Katherine
Mary
Knight
Background
•
When she moved in with her step dad, she had to keep it secret so the family wouldn’t be an
embarrassment
•
She wasn’t close with anyone besides her twin and her uncle Oscar Knight
•
Knight’s father was an alcoholic and raped her mother
•
Her mother constantly complained about her sex life to Knight and her sisters
•
Katherine was raped by multiple family members until the age of 11 (excluding her father)
•
In middle school, she was a loner and she bullied small children
•
Assaulted a boy in middle school with a weapon but the teacher said it was for “self- defense”
•
When she wasn’t in rage, she was awarded for her “good” behavior
•
Left school at the age of 15
•
Strangled her first husband, David Kellet ,on the night of their honeymoon
Crimes and Sentences
Katherine Mary Knight has always showed anger throughout her life but she became more violent after
her first marriage. She was never put in to jail until she murdered her last boyfriend.
Year
People Katherine Assaulted:
1974
David Kellett
1974
David Kellett
1976
Her new born baby, Melissa
1976
Her child, Melissa
1976(few days after the incident
before)
Random lady with a car
1987
David Saunders
Crimes/consequences
Katherine strangled him on the
night of their marriage because he
fell asleep after only having
intercourse three times. There
were no consequences.
Katherine hit him with a frying pan
because he came home late from a
darts tournament. She fractured
his skull and the police dropped
the charges.
Katherine was upset about Kellett
leaving her so she started to
violently throw her child back and
forth in the street and was
admitted into St. Elmo’s Hospital
and diagnose with postnatal
depression.
Katherine was released from the
hospital and as soon as she got
out, she threw Melissa into the
railway line and this guy named
Ted saved the baby. She was
readmitted into the hospital but
signed herself out the next day.
Katherine slashed a lady’s face and
demanded the lady to drive to
Kellett’s new home. The lady
escaped but by the time the police
got there, Katherine was holding a
boy hostage. She was disarmed
when police attacked her with
brooms and she was admitted to
the Morisset Psychiatric Hospital.
Katherine cut Saunders’ 2 month
old pup’s throat in front of him for
no reason except as an example of
1988
David Saunders
February 2000
John Price
what would happen if he ever had
an affair before going on to knock
him unconscious with a frying pan.
She was not charged with anything
to this point.
Katherine got into an agreement
with Saunders and then hit him
with an iron then stabbed in the
stomach with a pair of scissors. He
left her and a couple months later,
only to find out that Katherine lied
to the police to file an
Apprehended Violence Order
(AVO) against him because she
was “scared” of him.
Price kicked Katherine out of their
home because he was sick her
assaulting him and finally stabbing
him. A few nights later, she arrived
at his house in lingerie and after
having intercourse with him, she
stabbed with a butcher knife at
least 37 times. She then skinned
him and hung the skin from a meat
hook. Then the most horrifying
event happened, she decapitated
him and cooked parts of his body,
serving up the meat with baked
potato, pumpkin, zucchini,
cabbage, yellow squash and gravy
in two settings at the dinner table.
Along with notes beside each plate
had each name of one of Price's
children on it. She was preparing
to serve his body parts to his
children. Further explanation of
trial in next few sections.
Recent Crime:
The most recent crime Katherine Knight committed was the murder of her boyfriend, John Price. She
never left the crime scene either.
Criminal Terms:
Postnatal depression- A type of clinical depression which can affect women, and less frequently men,
typically after childbirth
Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)- An Order made by a court against a person who makes you fear
for your safety, to protect you from further violence, intimidation or harassment
Decapitated- The removal of the head from a body that is already dead
Evidence:



Made sure she had the right pots for his head and that her knives were sharp enough for the
event
She left a had written note on the table about her motive to why she wanted to kill him
During the trial when Dr. Timothy Lyons took the stand and described the skinning and
decapitation, Knight became hysterical and had to be sedated.
Sentence:
Katherine Mary Knight was given the harshest sentence possible in Australian Law. She was the first
woman ever in Australia's history to be sentenced to life in prison with her file marked "never to be
released."
Quote:
“Time got you back Johathon for rapping [raping] my douter [daughter]. You to Beck [Price's
daughter] for Ross — for Little John [his son]. Now play with little Johns D*ck John Price. “ (Also what
was written on the note left on the table for John’s children.”
Nickname:
She did not have a nickname.
Sociological Theory:
I believe the best theory that describes Katherine Knight is Labeling Theory because she was
constantly labeled her whole life. She was afraid of being judged because of the racism in her town and
the combined family. She was told by her mother to be sucked it up when Katherine felt uncomfortable
about men. Her mother was constantly raped by her father so katherine never had a positive feelings
towards men. She also raped as a child which made her afraid of men. She was also a bully in school and
so people were always scared of her.
Also, it was secondary deviance because she was already labeled as an outsider in her joined
family. She felt like it was necessary for John to be put through what she did to him because he raped
her child. She felt as if she was not responsible for the crime because he had it coming. She resorted to
cannibalism because she felt as if that was the best way to get back at him for what he did. She basically
regretted nothing because she was fully aware of what she did. She was a very violent person that
everyone was scared of because of how she treated everyone. Katherine used techniques of
neutralization to defend herself for murdering John Price.
Cultural Reference:
Multiple books have been released about her such as Blood Stains and Beyond Bad: The Life and Crimes
of Katherine Knight.