Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury

Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury/Herald Sun

Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury (October 24, 1978 – Nov 6, 1984) died of asphyxiation/suffocation (depriving of oxygen by obstructing the airways for example by choking or by pushing a pillow over someone’s nose and mouth, etc.) while she was raped by an adult male.

The impact of being vaginally raped at age six left her with severe internal injuries. Australian police in 1984 were determined to solve this heinous rape-murder and wisely preserved the semen found in her tiny body. Years later, they were able to test it with modern technology.

There is a DNA profile that is used to eliminate old suspects and to scan databases in search of a match. I hope that the Australian authorities take their cue from the American Jennifer Bastian – Michela Welch murders.

In these two cases, a visual profile was made based on the DNA found on/inside these two girls. Based on DNA, scientists can sketch your face. It is called DNA phenotyping. “First they compiled a list of known genetic mutations that cause facial and cranial deformations, because these genes, in their normal variations, could give us our distinctive looks. With these genes marked, researchers compared the genetic profiles of people with vastly different faces in order to highlight, through contrast, which genetic variations were at work.

Next, researchers scanned those same faces to build a 3-D facial map with over 7,000 coordinates. By combining genetic and facial map data, researchers could link DNA markers with certain facial attributes to build a predictive algorithm. The technique can predict genetic ancestry, freckles, facial shape as well as eye, hair and skin color.”

As the article quoted above states, phenotyping is in its early stages however, it can give a cold case the boost we need to get renewed media attention and to trigger people’s memories.

Below is a case overview and the latest developments. A lot has happened in this case ranging from psychics telling police where to look, multiple grave desecration, illegal attempts to get DNA, and people pointing to their ex-partners as suspects. With so many twists in this case, I have decided to concentrate only on Kylie. Possible suspects are named but I do not elaborate on their stories. After all, what matters now is finding the match to the DNA sample.

SCROLL DOWN FOR AN UPDATE!

Case Overview

Kylie was abducted close to her Gregory Grove home in East Preston (Australia) on Melbourne Cup Day 1984.  Her body was later found dropped off into the gutter.

The Melbourne Cup is one of Australia’s most prestigious thoroughbred horse races. It is a 3,200 meter race for three-year-olds and over. Conducted annually by the Victoria Racing Club in Melbourne, Victoria, the event starts at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November. This means that for some hours there is an influx of traffic, then a lull, and then another spike. People come from afar to watch the races so we have a mixture of locals and non-locals. It might explain why no match has been found yet: the killer was not a local. The other options are that the killer’s DNA was never entered into a database or, he never committed another crime or, he has been institutionalized or, he emigrated/passed away or, he knew how to stay out of databases.

The dominant line of thinking is that Kylie was abducted, held at some place where she was raped and murdered, and that afterwards her tiny body was dropped in the gutter.

When Kylie was found, it looked like the little girl was asleep. She was lying on her left side and appeared to be alright. “Her left arm was tucked under her body and her right arm had flopped, like that of a rag doll, over the gutter and was resting on the footpath. Her face and the front of her body were up against the upright section of the gutter. She was wearing light khaki trousers, a red skivvy (undershirt) and a white singlet. The skivvy and singlet were pulled up, exposing part of her lower torso. The words “I love you” were written in ink on her arm.”

The words “I love you” were written on her arm earlier in the day and by Kylie herself. Her mother explained that while visiting a neighbor and friend, Kylie asked how you spell “I love you.” The friend, Lorna Simpson, said that she showed Kylie by writing “I love you” on a piece of newspaper. Kylie then copied it on her own arm.

It was from Lorna’s house that Kylie was asked to run an errand. Getting some sugar from the shop and then straight back home. Kylie did make it to the shop but never returned home. What happened to the sugar she bought, I do not know.

Here is the timeline of what I have been able to find:

Nov 6, 1984

12.45pm: Julie Maybury and daughters Kylie(6) and Rebecca(2) leave their apartment where they spent the morning to go to the Council Club Hotel. They are with neighbor and friend, Lorna Simpson. Julie is separated from her husband. His alibi was confirmed by his third wife.

1.15pm: the two women and children arrive at the hotel. They eat lunch and watch the Melbourne Cup on the Hotel’s big screen TV. Shortly after the races, they leave. They visit Julie’s friend Liz Radakovic in Thornbury. From there, they leave shortly after 4pm to go home.

430pm: the two women and children arrived at Lorna’s apartment for tea.

Approx. 515pm but not before 445pm: Kylie leaves the apartment to buy sugar at a store about 150 meters away from the apartment. The manager confirmed that Kylie came in and made the purchase. Kylie had been given coins and she paid with coins. This is important to note there was no interference yet. We saw in the case of the Beaumont Children that Jane paid with a note in a store while her mom gave her coins. There we have a time window for the interference. Kylie’s comes later.

530-535pm: This is the time that the store manager remembers that Kylie was in her store and that she paid with coins. Kylie left and the manager didn’t notice anything unusual. The manager was familiar with Kylie as she had seen the girl multiple times shopping with her mother.

Around 6pm: Julie asks the store manager if she has seen her daughter as Kylie has not returned to Lorna’s apartment. A customer tells police that she saw Kylie near the pump close to the store. This customer thought that the girl didn’t know where she was going. She remembered the girl carrying a bag of sugar. So no interference has happened yet. The customer watched until the girl reached the sidewalk. The last time Kylie was seen, she was walking back to the apartment. Something must have happened to make her seem “lost” to the customer or, the customer could have mistaken Kylie’s playfulness for “looking lost.” As she was only six years old, there is every possibility that in her mind Kylie was playing a game. Maybe stepping on certain stones only or, lost in memories of the events from earlier in the day. What matters is that she did still have the sugar bag and was seen on the right route back home. So the moment of interference starts now.

Kylie was dressed in a red skivvy, greyish pants, no shoes, and was carrying a small red Strawberry Shortcake bag, according to her mom. Two weeks after her murder that Strawberry Shortcake bag was found near the house of convicted child killer Robert Arthur Selby Lowe.

Nov 7, 1984

1245am: Fire brigade electrician Neil Rickwood drives home to Preston. Turning into Donald Street, his headlights catch something in the gutter between Rene St and Tyler St. He thinks it is a small child. He quickly goes home, gets his father out of bed, and together they go back to Donald Street. He goes back home and calls police.

Note that Donald Street had been searched by police around 730pm so Kylie’s remains were dumped between 730-midnight.

1255am: EMT Trevor Mitchell is called to the scene. He and his colleague Stanley Sandford arrive at about the same time as the police. Mitchell sees a child lying face down. He checks for the radial pulse in her right arm. He doesn’t find any. He turns the child’s head, checks for a carotid pulse, but doesn’t find any. Upon checking the pupils, he sees that they are dilated and fixed. Officer Sandford checks for cardiac sounds with a stethoscope but he doesn’t find any.

115am: Insp. Greenway arrives at the scene.

2am: Insp. Greenway tells Julie Maybury that they found Kylie’s remains.

450am: Kylie is officially pronounced dead at Preston and Northcote Community Hospital by Dr. Stephen Margolis.

655am: Pathologist Dr. Stanley Pilbeam conducts the autopsy in the presence of then-Detective Glenn Woolfe at the Melbourne Coroner’s Court.

Toxicologist Debbrah Stephen discovers the strong sedative diazepam in Kylie’s body. This means that she was drugged before she was raped and killed. Vaginally penetrating a six-year-old underdeveloped body will rip the child apart hence the need to silence her screams. It cannot be an act of mercy as anyone with any empathy in his heart would never commit such a crime.

Lab technician Alan Atchison finds semen on swabs taken from Kylie’s body. He also finds male brown pubic hairs on her right leg.

Thank heavens, all have the wisdom to properly preserve the samples and Kylie’s clothes trusting that science will find a method to examine these pieces in the future.

1997

Police start attempts to get their hands on Lowe’s DNA

2001

The official DNA sample taken from Lowe excludes him as the killer.

Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury/Nat Library Australia

Suspects

Grandfather John Moss: he committed suicide in October 1985 shortly after he was accused. He was cleared by DNA.

Uncle Mark Maybury: committed suicide in February 1987 while incarcerated. He left a suicide note claiming he killed two pedophiles. He was a suspect but he too was cleared by DNA.

Convicted child killer Robert Arthur Selby Lowe was the suspect everyone based their hopes on especially since Kylie’s handbag was found near his house. His story involves several legal maneuvers to get his DNA. Lowe refused for a long time and was not legally obligated to cooperate. In 1997, he received legal aid for a High Court constitutional challenge to the validity of the Act that supposedly would authorize police to forcibly swap his mouth for DNA. The way in which the police finally did get his DNA is a story you must read if you care about constitutional rights. In 2001, Lowe was cleared by DNA.

Last but not least, a man placed a white statue on Kylie’s grave. He turned himself in and was ruled out as a murder suspect.

Kylie’s final resting place is in the children’s section of Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park.

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As I am writing this, there is another update:

The Age reports that a suspect has been arrested! “A 73-year-old man has been charged over the alleged 1984 Melbourne Cup Day abduction and murder of six-year-old Kylie Maybury in Preston. Gregory Keith Davies was charged with one count of rape, one count of murder and one count of false imprisonment.”

Police is asking for witnesses to call again so please read the article and share it if you are in Australia. Anyone with any information should call Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

R.I.P. Kylie Maria Antonia Maybury.

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Resources

New York Times

Herald Sun Nov 5, 2014

Herald Sun Dec 7, 2014

Herald Sun Feb 18, 2015

Herald Sun from Emily Webb Oct 29, 2015