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The murder of Ebony Jane Simpson (born 22 December 1982) occurred on 19 August 1992 in ,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. Aged nine years, Simpson was abducted,
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d, and
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
ed by
asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are ...
when Andrew Peter Garforth (born 5 August 1963)
drown Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others presen ...
ed her. Garforth pleaded guilty to the crimes and was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
without the possibility of
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
.


Abduction and murder

On 19 August 1992, Simpson disembarked from her school bus. Her mother, who usually met her at the bus stop, was busy that day and had arranged for Simpson's older brother to meet her and accompany her home, after his bus reached the bus stop. Unfortunately his bus arrived later than usual and Simpson was not there. Simpson, not seeing her brother at the bus stop, decided to start walking home as it was only a short distance away. Simpson thought that she would meet her brother at home. Police soon suspected that Ebony had been kidnapped rather than running away. Suspicion fell on a man who was seen working on his car near where she had disembarked from the bus. Over a hundred people began searching the area for Ebony, including police, firemen,
State Emergency Service The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of separate civil defence organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the services deal with floods, storms and tsunamis, b ...
members, and volunteers. Two days later, on the 21st of August, police found Ebony's body in a dam at a
wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...
near her home. Her hands and feet were bound. Later that day, 29 year old Andrew Peter Garforth was arrested and confessed to the murder. With her house in sight, Garforth had grabbed Simpson, thrown her in the
boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
of his car and driven off to a remote dam. Once there, he bound her with wire, raped her, weighted her schoolbag and threw her into the dam's
reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
, where she drowned. According to police, Garforth had participated in the search for Simpson on the day her body was found.


Arrest

Garforth confessed to the crime after police detained him, showing no
remorse Remorse is a distressing emotion experienced by an individual who regrets actions which they have done in the past which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or wrong. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment. When a perso ...
for his actions during the confession and court sessions. He pleaded guilty to the murder of Simpson and was sentenced in 1993 to life imprisonment. Justice Peter Newman refused to fix a non-parole period and ordered that Garforth's papers be marked "never to be released". Garforth
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
ed to the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
, but he was refused special leave. It is one of two similar cases which were refused special leave. In discussing the meaning of "life imprisonment" when Garforth appealed his sentence the Judges said, "the community interest in retribution, deterrence, protection of children and the community in such situations may so strongly outweigh any regard for rehabilitation that a life sentence becomes the only option." In 1995, Garforth lodged several claims for victims' compensation via his lawyers, relating to alleged assaults which occurred in prison. The claims were later withdrawn after public outrage. Garforth's prisoner status was downgraded upon the recommendation of the Serious Offenders Review Council in 2015, giving him access to prison employment and rehabilitation courses. The council's decision was immediately reversed by Minister for Corrections David Elliott.


Aftermath

Simpson's parents, Christine and Peter Simpson, joined forces with Grace and Garry Lynch, the parents of New South Wales 1986 murder victim
Anita Cobby Anita or ANITA may refer to: Arts * ''Anita'' (1967 film), an Indian film * ''Anita'' (2009 film), an Argentine film * ''Anita'' (2021 film), a Hong Kong film *'' Anita: Swedish Nymphet'', a 1973 erotic film People * Anita (given name), people ...
, to create the Homicide Victims Support Group. The group provides support to the families of murder victims and lobbies for victims' rights. Following the 1988 state election, the NSW Government introduced legislation in 1989 and 1990 broadly aimed at
truth in sentencing Truth in sentencing (TIS) is a collection of different but related public policy stances on sentencing of those convicted of crimes in the justice system. In most contexts, it refers to policies and legislation that aim to abolish or curb parole ...
. Garforth's case was often cited as a test case for the application of the principle of life sentencing and security classification.


See also

*
List of solved missing person cases Lists of solved missing person cases include: * List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950 * List of solved missing person cases: 1950–1999 * List of solved missing person cases: post-2000 See also

* List of kidnappings * List of murder ...
*
Murder of Janine Balding Janine Kerrie Balding was a homicide victim who was Kidnapping, abducted, raped and murdered by a homeless gang of five (four youths and an adult) on 8 September 1988 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Balding's murder is often compared to t ...
* Murder of Lauren Barry & Nichole Collins * Murder of Virginia Morse *
Murder of Sian Kingi Sian Kingi (16 December 1974 – 27 November 1987) was a twelve-year-old New Zealand Australians, New Zealand-Australian girl of Māori Australians, Maori descent who was abducted, raped and murdered in Shire of Noosa, Noosa, Queensland in Novem ...


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Ebony 1990s in New South Wales 1990s missing person cases 1992 murders in Australia Deaths from asphyxiation Female murder victims Formerly missing Australian people Missing person cases in Australia Child murder in Australia Murder in New South Wales People murdered in New South Wales Rape in Australia Incidents of violence against girls