Serial paedophile Michael Guider has come to the end of a 17-year jail sentence for the manslaughter of nine-year-old Bondi girl Samantha Knight. But Samantha’s longsuffering mother, Tess Knight, and a band of dedicated supporters are fighting to keep him locked away. Michael Sheather reports.
If Samantha Knight was still alive, she would be 42 years old. She might be married with a couple of kids of her own. She might be living overseas, pursing a career in the arts or academia, or living on a farm somewhere in rural NSW. She was a little girl whose life and vitality promised so much.
But Samantha Knight is not alive. That hopeful future never came to be. Instead, Samantha will forever remain the blonde, green-eyed, nine-year-old child depicted in her family’s photographs, a little girl frozen in time and place, a little girl whose innocence and life were stolen by a monster.
Samantha – Sam as she was known to family and friends – disappeared from a Bondi street close to her home on the afternoon of August 19, 1986. She had popped out to go to the local shops, but never returned – a little girl who vanished and left behind one of Sydney’s longest running and most confronting mysteries.
Michael Guider is a serial paedophile, a man convicted of Samantha Knight’s manslaughter and another 75 child abuse charges. He currently languishes in a NSW high-security jail, where he has been a prisoner for the past 17 years. He is about to complete that sentence, raising the chilling prospect that he may soon be released back into the community.
In all the years since Samantha Knight died, Guider, who had once been Samantha’s babysitter, has never recounted the full story of what really happened to her. His refusals to divulge what he did to her and where he hid her body lie at the heart of this disturbing story. Those stubborn refusals, and the cruelty they represent for her family and friends, are also among the reasons so many people, including Samantha’s mother Tess Knight, believe that Guider remains a dangerous predator who should stay in jail, where he has no chance to offend again.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 2019-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 2019-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
