Casefile True Crime - Case 143: Leigh Leigh

Episode Date: April 25, 2020

Teenagers in the New South Wales town of Stockton Beach were excited as they gathered at the North Stockton Surf Club to celebrate the sixteenth birthday of a schoolmate. 14-year-old  Leigh Leigh promised her parents she’d be waiting at their designated meeting spot in four hours time. When she didn’t arrive, they immediately knew something was wrong. --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Eileen Ormsby Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-143-leigh-leigh

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. This episode features violent sexual crimes against a minor. It won't be suitable for all listeners. Lee Lee's double-barrelled name was a happy accident. She was born Lee Renee Mears on July 24, 1975, to parents Robin and Robert.

Theirs was a tumultuous marriage that only persisted due to their mutual love of their daughter, but ultimately ended in divorce when Lee was 7 years old. After her birth parents separated, Lee's mother entered into a de facto relationship with a man whose surname was Lee. The couple had a daughter in 1983, whom they named Jesse. Lee wanted to share her younger sister's surname, and loved the fact that it would give her her duplicate name. She liked her unique name so much, she kept it after her mother ended that relationship.

Robin was close to her oldest daughter, and took Lee, aged 10, on a two-month holiday to Sri Lanka to experience her familial heritage. By 1986, Robin and her two daughters had moved to a house on Fullerton Street in Fern Bay, a working-class suburb in the Hunter region of New South Wales. First south of Fern Bay was Stockton, technically a suburb of the city of Newcastle. It lay across the harbour mouth of the Hunter River, meaning anyone wanting to get there from Newcastle would either have to take a five-minute ferry ride or a half-hour drive. Its isolation from the city gave Stockton more of a provincial atmosphere, with an insular

and close-knit community. The township was characterised by low incomes and high unemployment. It was while living in Fern Bay that Robin met local man Brad Shearman, who became Lee and Jesse's stepfather. Lee was a popular and outgoing girl, and made friends easily at both Stockton Primary School and later at Newcastle High. By age 14, she had aspirations to become a veterinarian and was well-behaved at school, but exhibited a rebellious streak with her mum and stepdad.

In these moments, it was clear she had inherited her mother's strength of character and her biological father's single-minded determination. Nevertheless, her mother and grandmother regarded Lee as a typical teenager who cared deeply for her family. It was a warm spring evening on Friday, November 3, 1989, and Lee Lee was excited. She was going to her first late-night party to celebrate the 16th birthday of one of the local boys, Jason Robertson. More than 50 youths would be in attendance, mostly year-ten students from Newcastle High.

But some younger girls had received an invitation too. Lee was one of them, even though she was only 14 years old and in year 8. This made her feel important and mature, as only a handful of girls her age had been invited. The party was being held at the old North Stockton Surf Club, a popular venue for such events. The one-story red brick building was positioned on a large patch of open lawn, with its rear facing the Stockton Waterfront a short walk away. Both Lee's mother and stepfather were apprehensive, as the invitation said the party was an all-night

affair from 7pm until dawn. It also stipulated, bring your own, which suggested there would be alcohol present. But Lee had been persuasive and convinced them that the night could be viewed as a test. If she behaved herself and was ready to be picked up at the surf club at exactly 11pm, she would be given more freedom to attend other parties and social events. If she wasn't waiting at the allotted time, she would be grounded and banned from going to the upcoming dance at Newcastle High, which Lee desperately wanted to attend. There wasn't a lot to do for teens in the area, as the discos that used to be held at

the Masonic Hall had come to an end, and the local movie house had shut down. There were the occasional gatherings at the surf club on a Friday night, where they would listen to the local band practice while drinking beer or cask wine acquired by an older sibling or friend. Otherwise, they would all hang out at Roberto's Pizza Bar, which had arcade games to play. Lee's social life until then consisted of going to the movies in Newcastle, roller skating, and hanging out with friends. Jason Robertson's 16th birthday was her first real party, and she was going with a couple

of girlfriends. She was secretly thrilled to be seeing the boy she had a crush on, who would be playing in Cardinal Sin, the local band that was the Knights Entertainment. She assured her mother that adult supervision had been arranged for the event, and that she knew most of the kids at the party. At 7pm, Robin dropped her daughter off at Roberto's Pizza Bar, where Lee had planned to meet her fellow party-going friends. The three girls would then walk the two kilometres to the surf club.

Robin waved Lee goodbye, and reminded her to be ready to be picked up by her stepfather four hours later at the agreed meeting spot, or there would be consequences. Just before 11 o'clock that night, Brad Shearman left home to go and pick up his stepdaughter from the North Stockton Surf Club. He returned over an hour later, alone and agitated, telling Robin that Lee had not been at the agreed meeting spot. He went out again to look for her and checked the building where the party was being held, finding drunk and drug-affected teenagers throughout and spilling onto the beach.

They were in various states of undress, screaming and carrying on, with some vomiting in the bushes or passed out in the gutter. He cited around 15 or 16 cases of beer and evidence of cannabis usage. Brad had discovered the promised adult supervision consisted of two older male teenagers, an 18 and 19-year-old, who had been tasked as bouncers for the event in exchange for a case of beer. Brad asked the party-goers about Lee, but none could offer him a coherent answer, and nobody seemed to know where she was. Someone suggested she might have gone home early.

Brad drove home in case she had walked or got a lift there, but upon realizing she hadn't, he headed out again. He drove around the streets before returning to the surf club where the party was winding up. There was still no sign of Lee by 2am, so he retrieved his three-wheeled motorbike, enabling him to scale the sand tracks and dunes along the beach with ease. Yet, Lee was still nowhere to be seen. Brad returned home, assuming his stepdaughter had gone to a friend's place to spend the

night, or perhaps fallen asleep on the shoreline somewhere. It wasn't unusual for parties held at the surf club to end on the beach and carry on until the next morning. As far as Robin was concerned, her eldest daughter had failed her first party test. There would be no dance, and she had a lot of explaining to do. Lee still hadn't arrived home by the next morning, so Brad recommenced the search while Robin rang her daughter's friends to find out if she had a sleepover. Brad returned to the surf club, and at 9.15am spotted a group of people standing less than

100 meters away, talking animatedly as they stared at something on the sand below. Brad rushed over and realised they were looking at Lee. She was sprawled out on the sand, naked. Her legs were spread apart, and her face almost unrecognisable. She was still wearing her Dunlop volley shoes and pink socks, but her shorts and underwear had been pulled down and were around her right ankle. The remainder of her alcohol-soaked clothes were found nearby. Her face was covered in blood, having sustained several severe blows to the left side of her

skull. A blood-stained rock of concrete weighing six kilograms was located nearby. There were also bruise marks around her neck. An autopsy would later reveal injuries to her genital region, consistent with repeated violent intrusion. Tucked inside Lee's shorts pocket was the invitation to the 16th birthday party she had attended the night before. Lee's body had been discovered by the birthday boy, Jason Robertson, who had helped Brad

Shearman search for her the night before, but the darkness shrouding the sand dunes made it difficult for them to see anything at that time. Jason had received a frantic call the next morning from Lee's mother, telling him that her daughter hadn't returned home, so he had gone looking for her along the beach when the sun came up. Newcastle police arrived at the beach and declared the side a crime scene. They were aware there was a party at the North Stockton Surf Club the night prior and had carried out a routine check of the event at 8.30pm, but everything seemed in order at

the time. Following the discovery of Lee Lee's body, they sought to identify every person who had attended the party, asking birthday boy Jason Robertson for a list of invitees. They spoke with residents who lived in the area and they reported that the party had been mostly subdued, but some mentioned hearing a girl screaming and a man swearing loudly before everything went quiet. Reporters for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper spoke to two girls who claimed to be Lee's best friends, but who had not been at the party.

One described to Lee as, a very attractive girl, which tended to make her the target of a lot of boys and we used to have to protect her. As neither girl had been with Lee the previous night, she added, maybe Lee thought she could protect herself. Girls were reluctant to believe their youth could do anything so heinous, with the owner of Roberto's pizza bar stating, I know these kids well, they're pretty responsible. Over the following days, the police tried to piece together what exactly occurred the night of the party.

Over 50 teenagers were questioned in relation to the event and a picture began to emerge of a wild party. Most attendees were between the ages of 13 and 18, but there were a couple there as young as 10. However, their investigation was hampered by what the police referred to as a wall of silence from witnesses reluctant to talk about anything that could get them or their friends in trouble. As many were affected by alcohol or drugs on the night, their recollections were impaired

and some invented stories or flat out lied about being there. Some witnesses gave as many as three different accounts of key events. Investigators were also up against the general distrust of police amongst the boys of Stockton, who lived by a code of mateship. Parents of the party-goers were equally dismissive and closed ranks due to apathy or in order to protect their children. One caller phoned a talkback radio station and said, It's un-Australian to dob in a mate.

Head of the North Region Crime Squad Homicide Unit, Detective Sergeant Lance Chaffee, told reporters, I'm looking at 60 suspects, but only two parents have bothered to contact us to assist us in what their kid might have seen. They theorized that some parents might have felt guilty for allowing their children to attend such an unruly event and Lee's murder reflected on their inability to properly supervise them. Gradually, investigators were able to piece together a timeline of events from witnesses

who had been reassured that nobody would find out that they had talked to the police. They were able to ascertain that after Lee was dropped off at Roberto's pizza bar, she had met with two of her friends as planned, but also a third friend who bought a bottle of bourbon. Lee was an inexperienced drinker and consumed half the bottle with Coca-Cola. By the time the group arrived at the surf club, the liquor had impacted Lee significantly and she was staggering and slurring her words. She showed event bouncer, 18-year-old Matthew Webster her invitation and he marked her arm

with a green texta and granted her entry inside, where the party was just getting started. Known locally as Fat Matt due to his 110kg frame, Webster told a reporter who interviewed him days after the party. The problem with Stockton is that there is nothing for us to do at night, implying that when a party was on, everyone let loose. One of his friends added, Everyone reckons we're all bad over here now, but we're no different from teenagers in any other suburb. The murderer could have come from anywhere.

When the police visited the event at around 8.30pm, the party goers hid their alcohol in the sandhills so nothing appeared amiss. Birthday boy Jason Robertson admitted there had been some drinking, but maintained it was minimal and most of the alcohol had been taken by his older friends. He said, Lee had a couple of drinks, but most of us were just drinking Coke. He complained that he could barely leave his house because he felt the town was whispering and pointing at him, knowing it was his party where the murder happened. From the witness accounts, investigators zeroed in on one incident they believed might have

been linked to the crime. Several female attendees said that around 9pm, Lee had left the surf club to go for a walk to the beach and might have been accompanied by a male. She returned a little while later, extremely distressed, telling two of her friends that she had been raped and was worried about being pregnant. They sat her down at a table and attempted to comfort her, though were skeptical of her claims that she was heavily intoxicated. They asked if she wanted them to call her parents.

Lee declined the offer and stumbled back outside. Newspaper reports stated that investigators believed Lee Lee had been raped several times and that more than one person was involved, though they were uncertain whether the rape and murder were linked. Several printed stories about the prevalence of gang rapes in small industrial towns such as Stockton, with the Boys Will Be Boys mentality strong in the 1980s. Victims of sex crimes were seen as having deserved their treatment or perceived as having done something to bring it on themselves.

Some were quoted as not reporting their rape due to shame and the fear of being blamed, especially if they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time. Lee Lee was frank and forthright and had told her mother that she planned on being a virgin until she was 16 years old. Post-mortem results indicated that she was a virgin before the party, but during the course of the night she had endured extreme sexual violence. Despite this, some locals questioned whether she had been raped at all, with one resident telling a reporter,

Yes, it's a terrible thing, but I hear she was a bit of a sleep around. Lee Lee's funeral was held on November 9, 1989, with her biological father Robert Mears and her stepfather Brad Shearman acting as pallbearers. One of Lee's favourite songs, If I Could Turn Back Time, by American pop singer Sher was played to the large gathering of mourners, many of whom were Lee's friends. She was buried at Stockton General Cemetery under a heart-shaped headstone that read, Within our hearts, memories of you will live on forever. After Lee was buried, allegations and gossip in Stockton intensified.

Nearly everyone in town had a theory as to who was responsible for Lee's murder. Stockton's girls lived in fear of a murderer on the loose, whereas boys started fighting amongst themselves, accusing one another of speaking to the police. On November 12, nine days after Lee's murder, newspapers were reporting new leads in the case. Quote, Detectives want to trace two schoolgirls who fought off attackers trying to abduct them, the night Newcastle schoolgirl Lee Lee was raped and murdered. Police believe there may be a connection between Lee Lee's brutal murder and the attempted abduction.

The schoolgirls managed to save themselves when a gang tried to drag them into a car about 3am on the morning of Saturday, November 4. Nothing came of that lead, and it joined the increasing pile of lies, half truths and secrecy that dogged the investigation. Meanwhile, investigators continued to work diligently to uncover the truth of what occurred at Jason Robertson's 16th birthday party. Witnesses alleged that event bouncer, 18-year-old Matthew Webster had told other boys early in the night, quote, we're going to get Lee pissed and all go through her. A male 15-year-old attendee who can't be named for legal reasons was overheard

saying that he was going to, quote, fuck Lee. For the sake of clarity, case file will refer to the 15-year-old male as Corey. As people were arriving to the party, Corey had asked another male attendee, were all the baldies coming tonight? Baldies was a colloquialism used to describe young girls who hadn't yet grown pubic hair. It was common practice for some of the older boys to invite underage girls as young as 10 to parties for the purpose of getting them drunk and taking advantage of them. After Corey was observed taking Lee towards the beach, she returned to the surf club a while later crying with blood between her legs. She told her friends that Corey had raped her and that she hated him. When questioned by police, Corey claimed that Lee had initiated the walk

they took together as well as the sexual activity that came afterwards. After informing others what Corey had done, Lee headed back outside. Several male attendees began teasing and insulting her, and several accosted her for sex. When she refused, she was pushed to the ground as a group of upwards of 10 boys stood in a semicircle around her. One of the boys involved told police. They all had twist tops in their hands and they were pouring beer over her head and body and yelling abuse at her like, you stupid bush pig slut and things like that. I walked over to her and said, get up you stupid bitch. I laughed but I didn't pour any beer on her. Another participant Another participant implicated event bouncers Matthew Webster and the guy Wilson quote,

while I was standing with them over Lee, I heard Webster say things like get that into your slut and take that your slut. Wilson said the same things. Lee just lay there the whole time. She did not say anything but she was rolling around. The group then kicked Lee around the years, quote, pretty hard, though a female attendee claimed they were kicking her pretty hard, but not as hard as they could have. Once the group stopped, Lee slowly got up and staggered across the path and picked up an empty beer bottle. Her assailants were still laughing at her, prompting Lee to throw the bottle in their direction, though it didn't hit anyone. Bouncer Guy Wilson picked up the bottle and

threw it back at Lee, hitting her on the leg. The attack was witnessed by approximately 40 or so youths that were milling about outside. Lee returned to the surf club where another 30 or so attendees were still inside and began vomiting. The band stopped playing and one of its members joined in the assault spitting his beer onto her. Another boy told police, I saw Lee come into the hall and she came up to us and we were calling her a slut, mole, bitch and we poured beers over her and spat on her and I pushed her with my hands. While I was doing it, she was crying and she got up and walked out. The last time they saw Lee was around 10.15pm as she headed off towards the beach alone. As word of Lee's treatment at the party spread around town, parents warned their sons to keep

their mouths shut and spun a different version of events, in which Lee had attended the party intending to get drunk and have sex with the boys there. Those suspected of leaking information to police were bullied, attacked or ostracized. The names of the young men who publicly assaulted and humiliated Lee were shared around town, with some locals expecting them to be brought to justice for their actions. Their anger arose from the fact that at least half the party, both boys and girls, witnessed what happened to Lee, yet no one went to her defense and nearly all of them refused to come forward afterwards to assist the police investigation. The corroborating witness accounts enabled investigators to narrow in on three party-goers that might have had a part to play

in Lee Lee's murder. Police found Corey, the 15-year-old alleged to have raped Lee outside Roberto's pizza bar. Event bouncer, 19-year-old Guy Wilson, was on his way home from the Gladstone Hotel when he was approached by police. And his companion, Matthew Webster, was sitting on a fence out the front of a friend's home when police officers asked him to accompany them to clear up a few things. Neither Corey nor Guy Wilson were able to offer alibis to account for their specific actions and whereabouts throughout Jason Robertson's birthday party. Matthew Webster claimed he had left the event early to go drink at a local pub before meeting up with friends at Roberto's pizza bar. Both he and Wilson were of legal drinking age and admitted to supplying the

beer and cannabis for the party. Webster's pub-related alibi did not check out and he admitted he was not being honest. All three youths were charged with various offenses relating to events that took place at the party. Webster and Wilson were charged with common assault pertaining to the group attack on Lee, with the latter also charged for supplying cannabis to two teenagers. Corey was charged with sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 16 and also supplying cannabis. None were charged in relation to Lee's murder. Corey, being underage, was released into the custody of his mother, whereas Webster and Wilson were kept in police custody overnight. They were bailed by a magistrate the following day for $1,000 and released into the care of their

parents. By now, many residents of Stockton were hoping that the matter would go away, viewing Lee Lee's assault and murder as a tragedy that arose from a party that got out of hand. Other community members came to Lee's defense, with posters plastered all over town that depicted a drawing of three male figures, one of whom clutched a rock standing over a cowering girl. Across the image were the words, shame Stockton, shame, dob at the gutless bastards in. In an interview for Sticks and Stones, the killing of Lee Lee by the ABC, Stockton local Graham Parsons said the posters aims to break the code of silence that developed in the days

after Lee's murder. By the following day, all the posters had been torn down. Just over a month after Lee Lee's murder, Matthew Webster pleaded guilty to assaulting the 14-year old schoolgirl and of supplying cannabis at the party. Guy Wilson entered no plea and was eventually sentenced to six months. Corey pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 to 16, but maintained that it was Lee who initiated the act. He was convicted and given a six-month sentence, which he appealed. At the appeal, a judge ruled that the sexual intercourse had been consensual, despite witness reports describing Lee as being so intoxicated she could barely stand and her distressed stayed afterwards. Corey's sentence was reduced to community service

for unlawful carnal knowledge. When news spread that a judge had ruled the sexual intercourse between Corey and Lee as consensual, public opinion of the murdered teen within her hometown was scathing. Her morals were described as loose and she was referred to as a good time girl and the town bike. She was even derided for ruining the lives of those who had been convicted of crimes in relation to her assault. Meanwhile, rumours regarding who killed Lee Lee and why continued to emerge. One prominent rumour implicated her stepfather Brad Shearman, with some accusing him of being in a sexual relationship with Lee. They speculated that when he came across Lee on the beach on the night of the party, she divulged that she had been

sexually assaulted. This caused Brad to explode in a violent rage that resulted in her murder. Although there was no evidence to support this theory, it was so persistent that police did view Brad as a suspect. However, aerial photography taken by a police helicopter of the Surf Club and adjacent beachfront displayed the tyre tracks made by Brad's motorbike during the time he was out searching for Lee. There were tracks all across the shoreline, except to the area where her body was found. Tensions remained high in the small town and on January 28, 1990, a group of four boys taunted Matthew Webster in the street about Lee's murder. Webster grabbed one of them and reportedly, quote, went off his head, smashing the boy through a car windscreen before thumping him repeatedly on the

ground. He was fined $250 for offensive behaviour. Brad Shearman was charged with assault when he punched Guy Wilson after he said that six-year-old Jessie Lee would suffer a fate similar to that of her older sister. Robin also endured a judgment and mistreatment at the hands of her local community, with some longtime residents believing if the family hadn't moved into the area, nothing would have happened. Even Jessie experienced harassment from other students at the kindergarten she attended, prompting Robin to pull her out of the school. On February 16, 1990, Matthew Webster and Guy Wilson were again interviewed by police in relation to Lee Lee's murder. The pair were initially questioned separately, then placed together

in an interview room that had been bugged with a covert listening device. However, neither teen said anything that incriminated themselves or any others in the crime. They were split up once more when suddenly Matthew Webster made an unexpected confession. Even though the 18-year-old was a suspect, police had no hard evidence against him. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Webster admitted, quote, Well, I did it, but I just couldn't believe it happened. It's just unbelievable. I went to look for my beers and I saw Lee Lee sitting down on the grass and my beers weren't there. Somebody must have pinched them. And then I walked up to Lee Lee and she carried on with

her normal shit and I tried to get onto her. Then we walked down to the bushes and I pulled her clothes off and I pulled my shorts down. I thought I was right for a route and then she started pushing me away saying don't. I lost my temper and I did what I did. When asked to elaborate on his final remark, Webster said, She was punching and pushing and I grabbed her by the throat and she said don't and I choked her a bit. She stopped punching and I grabbed the rock and killed her. I thought she would squeal on me for trying to rape her. After the murder, Webster ran to a nearby boat ramp and washed his hands in a sink

before sprinting home through the back streets. He met up with several other party goers at Roberto's pizza bar later in the night and told them he had left the party early to have a beer at the Stockton Hotel. He admitted to police that he told the others this lie to give himself an alibi. Despite the matter of fact manner in which Webster described assaulting and murdering Lee, he reportedly asserted, I am just so, so, so sorry. I would do anything to go back in time so it would not happen. I feel like a cunt. Matthew Webster was charged with Lee Lee's murder and sexual assault. He was refused bail and remanded in custody due to the serious nature of his charges.

Despite Matthew Webster admitting to sexually assaulting then murdering 14-year-old Lee Lee, some residents of Stockton rallied around the confessed killer, while the mistreatment of Lee's family continued. Their home was regularly broken into, and whenever Robin ran into any of the boys who had been at the party with her daughter, they would swear and spit at her. The relentless harassment and rumors had a profound impact on Lee's loved ones, with her biological father Robert attempting suicide in September 1990. Lee's stepfather, Brad, spent a week in a mental health facility, haunted by memories of her brutalized body and unable to cope with being viewed as a suspect

in the crime. The pressure became too much for him and Robin, and the couple separated. The town remained divided between those who blamed the male perpetrators and those who blamed Lee Lee herself. As the word rape wasn't included in any of the charges filed in relation to the crime, it created the legal fiction that the sex acts committed against Lee were consensual. Fueling this belief was the judgment that Lee's outfit of a jumper, tank top, shorts and sneakers was revealing and thus inviting trouble. One local girl who was the same age as Lee told ABC Radio, a lot of people said Lee was a slut and she deserved it. I remember my mom telling me that little to nothing was done to pursue any others involved in the group attack on Lee,

but police assured her mother that the truth would come out during Matthew Webster's trial. However, by the time court proceedings began in October 1990 at the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the narrative had shifted from a violent gang assault and rape to an act of violence committed by a single person. On October 22, 1990, Matthew Webster pleaded guilty to murdering Lee Lee. The sexual assault charge had been dropped without explanation. A psychologist offered a possible motive, stating that Lee fighting off Webster's advances could have been perceived as the ultimate rejection, especially if he was under the impression that she had sexual intercourse with someone else earlier in the evening. The psychologist stated,

Webster attacked Lee Lee not so much because she would not let him have sex with her, but because she became the living proof that even someone he perceived to be a slut, the property of the clan, thought he was not good enough to have sex with her. At the conclusion of two days of court proceedings, Justice James Wood described Lee Lee's murder as totally unnecessary and totally preventable, though lay some of the blame at the feet of the parents of those who attended the party. He found it entirely reprehensible that the party took place without adult supervision. Quote, A duty is owed to all young persons to ensure that they are protected from the inevitable peer group pressures at functions such as this.

Those pressures are exceedingly strong. They cannot be swept under the carpet. It should not have been left to the police to check on this party or to endeavor to exercise control over functions such as this. Police have other valuable work to do and the care of young teenagers cannot be delegated to them. It is the responsibility of parents who organize such parties or who allow their children to attend to ensure that they are appropriately supervised and that the children are properly counseled about the dangers in the use of alcohol and drugs and also in relation to intimate relationships. When Judge Wood spoke of what Lee had endured, his language suggested that she had not been raped,

but rather had sexual intercourse. In reference to Matthew Webster, Judge Wood remarked, Generally, he has a reputation amongst friends and family of being a gentle, shy and polite young man who is somewhat lacking in self-confidence. On the basis of his reputation and antecedents, the offense would seem to be out of character. This prisoner is a first offender of otherwise good character. He behaved with uncharacteristic and impulsive ferocity whilst disinhibited by alcohol and drugs. He sentenced Matthew Webster to 20 years in prison with a non-parole period of 14 years. The ongoing diminishing of Lee's sexual assault devastated her family.

Robin later told ABC Radio, Detective Sergeant Lance Chaffey said that yes, Lee had been gang-raped and yes, in his belief that Corey did rape Lee, but it was Corey's word against a dead person. He told me I had no say in whether others should be charged with Lee's murder or rape. He also told me this was a private conversation which he would deny publicly ever being a party to, so there was no point in me mouthing off about it to anyone. A feature article in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper titled, In Cold Blood, perpetuated the victim blaming.

The article implied that Lee had instigated the sexual activity that occurred prior to her murder. Lee Lee had chosen November 3, 1989 as the day to make the move she had assured her mother was at least two years away. It also attributed blame to Robin, stating, Robin maintained an open mother-daughter relationship with Lee. Probably as a result of that relationship, Lee developed an outlook on life that was older than her years. They discussed sex often as Lee moved through puberty. Robin remembers that her daughter also developed quicker physically than her friends, assuming the body of a woman at age 14 that made her the subject of admiration among some girlfriends and the target of acute jealousy

among others. It also ensured that she acquired a trail of male admirers. The article quoted local priest, Father David Denley, who conducted Lee's funeral as saying, You don't see that many kids on the street at night now, which is a good thing. It is often said that something good often comes from the worst thing, and in this case, I suppose it is that parents have begun to question the level of control they exercise over their children. I think Stockton feels that it has been made a scapegoat for Australian society's realisation that too much freedom can have disastrous effects. After most of the publicity had died down, Robin was left with the realisation that others who

were involved in assaulting her daughter had never been charged, nor did it appear they ever would be. She and surviving daughter Jesse would ultimately be awarded a combined total of $29,214 in victim compensation, an amount deemed woefully inadequate by the family's supporters. Three years after her daughter's murder, Robin was forced to leave Stockton, unable to deal with the ongoing harassment, gossip, and public shaming directed towards her family on a daily basis. To many, she was the embodiment of an incident that the town longed to forget. Despite Stockton's efforts to move on, Lee Lee's case garnered the attention of various academics, including Associate Professor Kerry Carrington.

Formerly of the University of Newcastle, Professor Carrington was a criminologist that had spent years examining every aspect of the case, and had become an outspoken advocate of Lee. Professor Carrington was of the belief that more than one person was involved in Lee's murder, and that the crime had come at the culmination of an escalation of degradation and violence over the course of the evening. She wrote that Newcastle culture seemed to exhibit a high level of tolerance for sexual violence among its adolescent population, and was critical of the sentencing remarks of Justice James Wood at the trial of Matthew Webster. Quote,

Justice Wood's judgment made no reference whatsoever to the sexual violence which the victim endured prior to her murder. His judgment expressed considerable concern about sexual promiscuity that occurred at the party attended by the victim and her assailants, and the lack of parental supervision. Justice Wood's judgment also considerably diminished the extent of collective violence inflicted upon Lee at the party just prior to her murder, stating, Only a small group of men mistreated her. She was critical of Justice Wood's description of Matthew Webster as a first offender of otherwise good character, who behaved with uncharacteristic and impulsive ferocity whilst

disinhibited by alcohol and drugs. In contrast, Professor Carrington pointed out that Lee Lee was represented in the judge's comments as a victim of parental failure and a willing participant in a wild party involving sexual promiscuity and the reckless consumption of drugs and alcohol. Quote, This reversing of the attribution of guilt and innocence rendered the victim the offender, and her attacker a victim. In January 1994, Professor Carrington received a letter that read, I am the mother of Lee Lee. For the last four and a half years I have been fighting for the

truth of what really happened that night. The way the police handled the whole case sickened me. I have written to anyone I could think of who could help me, but all the politicians, police, ombudsman, commissioner for human rights all ignored my pleas for help. I appreciate you standing up for Lee. People forget Lee was the victim, not the boys, Stockton, or the kids at the party, but Lee. I am praying to anyone who will listen to the truth on what really happened that night. Professor Carrington would later say it was this personal plea from Robin that spurred her deeper involvement and continuing research into the case. She arranged for the academics for justice to fund Robin's appeal against her inadequate victim's compensation payout,

and introduced her to a lawyer from the Newcastle Legal Center to represent her. They also wanted to have Lee Lee's case reopened so that there would be an official record that Lee had been raped. Professor Carrington also arranged for a number of new forensic opinions on Lee's autopsy report and other case materials. One of the experts she consulted, Dr Ruth Armstrong, said in her affidavit. As a female general practitioner, I examine normal and abnormal female genitalia on a daily basis. The injuries described to Lee Lee's genitals are consistent with non-consensual intercourse of an extremely violent nature. The deputy director of the New South Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine stated in their affidavit. I am of the opinion

that it is much more probable that an inflexible object such as a beer bottle caused the majority of the genital injuries. In response to this assertion, Professor Carrington developed the theory that Lee Lee was raped and murdered as punishment for refusing her assailant's invitation to have sex. Forensic scientist Professor Harry Betcher concluded that Lee's fatal head injuries were indicative of someone having restrained her as Matthew Webster hid her. Questions had also been raised about Matthew Webster's confession as it didn't align with evidence from the crime scene. Webster claimed to have choked Lee with his left hand, but the bruising on her neck was consistent with a right hand. The clothing he wore on the night of the murder was clean,

despite the blows to Lee's head causing her blood to spatter 2.8 meters in one direction and 1.3 meters in another. A blood stain was found on the shirt worn by Webster's cohort, Guy Wilson, though it was not known whether any testing had been carried out on it. Following the murder, Webster described running to a nearby boat ramp to wash his bloodstained hands, yet it would have been less conspicuous and far easier for him to rinse his hands in the nearby surf. These inconsistencies led to the belief that more than one person might have been involved in the murder and that Matthew Webster had agreed to take the fall to protect them. Supporting this multi-perpetrator theory were assertions made by Professor Carrington,

who stated publicly on a number of occasions that she had obtained a witness statement that verified two people were involved in the murder. She told the press that she had reached out to numerous authorities about the statement, though no one was willing to take action on it. In May 1995, in what was described as a landmark legal decision, Judge Joseph Moore approved Robin's appeal from the decision of the victim's compensation tribunal. She and daughter Jesse were awarded an additional $134,048 for a total of $150,000 in compensation. Judge Moore found that Lee was subjected to a number of criminal assaults in the hours before her death, beginning with a rape perpetrated by 15-year-old Corey, whose actions had previously

been deemed consensual by his appeal judge. The second act of violence Lee sustained was the group assault, in which she was surrounded outside and inside the surf club by a group of young men, then spat at, kicked, and verbally abused. According to an article titled, In Her Death, She Remains as the Limit of the System, by lawyer and PhD student Jonathan Morro and University of Sydney lecturer Mayra Sennroke, the appeal judgment named some of the boys involved in the group assault against Lee. One participant was her killer Matthew Webster, along with fellow event bouncer Guy Wilson. A number of other party goers were also identified, yet Judge Moore pointed out that one of the assailants and only one has been detected and

charged with assault. As Matthew Webster's common assault charge had been upgraded to murder, Judge Moore was referring to Guy Wilson. The third and final act of violence committed against Lee, as described by Judge Moore, was sexual assault related to the act of murder. The judge supported claims that more than one person might have been involved in this attack and agreed that forensic evidence had shown that Lee had sustained, quote, a severe, violent, and resistant invasion of her body. Judge Moore's findings, coupled with the research by Professor Carrington and other academics, formed the backbone of a 300 page report by the Newcastle Legal Center to have Lee Lee's murder

reinvestigated. On July 26, 1995, the New South Wales Attorney General urged the State Minister for Police, Paul Wheelan, to reopen the investigation. Wheelan acknowledged that nobody had ever been charged with Lee's sexual assault and called the upcoming review an opportunity to right the terrible wrongs that occurred on the night that she died. In his statement to Parliament on October 15, 1996, Wheelan said, The New South Wales Crime Commission has the powers needed to get this job done, but it is time for those who know what happened to come forward. It is time to stop the lies and cover-ups and to set the record straight. It is time for the truth to come out.

As efforts were underway to reopen her daughter's case, Robin had to once again flee her home after receiving death threats from her detractors. One local woman told ABC Radio, I think that there was more involved, but I don't know whether it's too late to bring it up now. I mean, most people have got on with their lives. It's been seven years, and it's a sad thing for Matthew Webster's family for it all to be brought up again, and I think it's just been left too late, really. In his first ever address to the media following his conviction in 1990, Webster insisted he acted alone and was not covering for anyone else.

The New South Wales Crime Commission released their findings on March 31, 1998, concluding that Lele's murder happened exactly as Matthew Webster had described, and that his sentence was adequate. While they accepted that some of the police investigation methods were improper, they did not lead to important, relevant facts being omitted for the purpose of sentence proceedings. Although they agreed that the evidence suggested other persons could have been charged with offences committed on the night of the murder, the commission found that police did not act inappropriately in failing to do so. They concluded that there would be no further action taken in relation to Lele's murder. In reference to the allegations

made by Professor Carrington in her various works on the case, the commission stated, they have each been investigated. Those that have not been reported on are regarded as groundless, as to the rest, most, but not all, are inconsistent with the commission's findings. The New South Wales Crime Commission only found fault in relation to the possible unlawful arrests of Matthew Webster and Corey, and referred this matter to the Police Integrity Commission. Among those called to give evidence before the Police Integrity Commission was Professor Kerry Carrington, though she was not informed why. Academic observers who worked alongside Professor Carrington expressed their opinion that she had been summoned, quote,

for the sole purpose of attacking her credibility on issues they had no intention of investigating, and to discredit someone who had attracted considerable media attention for criticising police. Professor Carrington had since released a book on the case titled Who Killed Lele? A Story of Shame and Mateship in an Australian Town, which was highly critical of the way police handled the investigation. During cross-examination, Professor Carrington revealed that her views of Lele's case had since changed following the release of the New South Wales Crime Commission report. She once thought it was a common-purpose murder and that other persons were involved in a criminological sense, though, now believed, Matthew Webster had, in a legal sense, acted alone.

When asked to provide her current views on her past assertions that the police deliberately excluded evidence, Professor Carrington replied, In all honesty, I can say that's what I thought at the time with the material I had. On closer examination of the material, I didn't come to that conclusion. I've sat through six days of hearings here, I've read the Crime Commission report, and my views have changed. I held the view that there was an exclusion of material, but not that it was deliberate. The Police Integrity Commission rejected Professor Carrington's claims that the full details of Lele's autopsy report, including the extent of her genital injuries, were not among the brief of evidence provided

to Justice James Wood during the trial of Matthew Webster. The Commission found that the full medical report was tended as evidence by the prosecution, and Justice Wood had it in his possession when handing down his sentence. They also addressed Professor Carrington's assertions that she had obtained a statement from a witness who had observed Lele's murder and declared two people were involved. In a televised interview in late June 1995, Professor Carrington stated that she had attempted to give the witness statement to the Attorney General, but was brushed aside as, quote, No one wants to take any responsibility for the mantle of justice here. When questioned about the statement during the Police Integrity

Commission hearing, Professor Carrington conceded that it was penned by someone who had overheard others talking about the crime, and thus was a witness to admissions and not the actual murder. She admitted that she had never had in her possession her statement from a witness to the actual murder of Lele. The Police Integrity Commission review was released in October 2000. It found that the police had acted properly in their investigation into Lele's murder and reiterated that no one else would be charged in relation to the case. In one final blow to Lele's family, the Commission's findings offered Matthew Webster a possible avenue for appeal.

There was evidence that he had been detained unlawfully when he was initially arrested, and quite likely had been assaulted by police at that time. In addition, 15-year-old Corey had not been provided an opportunity to contact his parents when he was arrested, despite being underage. The review had recommended the dismissal of Detective Sergeant Lance Chaffee who fronted the investigation for gross dereliction in duty in relation to the arrest. By all accounts, Matthew Webster's time in prison wasn't difficult. His potential avenue for appeal, as expressed by the Police Integrity Commission, didn't go anywhere, and in 2003, in preparation for his release, Webster started a program of day and

weekend leave from prison. A few months before his parole hearing, he began work release, which permitted trusted prisoners to leave confinement to pursue employment and to report back at the end of the day. Webster's boss was pleased with his performance and intended to retain the convicted killer as an employee. 33-year-old Matthew Webster was granted parole in June 2004 after serving his minimum term of 14 years in prison, six years shy of his maximum. The New South Wales parole board stipulated that he not live in Stockton or the larger New Castle area for at least the next six years, meaning he was unable to live at his mother's house and could only visit under strict conditions. He instead moved into a halfway house in Sydney.

A news report at the time described Matthew Webster's family as, quote, relieved his crime has finally been forgiven. Now, they would like it to be forgotten. Within five months of his release, Webster was charged with assault after allegedly breaking another man's jaw. His parole was revoked and he was sent back to prison, but the charges were dismissed in April 2005 due to lack of evidence. A devastated and dejected Robin accepted that as long as she remained stonewalled by the community of Stockton, all avenues of justice for her daughter would remain closed. After a decade of doing all she could, Robin resigned herself to the fact that there was nothing more she could do

for Lee. In an attempt to make her feel better, the police told her what became of every person who had attended Jason Robertson's 16th birthday party. Some were in prison, others were drug addicts, and several were stuck in abusive relationships. Hearing about them is fortunate, did not bring Robin any sense of justice. The murder of Leely has been the subject of many academic papers and is taught in law schools throughout Australia as an extreme example of victim blaming in the community, media, and courtroom. Her case became the basis of the play The Property of the Clan, later renamed Blackrock, which was a fictionalized account concentrating on the fallout of a rape and murder at a teenage party. Blackrock was also made into a movie, however it featured one

major difference to its real-life inspiration. In the movie, a character named Jared witnessed the rape and breaks the code of silence, causing the murderer to end his life rather than be arrested. Jared is a fictional character with no real world counterpart, though he has been interpreted as a metaphor for everyone who witnessed Lee being assaulted, yet did nothing. As Professor Kerry Carrington explained, the brutal rape and murder of Leely, which followed hours of brutalization by a group of Stockton boys, is one of the most heinous crimes in recent Australian legal history. Yet, most of the boys involved in this extremely brutal crime have escaped prosecution completely and continue to be protected from prosecution.

On the day Matthew Webster was sentenced for the murder of her daughter, Robin was approached outside court by a woman who offered her a kiss on the cheek. Robin told the Sydney Morning Herald, quote, I'd never seen her before. She said she had a 14-year-old daughter and that she felt sorry for me. The same day, someone stole a basket of flowers from the top of Lee's grave.