It's a strangely sensational headline the Australian Broadcasting Corporation put on Jamell Wells' story—"Teen mum 'put through shredding machine'", even more so when we stop to consider that it is also misleading. The reality, at present, is that the fate of Amber Haigh is unknown to the Parramatta coroner's inquest investigating her disappearance.
But the story seems absolutely bizarre. Nearly every sentence of the story is a twist. The bullet list, of sorts:
I don't really know where to start.
Well, okay, sure, there is the question of how someone said to have the mental age of a ten year-old can possibly consent to be a surrogate mother, but, strangely, that does not seem to be the most bizarre thing going on here.
And yet the article reads like dark comedy. As cruel as it sounds, I have an old song by Madness, called "Shut Up", stuck in my head:
Except this is much, much worse than a boosted telly, and it's only funny insofar as laughing is better than crying. Or screaming.
The deeper one looks, the more it seems like a movie plot:
After a three-year trial, a jury acquitted Robert Geeves.
In 1986, Geeves was accused by a thirteen year-old girl of abduction and rape. He was cleared because a second abducted girl contradicted those claims.
Mr. Geeves is, then, what we might call the luckiest of unlucky fellows. Bad things keep happening, and he is repeatedly implicated. But, apparently, he never actually has anything to do with anything. Now, nine years after Amber Haigh disappeared, the Parramatta inquest hopes to find some answers, but instead finds itself hip-deep in seeming insanity, instead.
____________________
Notes:
Wells, Jamelle. "Teen mum 'put through shredding machine'". Australian Broadcasting Company. June 23, 2011. ABC.net.au. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/23/3251542.htm
Duff, Eamon. "From the land of fear, loss and dark secrets". The Sidney Morning Herald. December 6, 2009. SMH.com.au. June 23, 2011. http://www.smh.com.au/national/from-the-land-of-fear-loss-and-dark-secrets-20091205-kbzu.html
But the story seems absolutely bizarre. Nearly every sentence of the story is a twist. The bullet list, of sorts:
• Amber Haigh, 19, disappeared five months after allegedly delivering a surrogate child for Robert and Anne Geeves.
• Ms. Haigh is said to have "the mental age of a 10-year-old".
• Witness David "Sheepdog" Williams admitted he was intoxicated when he heard the rumor that Haigh's body was hidden in grapevines, explained that the conversation was a joke, and denied previously claiming to have participated in the gang rape, torture, and murder of Ms. Haigh.
• Williams also suggested someone he knew might have phoned in a tip about the missing woman because there was a $10,000 reward.
• Witness Adam Blundell said he was only joking when he told friends about Ms. Haigh's body being disposed of in a farm shredder.
• The coroner threatened an unnamed witness with legal repercussions for "acting like a clown and a buffoon" during the inquest.
• Mr. Robert Greeves is seeing another woman, in addition to his wife.
• The new lover, Ursula Kirk, acknowledged that she neither knew nor cared what happened to Ms. Haigh.
• Ms. Kirk was not concerned that Mr. Greeves has been acquitted of murdering a woman and is now being investigated in the disappearance of another. "I feel everybody has a past," she explained.
• Ms. Haigh is said to have "the mental age of a 10-year-old".
• Witness David "Sheepdog" Williams admitted he was intoxicated when he heard the rumor that Haigh's body was hidden in grapevines, explained that the conversation was a joke, and denied previously claiming to have participated in the gang rape, torture, and murder of Ms. Haigh.
• Williams also suggested someone he knew might have phoned in a tip about the missing woman because there was a $10,000 reward.
• Witness Adam Blundell said he was only joking when he told friends about Ms. Haigh's body being disposed of in a farm shredder.
• The coroner threatened an unnamed witness with legal repercussions for "acting like a clown and a buffoon" during the inquest.
• Mr. Robert Greeves is seeing another woman, in addition to his wife.
• The new lover, Ursula Kirk, acknowledged that she neither knew nor cared what happened to Ms. Haigh.
• Ms. Kirk was not concerned that Mr. Greeves has been acquitted of murdering a woman and is now being investigated in the disappearance of another. "I feel everybody has a past," she explained.
I don't really know where to start.
Well, okay, sure, there is the question of how someone said to have the mental age of a ten year-old can possibly consent to be a surrogate mother, but, strangely, that does not seem to be the most bizarre thing going on here.
And yet the article reads like dark comedy. As cruel as it sounds, I have an old song by Madness, called "Shut Up", stuck in my head:
Now, pass the blame, and don't blame me. Just close your eyes and count to three. Then I'll be gone, and you'll forget the broken window, TV set.
Except this is much, much worse than a boosted telly, and it's only funny insofar as laughing is better than crying. Or screaming.
The deeper one looks, the more it seems like a movie plot:
One woman is dead and one woman is missing.
Something bad—something awful—has happened here.
Even the police are predicting "a story to unfold like no other".
The story involves Janelle Goodwin, a pregnant 29-year-old who was shot in the head.
Another central character is orchard worker Robert Geeves, who admits dumping her naked body in a wheelbarrow ....
.... Amber never knew Janelle Goodwin. They met their fates almost a decade apart, but they do have place and one person in common - the bed of Harden shire orchard worker Robert Geeves.
Ms Goodwin was first. At the age of 29, and pregnant to Mr Geeves, her body was discovered in a barrow beneath a tarp inside a shearing shed behind his Kingsvale farmhouse on June 21, 1993.
She was naked, tied from ankles to throat, wrapped in bed sheets with a shopping bag over her head. She had been shot through the nose at close range with a .22 rifle.
Police were called a day after the shooting. Mr Geeves confessed to putting her body in the shed. They had been drinking. They argued, then struggled. The gun went off. He panicked. He cleaned the scene.
It was a terrible accident.
(Duff)
Something bad—something awful—has happened here.
Even the police are predicting "a story to unfold like no other".
The story involves Janelle Goodwin, a pregnant 29-year-old who was shot in the head.
Another central character is orchard worker Robert Geeves, who admits dumping her naked body in a wheelbarrow ....
.... Amber never knew Janelle Goodwin. They met their fates almost a decade apart, but they do have place and one person in common - the bed of Harden shire orchard worker Robert Geeves.
Ms Goodwin was first. At the age of 29, and pregnant to Mr Geeves, her body was discovered in a barrow beneath a tarp inside a shearing shed behind his Kingsvale farmhouse on June 21, 1993.
She was naked, tied from ankles to throat, wrapped in bed sheets with a shopping bag over her head. She had been shot through the nose at close range with a .22 rifle.
Police were called a day after the shooting. Mr Geeves confessed to putting her body in the shed. They had been drinking. They argued, then struggled. The gun went off. He panicked. He cleaned the scene.
It was a terrible accident.
(Duff)
After a three-year trial, a jury acquitted Robert Geeves.
In 1986, Geeves was accused by a thirteen year-old girl of abduction and rape. He was cleared because a second abducted girl contradicted those claims.
Mr. Geeves is, then, what we might call the luckiest of unlucky fellows. Bad things keep happening, and he is repeatedly implicated. But, apparently, he never actually has anything to do with anything. Now, nine years after Amber Haigh disappeared, the Parramatta inquest hopes to find some answers, but instead finds itself hip-deep in seeming insanity, instead.
____________________
Notes:
Wells, Jamelle. "Teen mum 'put through shredding machine'". Australian Broadcasting Company. June 23, 2011. ABC.net.au. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/23/3251542.htm
Duff, Eamon. "From the land of fear, loss and dark secrets". The Sidney Morning Herald. December 6, 2009. SMH.com.au. June 23, 2011. http://www.smh.com.au/national/from-the-land-of-fear-loss-and-dark-secrets-20091205-kbzu.html