The Only Australian Woman Sentenced to Life Without Parole

**Meshel Laurie** (0:03)
This is Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie. Katherine Knight is the only woman in Australian history to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In 2001, she was convicted of murdering her partner John Price in a case so shocking and brutal that it remains one of the most infamous crimes Australia has ever seen. Today, we're unpacking the crime, the trial and the legal questions surrounding the case with Lauren Cassimatis, Principal Lawyer and Director at Gallant Law. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. A warning, this episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.
We know from other people we've spoken to in the same field that I mean, there's a lot of public pressure on you guys. Do you tell people when you're meeting them at a barbecue that that's what you do?

**Lauren Cassimatis** (1:07)
I often don't. I'll just say I'm a lawyer and leave it at that. But if they want to get into the specifics, I know I'm going to be met with this question, which is what do you do if you know they're guilty? I've got an answer on tap for that every time.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:19)
What is it?

**Lauren Cassimatis** (1:20)
It's just that some people are guilty, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they want to deny the truth. Sometimes they're advocating for the best pathway forward for them and society. So it's not a matter of us lying or denying what's happened. It's what's the best way forward in terms of rehabilitation and protection of the community.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:37)
That's a good way of explaining it.

**Lauren Cassimatis** (1:39)
Especially when you had a few wines.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:40)
Yeah, no, that's good. It just shut down any argument, I think. And also, I always think that it's about giving the jury confidence or the judge confidence in what they're hearing from the prosecution as well. Because if there's a strong defense, then the jury can have confidence in their own judgment, can say, I believe I've heard everything. I've heard both sides. I've heard everything I need to hear.
I've heard the debate and now I can make up my own mind. But if there wasn't a great defense team, we wouldn't be able to do that.

**Lauren Cassimatis** (2:12)
Absolutely. The jury determines the facts. They're not there to determine the law. They're there to think about what facts are being presented and what's the most plausible case theory. We operate in terms of theories or strategies. The prosecution rely on evidence the police have obtained, and they piece together a jigsaw puzzle based on those pieces. As defense, we create a different puzzle with the same pieces. It might be that that one is more, I guess, believable to the jury or acceptable, and that's how they'll determine if there's an acquittal or not.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:41)
Yeah, but we don't want to live in a culture, and there are cultures around the world, where the police are given free rein to say whatever they want about an offender or an accused offender, and there is no defense. And then I feel like, well, you can't be really sure what you're hearing from the police in those jurisdictions. Whereas in our jurisdiction, I think you can have that confidence because you've got a robust defense.

**Lauren Cassimatis** (3:02)
Definitely. And we've got the beauty of, we live in a democratic society and there is that opportunity to have a jury, 12 people from society or walks of life, think about what is the best argument here.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:15)
Yeah. Okay. So I think we've done a good job of defending you. What do you think?

**Lauren Cassimatis** (3:20)
I think I love it. Thank you. Great.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:22)
Okay, good. But you have offered to come and talk to us about some massive crime stories and sort of help us not necessarily see them just from the defense perspective, but we can talk about the crime and then talk about how you may have played this, if I may say so, in defense. The one we asked you to come and talk to us about was Katherine Knight. This is an incredible Australian crime story. And for whatever reason, even I, it happened in the 90s, right?

**Lauren Cassimatis** (3:50)
Yeah, 2000 Right?

**Meshel Laurie** (3:51)
So even I, I think I was always into true crime, but even I don't really remember a lot about this crime. And I feel like if it happened today, oh my God, we'd have media from all over the world here to talk about this and to watch this trial. What can you tell us about Katherine Knight? What's her background? Who is this lady?