51st Murderer: Barry John Watts and 52nd Murderer: Valmae Faye Beck - Victim: Sian Kingi, 12
Barrie John Watts Valmae Faye Beck
Sian Kingi was a 12-year-old New Zealand Australian girl of Māori descent who was abducted, raped and murdered in Noosa, Queensland in November 1987. Barrie John Watts and Valmae Faye Beck, a married couple, were convicted in 1988 of the much-publicised crime. Watts was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; however, his wife would have been eligible for parole after 14.5 years, but died while she was still incarcerated.
12-year-old
New Zealand Australian
girl of
Māori
descent, Sian Kingi
Valmae Faye Beck died in jail in May 2008, aged 64. She had been behind bars for 20 years. Based on the average annual cost of Maximum Security Incarceration in 2020, Beck's jail incarceration cost the Qld. taxpayer $3.5 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 20 years).
Watts, now 66, will never be released from jail. He has been behind bars for 32½ years. Based on the average annual cost of Maximum Security Incarceration in 2020, should Watts live another 9 years to 75, his jail incarceration of 41½ years will have cost the Qld. taxpayer $7.263 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 41½ years).
Questions re 51st and 52nd Murderers
Should the Qld state government amend its criminal codes so that where the level of proof is Beyond Any Doubt of Guilt that the death penalty may be sentenced for malicious unprovoked murder because Justice for the Innocent Victim should be a consideration amongst the Purposes of Sentencing?
Should other states and territories similarly amend their criminal codes?
Write responses to above two questions on the 'Peer Reviewer's Responses to Sentences Form' Word document