TW: sexual assault, suicide, violence, cannibalism

Childhood

Katherine Knight was born on October 24, 1955 to an unconventional family. Her mother, Barbara Roughan was married to Jack Roughan, and they resided in Aberdeen in New South Wales Hunter Valley. Barbara and Jack had four kids, but she abandoned them after her affair with Ken Knight, a friend and co-worker of her husband. Since this was a well-known family, the affair caused a major scandal, and Barbara was forces to move to Moree with Ken. After her move, she had four more children with Ken, including twin girls, one named Katherine.

Knight’s father was an alcoholic who commonly used violence and intimidation. He would repeatedly sexually assault Barbara, who complained about sex and men. Knight reported being sexually assualted by members of her family until she was 11 years old.

Besides her twin, the only other member of her family that Knight was close to was her uncle, Oscar Knight, who was a champion horseman. She was distraught after he committed suicide in 1969–she claims that his ghost still visits her. The family moved back to Aberdeen after this tragedy.

Knight attended Muswellbrook High School, where she was noted as being a bully. She ended up leaving high school early and working as a cutter in a clothing factory. Knight hung knives over her bed in case she needed them–this was a habit that lasted until her incarceration.

Katherine Knight

Relationships

David Kellett

Katherine met David Kellett in 1973 at work. One year later, she demanded that they get married. On their wedding night, she tried to strangle him after he fell asleep after only having intercourse three times. Their marriage was very violent–Knight had often abused Kellett in fits of rage. Police wanted to charge Knight for assault, but she somehow convinced Kellett to drop the charges.

In May 1976, Knight gave birth to their first child, but Kellett left her for another woman and moved away. Knight was unable to cope with this fact. She was seen thrashing a stroller with their baby down the main street. She was admitted to St. Elmo’s Hospital where she was diagnosed with postnatal depression. After her release, the placed the two month old baby on a railway line then went into town threatening to kill people with an axe. Luckily, a local forager found and rescued the baby before the train came. Knight was arrested and taken to St. Elmo’s Hospital again, but signed herself out the next day.

A few days later, she demanded that a woman take her to see Kellett, but when the woman refused, Knight cut her face with a knife. She was disarmed by police and admitted to Morisset Psychiatric Hospital. At the hospital, Knight informed a psychiatrist that she was planning on killing the mechanic who fixed Kellett’s car, allowing him to leave. She then said she was going to kill Kellett and his mother when she found them. After hearing about this, Kellett left his girlfriend, and him and his mother returned to Aberdeen to support Knight.

Knight was eventually released from the hospital to the care of Kellett and his mother. They had another daughter, but Knight eventually left Kellett and moved by herself.

David Saunders

Knight met David Saunders in 1986, and a few months later, he moved in with her and her two daughters. Knight became extremely jealous and would throw him out of her house. In May 1987, Knight cut the throat of Saunders’ puppy in front of him as a reminder of what she would do to him if he ever cheated on her.

Knight gave birth to another daughter in June 1988, but once again Knight’s anger drove Saunders away. After being hit in the face with an iron and stabbed in the stomach with a pair of scissors, Saunders went into hiding. Knight was never able to find him until he returned to check on his daughter. Knight went to the police and was issued with an Apprehend Violence Order against him.

John Chillingworth

In 1990, Knight became pregnant with John Chillingworth and gave birth the following year to a boy they named Eric. Their relationship lasted three years until Knight left him for John Price, a man she had been seeing for a long time.

John Price

Price was a father that was liked by everyone who knew him. He was also aware of Knight’s violent reputation. In 1998, they had a fight over Price’s refusal to marry Knight. In retaliation, Knight recorded all of the items Price stole from work and sent the tape to his boss. Price was fired from the job he had for 17 years. That day, Price kicked her out and she returned to her own home while news of what she did spread throughout their town.

A few months later, Price began seeing Knight again, but he did not allow her to move in with him. This time, the fighting was more frequent.

John Price

The Murder of John Price

In 2000, a series of assaults on Price culminated with Knight stabbing Price in the chest. Price went to the police and filed for a restraining order against Knight and told his co-workers that if he did not come to work the next day, it was because Knight had killed him. After Price did not arrive at work the next day, his co-worker and neighbor called the police who found his body and Knight unconscious from taking a large number of pills.

The Autopsy

John Price’s autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed at least 37 times. Several hours after his death, Knight had skinned him and hung his skin from a meat hook on the door to the living room. She then decapitated him and cooked parts of his body. She was preparing to serve him to his own children.

The Trial

On November 8, Justice O’Keefe noted Knight’s lack of remorse which required a severe penalty. He sentenced her to life imprisonment and marked her papers with “never to be released.” This was the first time that this has been imposed on a woman in Australian history.

Sources

https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/knight-katherine.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Knight

https://allthatsinteresting.com/katherine-knight