Bedford Family Murders

This episode discusses domestic violence and the murder of children.

Anthony Harvey was obsessed with serial killers, and in order to cope with life, he created a fantasy world in which he was a serial killer. He decided to make this fantasy a reality, and begin “hunting”, but in order to do so, he needed to eliminate those closest to him.

In September 2018, Anthony Harvey murdered his wife, his three young daughters, and his mother-in-law, in a violent attack a judge deemed to be “so far beyond the bounds of acceptable human conduct that they instil horror and revulsion into even the most hardened of people”. Anthony Harvey became the first person in Western Australian history to be sentenced to life in prison with the order never to be released.

EPISODE NOTES:

Mara Lee Harvey, 41, Charlotte Kate Harvey, 3, Beatrix Mae Harvey and Alice Ester Harvey, both aged 2, and Beverley Ann Quinn, 73, were taken from this world by the person they should have been able to trust most.

Anthony Harvey planned the murder for over a month, outlining specifically his “options” to exterminate his family and what he needed to do to get away with the crime – get cash, get some gear, go out bush. Once he killed his family, the plan was for “the real hunting” to begin, but thankfully, Harvey never got that far. After spending five days living in the house where the bodies of his family members lay, Harvey drove 1500 kilometres away, and confessed his crimes to his father before turning himself into police.

The brutality of the crimes appalled the police, the prosecution and the defence, as well as Justice Hall, who determined that the severity of the murders was so extreme that Harvey should never be released from prison.

These murders were the third domestic mass killing in Western Australia in 2018, following the Margaret River murder-suicide in May and the Ellenbrook murders in July. These murders are representative of the domestic violence crisis currently occurring in Australia, where an average of one woman a week is murdered by her partner.

If you or anyone you know is currently experience domestic violence, please contact the police, or any of these confidential hotlines for counselling and support:

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Mensline Australia: 1300 789 978

Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800

Our main source this week was Justice Hall’s sentencing decision, which can be found here https://ecourts.justice.wa.gov.au/eCourtsPortal/Decisions/DownloadDecision/a1edc59b-743f-4cca-bcc5-c76b31379646?unredactedVersion=False&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 note, some of this episode was taken verbatim from the decision, because we aren’t lawyers and legal stuff is hard to interpret.

To read more about the Harvey family murders, you can go here https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/nation/several-bodies-discovered-at-perth-home/news-story/0086fe2e78ace29cf44571b9f6214d2e

To read about the Margaret River murders, go here https://www.sbs.com.au/news/father-of-murdered-margaret-river-family-reveals-suicide-note

To read about the Ellenbrook murders, go here

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