dangerous man who preyed on women who were strangers and alone. ‘They [the victims] would regard you as being the equivalent of a filthy animal,’ he said. ‘It [rape] is one of the worst forms of degradation on another human being you can think of and it deserves no sympathy whatever.’ He was made to serve the full 12 years. Following his release from prison he managed to avoid further brushes with the law.
On 22 April 1999, nine-year-old Keyra Steinhardt disappeared on her way home from school. An eye-witness to the abduction told police that she saw a man catch up with the little girl and hit her from behind around the head. The child fell to the ground and the witness couldn’t see her in the long grass but she saw her assailant fall on her and move as if he was raping her. Then the assailant ran off and returned shortly afterwards in a car, picking the little girl up, placing her in the boot and driving off. Sadly, the witness took 20 minutes to call the police. From the description given by the witness of the car, police were soon able to trace Fraser. Despite intense questioning, it was two weeks before Fraser finally confessed to the abduction and murder of Keyra and he then took police to her naked body. He had disposed of it in a thick bed of grass near the Rockhampton racecourse. Her throat had been cut and Fraser had draped her green school jumper over her torso. To further corroborate his confession, DNA samples taken from the blood and hair found in the trunk of Fraser’s car matched that of Keyra Steinhardt. There was also another female’s blood on the hinges of the boot and on a cigarette paper in the glovecompartment. On 7 May, Fraser was charged with the rape and murder of Keyra Steinhardt.
Strangely enough, he pleaded not guilty at his trial. The court was told that due to the advanced decomposition of the girl’s body, it was impossible to determine what the actual cause of death was or if she had been sexually assaulted. But the prosecution highlighted the damaging evidence of a tape recording of Fraser talking with another prisoner, in which he had asked the prisoner whether, on his release, he would go and dispose of a knife Fraser had hidden in his own apartment. The prosecution suggested that Fraser used this knife to stab and kill the young girl.
Leonard Fraser was found guilty of the abduction and murder of Keyra Steinhardt. ‘Lone females in a public place, as is present in this case, were compelled by force and threats to go to a place where the risk of disturbance was less,’ Justice Mackenzie said. ‘The offence involved severe, indeed extreme, violence on a child. Fraser’s story is that of a sexual predator of the worst kind.’ Justice Mackenzie went on to say that he could see no reason to suppose that Fraser had any prospect of rehabilitation and sentenced him to an indefinite life sentence. Under new Queensland legislation enacted in 1997, an indefinite life sentence means that, unlike a life sentence where the prisoner could automatically apply for parole after 15 years, he must not only apply to the Parole Board but also to a
Fraser was sentenced to a term of 22 years’ imprisonment witha maximum seven-year non-parole period. He was released in 1981, having served seven years. However, in 1985 he struck yet again. In broad daylight he stalked, attacked and raped a 20-year-old woman on an isolated beach. He approached his victim from behind and held her arm up against her back. Referring to this MO, police were soon able to identify the attacker and Fraser was arrested. He was sentenced to a further 12 years’ imprisonment. In sentencing Fraser, Justice Derrington said he regarded the prisoner as a dangerous man who preyed on women who were strangers and alone. ‘They [the victims] would regard you as being the equivalent of a filthy animal,’ he said. ‘It [rape] is one of the worst forms of degradation on another human being you can think of and it deserves no sympathy whatever.’ He was made to serve the full 12 years. Following his release from prison he managed to avoid further brushes with the law.
On 22 April 1999, nine-year-old Keyra Steinhardt disappeared on her way home from school. An eye-witness to the abduction told police that she saw a man catch up with the little girl and hit her from behind around the head. The child fell to the ground and the witness couldn’t see her in the long grass but she saw her assailant fall on her and move as if he was raping her. Then the assailant ran off and returned shortly afterwards in a car, picking the little girl up, placing her in the boot and driving off. Sadly, the witness took 20 minutes to call the police. From the description given by the witness of the car, police were soon able to trace Fraser. Despite intense questioning, it was two weeks before Fraser finally confessed to the abduction and murder of Keyra and he then took police to her naked body. He had disposed of it in a thick bed of grass near the Rockhampton racecourse. Her throat had been cut and Fraser had draped her green school jumper over her torso. To further corroborate his confession, DNA samples taken from the blood and hair found in the trunk of Fraser’s car matched that of Keyra Steinhardt. There was also another female’s blood on the hinges of the boot and on a cigarette paper in the glovecompartment. On 7 May, Fraser was charged with the rape and murder of Keyra Steinhardt.
Strangely enough, he pleaded not guilty at his trial. The court was told that due to the advanced decomposition of the girl’s body, it was impossible to determine what the actual cause of death was or if she had been sexually assaulted. But the prosecution highlighted the damaging evidence of a tape recording of Fraser talking with another prisoner, in which he had asked the prisoner whether, on his release, he would go and dispose of a knife Fraser had hidden in his own apartment. The prosecution suggested that Fraser used this knife to stab and kill the young girl.
Leonard Fraser was found guilty of the abduction and murder of Keyra Steinhardt. ‘Lone females in a public place, as is present in this case, were compelled by force and threats to go to a place where the risk of disturbance was less,’ Justice Mackenzie said. ‘The offence involved severe, indeed extreme, violence on a child. Fraser’s story is that of a sexual predator of the worst kind.’ Justice Mackenzie went on to say that he could see no reason to suppose that Fraser had any prospect of rehabilitation and sentenced him to an indefinite life sentence. Under new Queensland legislation enacted in 1997, an indefinite life sentence means that, unlike a life sentence where the prisoner could automatically apply for parole after 15 years, he must not only apply to the Parole Board but also to a
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