Happy New Year & welcome back to Craft N Crime! Let’s not waste any time and jump right into this next case…
*WARNING- This story may include some graphic detail, including cannibalism.
Have you heard of Australia’s female cannibal killer? I, myself, had not… not until just recently. Once I heard of her, I jumped right in and started researching all that I could find and was baffled I hadn’t stumbled upon this case sooner. The woman pictured below, Katherine Mary Knight, has been dubbed the female cannibal killer of Australia.
When John Price didn’t show up for work on March 1, 2000 a concerned co-worker stopped by his house to make sure he was okay. The co-worker then spotted blood on the door and called police. No one could be prepared for the horrific crime scene they were about to lay eyes on.
On February 29, 2000 Katherine Mary Knight murdered her partner, John Price, late at night while in bed. John Price was found to have been stabbed at least 37 times, his body had then been skinned and his head decapitated. His skin was found hanging methodically by meat hooks in the lounge room of the house.
This wasn’t some hack job either, Katherine was a butcher by profession, she knew exactly what she would do with his body.
It has been reported that his head was found boiling in a pot on the stove. After slicing off his buttocks, she then decided to cook his flesh alongside some vegetables and had begun to set the table. Katherine was going to feed him to his own children.
Why, do you ask?… What was Katherine’s reason for killing her partner?… It’s thought that her motive was revenge. John had gone to the court earlier that same day in efforts to obtain a protective order against her due to a history of violent fights.
Those that knew John Price described him as a non-violent, good natured and well liked guy. At the time of his murder, he and Katherine had been together for 4 years.
Katherine was arrested the day after the murder and initially tried to say she could not remember the killing, but she wasn’t believed, she was found legally fit to stand trial. So she pleaded not guilty and her trial began in October 2001. Katherine later then changed her plea to guilty.
Katherine Mary Knight is the first woman in Australia to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Sources (all as linked below)
Katherine Mary Knight, Australia’s worst female killer, profiled in new documentary
Remembering Katherine Mary Knight, Australia’s female Hannibal Lecter, 20 years on
Katherine Knight butchers husband, John Price, the boils his head and plates him up