Murder of Ebony Simpson

Background

Ebony Jane Simpson, born 22 December 1982, was nine years old and living in Bargo, New South Wales, in 1992. On 19 August of that year, she disembarked from her school bus. Her mother, who normally met her, had arranged for Simpson's older brother to walk her home, but his bus arrived later than usual. Not finding her brother at the stop, Simpson decided to walk the short distance home on her own, expecting to meet him there.

Abduction and Murder

Police soon suspected Simpson had been abducted rather than having run away. Suspicion fell on a man who had been seen working on his car near where she disembarked from the bus. More than a hundred people, including police, firefighters, State Emergency Service members, and volunteers, searched the area for her.

Two days later, on 21 August 1992, police found Simpson's body in a dam at a wildlife sanctuary near her home, with her hands and feet bound. Later that day, 29-year-old Andrew Peter Garforth was arrested and confessed to the murder. According to the confession, Garforth had grabbed Simpson within sight of her house, thrown her into the boot of his car, and driven to a remote dam. There he bound her with wire, raped her, weighted her schoolbag, and threw her into the dam's reservoir, where she drowned. Police noted that Garforth had taken part in the search for Simpson on the day her body was discovered.

Legal Proceedings

Garforth confessed after being detained by police and reportedly showed no remorse during the confession or subsequent court sessions. He pleaded guilty to the murder and, in 1993, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Justice Peter Newman declined to fix a non-parole period and ordered that Garforth's papers be marked "never to be released." Garforth sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia but was refused; his case became one of two similar matters in which special leave was refused, with the judges discussing how community interests in retribution, deterrence, and protection of children could outweigh considerations of rehabilitation in justifying a life sentence.

In 1995, Garforth's lawyers lodged victims' compensation claims relating to alleged assaults in prison; these claims were withdrawn following public outrage. In 2015, the Serious Offenders Review Council recommended downgrading Garforth's prisoner status, which would have given him access to prison employment and rehabilitation courses; the decision was immediately reversed by the Minister for Corrections, David Elliott.

Aftermath

Simpson's parents, Christine and Peter Simpson, joined with Grace and Garry Lynch, parents of 1986 murder victim Anita Cobby, to establish the Homicide Victims Support Group, which supports families of murder victims and advocates for victims' rights. Following the 1988 New South Wales state election, the state government introduced legislation in 1989 and 1990 focused on truth in sentencing, and Garforth's case was frequently cited as a test case for the application of life sentencing and security classification principles.