Murder of Kylie Maybury

Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury[1] (24 October 1978 – 6 November 1984) was an Australian schoolgirl from Preston, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Maybury was kidnapped, raped, and murdered on 6 November 1984,[2] the date of the 1984 Melbourne Cup Day; and she was nicknamed in the Melbourne tabloid newspaper The Sun News-Pictorial as the Cup Day Girl.[3]

Kylie Maybury
Kylie Maybury
Born
Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury

(1978-10-24)24 October 1978
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died (aged 6)
Preston, Victoria, Australia
Cause of deathHomicide by asphyxiation
Body discoveredPreston, Victoria, Australia
Resting placeFawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park, Hadfield, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Known forMurder victim

More than 30 years after her death, in June 2016 Victoria Police arrested and charged Gregory Keith Davies with the abduction, rape, and murder of Maybury. Davies later pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of Maybury and in December 2017 he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 28 years.

Abduction and murder

Maybury lived with her younger sister, Rebecca, and their mother, Julie, in Gregory Grove.[2] She was a primary school student in grade one and was enrolled in callisthenics (to give historical context: the early nineteen eighties was an era of an exercise and fitness movement targeted at little girls and adult women).[4]

On the afternoon of 6 November 1984, Maybury had been sent to a convenience store on Plenty Road to buy a bag of sugar, which she bought at around 5:30 pm. She was last seen going home, carrying a bag of sugar, and looking as if she were lost.[2][5] Her mother and neighbour went looking for her at around 6:00 pm,[2] when a woman approached them saying that she'd seen a girl being driven away in a white Holden station wagon.[6] Maybury's body was found in the gutter of Donald Street at about 00:45 that night by a fire brigade electrician, Neil Rickwood, but had not been there when police searched Donald Street at 7:30 pm.[2]

She had died of asphyxiation while being raped and had suffered severe internal injuries, including vaginal trauma. The autopsy found that diazepam, a strong sedative, was in her body, suggesting that she had been drugged.[7]

Investigation

Maybury's murder received significant media coverage.

Maybury was interred at Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park. Her grandfather, John Moss, was a suspect, committing suicide in 1985.[8] Her uncle, Mark Maybury, was similarly a suspect in the case; he committed suicide in jail in 1987. He was later found to be innocent of the crime, and is buried in the same cemetery as Maybury.[1][2]

In the 1990s, Victorian Police focused their attention on Robert Arthur Selby Lowe, who had murdered Melbourne schoolgirl Sheree Beasley.[2] Shortly before Maybury's murder, Lowe had been interviewed by police about offensive behaviour to young girls near Preston.[6] DNA profiling later proved that Lowe was not responsible for Maybury's murder.[2] Victoria Police began a new investigation into the murder among other cold cases in 2014, after media interest in the case led to numerous suspects being reported to the police.[9]

Charges, committal and sentencing

In June 2016, a 73-year-old man, Gregory Keith Davies, was charged with the false imprisonment, rape and murder of Maybury, with a committal hearing for the case scheduled for May 2017.[10][11] Davies was interviewed by police two days after the murder during the original investigation.[6] In 1970, he had bludgeoned a teenage girl with a hammer and told police he intended to rape her.[12] At the time of the attack on Maybury, Davies lived in the area with his mother,[13] and drove a white Holden,[6] but was removed from the investigation without giving a DNA sample because he gave an alibi.[13]

On 29 May 2017, Davies pleaded guilty to one charge of murder and one of rape, with the false imprisonment charge being taken into consideration.[14] The following day, Davies was remanded into custody until a plea hearing on 21 September. On 23 July Davies was attacked by another inmate while on remand, suffering serious burns from scalding water.[15] On 21 December 2017, Davies was sentenced by Lex Lasry in the Supreme Court of Victoria to life imprisonment and with a minimum of non-parole period 28 years. Davies may be eligible for parole in 2045; aged 101 years.[16][17]

Earlier in his life Davies was convicted of another sex crime;[6] and, according to a relative, Davies spent years jailed for other sex crimes against children.[18] After the publicity of Maybury's rape and murder, several children told their parents that Davies had sexually assaulted them, but the charges against Davies were dropped as prosecutors suggested that it would be too hard for the children to testify in court.[19] Lasry revealed in the sentencing proceedings that in May 1968 Davies was placed on a three-year good behaviour bond for larceny, fraud, and uttering. In February 1971 he was tried in the Victorian Supreme Court on the charge of attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, the victim being a 14-year-old girl. Davies was acquitted on the basis on insanity, yet ordered to be detained at the Governor's pleasure and was released from custody on 3 November 1982. During this ten-year period in custody, Davies did not undergo any psychiatric treatment. In 1993 Davies was convicted on a number of burglary, theft, and dishonesty charges; in 1996 he was convicted of charges involving indecent assault and gross indecency charges for which he served time in custody.[20]

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References
  1. "Deceased Search". gmct.com.au.
  2. Moor, Keith (5 November 2014). "Six-year-old Kylie Maybury's 1984 Melbourne Cup Day kidnap, and rape and murder, faces fresh investigation by Victoria Police". Herald Sun.
  3. The Sun News-Pictorial, 8 November 1984
  4. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/murderer-gregory-keith-davies-wants-a-jail-discount-because-hes-a-marked-man/news-story/e1e98a5c0b6a896192b284adeaa900e7
  5. "Body of girl, 6, found in gutter". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 8 November 1984. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  6. Silvester, John (29 May 2017). "Kylie Maybury's killer trapped by mix of new-age science, old-fashioned policing". The Age. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. Mullaly, Rosemary (23 January 1986). "Murdered girl might have been drugged, coroner finds". The Age. p. 10.
  8. Silvester, John (9 June 2016). "Kylie Maybury, 6, was murdered on a family errand: 32 years later police swoop". The Age. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  9. Moor, Keith (7 December 2014). "Fresh probes into 63 cold case murders". The Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  10. "Kylie Maybury death: Gregory Keith Davies charged with murder, rape of Preston girl in 1984". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 9 June 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. "Kylie Maybury's mother to be quizzed about 'murdered' girl's access to Valium". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 29 September 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  12. Bucci, Nino (31 May 2017). "Kylie's Killer Attacked 14 Years Earlier". The Age. Melbourne. p. 1 – via EBSCOhost.
  13. "Kylie Maybury's killer 'a marked man' as family describes anguish after 6yo's death". ABC News. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  14. Cooper, Adam (29 May 2017). "Gregory Davies pleads guilty to murder of six-year-old Kylie Maybury 30 years ago". The Age. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  15. Mowat, Laura (8 September 2017). "Paedophile who murdered girl, 6, has boiling water poured over him in prison attack". Sunday Express. United Kingdom. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  16. "Six-year-old Kylie Maybury's killer gets life sentence". ABC News. Australia. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  17. Akerman, Tessa (27 November 2017). "Kylie Maybury's killer Gregory Keith Davies to die in jail, court hears". The Australian. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  18. Moor, Keith (1 June 2017). "Kylie's Murderer Molested Others, Relative Says". Herald Sun. Melbourne. p. 2 – via EBSCOhost.
  19. Moor, Keith (21 December 2017). "Killer's Sick Abuse in Van". Herald Sun. Melbourne. p. 10 – via EBSCOhost.
  20. The Queen v Gregory Keith Davies [2017] VSC 800 at 10:15, Supreme Court (Vic, Australia)

Further reading
  • Moor, Keith; Wilkinson, Geoff. Mugshots 2: A Compelling Line-up of Murderers, Madmen and the Mafia in Australia, Volume 2, News Custom Publishing, 2006 ISBN 9781921116049
  • Silvester, John; Rule, Andrew. Underbelly 5, Allen & Unwin (Kindle Ed.), 2012 ASIN B0083ZLXEQ
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