Latest news with #BloodStains
Daily Record
07-07-2025
- Daily Record
'Hannibal Lecter' wife killed lover, cooked his head and served it with potatoes
Katherine Knight made history in Australia when she became the first woman to be sentenced to life imprisonment One woman, infamously labelled as Australia's "Hannibal Lecter" was characterised as a "horror movie in the making" after displaying chilling signs of violence before she stabbed her husband 37 times, decapitated him, and cooked his flesh with potatoes. Katherine Knight became the first woman to receive a life sentence without parole in Australia for her heinous acts. In a macabre incident that stunned the small town of Aberdeen, New South Wales, the mother-of-four perpetrated an atrocity. She murdered her partner John Price by stabbing him 37 times, decapitating him, boiling his head, and suspending his body from a meat hook. Following the murder on February 29, 2000, Knight concocted a gruesome meal using Price's cooked remains, which she plated with cabbage and gravy, intending to serve it to his children as they came home from school. Yet, this crime didn't occur without precedent. Former detective Luke Taylor spoke to about her inclination towards "violent" behaviour, which he attributed to "an abusive childhood", reports the Mirror US. "There were so many warning signs yet none were heeded," said Taylor. "She was a horror movie in the making," he added. The harrowing narrative wasn't unforeseen. Knight had a violent past; she had once stabbed Price during a dispute, leading him to file a restraining order against her. Despite this, the pair made up before the tragic day that ended in disaster. Knight alleges she endured horrific sexual abuse during her childhood at the hands of various men. She claimed she suffered sexual abuse by different family members throughout her youth, which laid the groundwork for her volatile relationships with men in later life. In Peter Lalor's book Blood Stains, Knight's formative years are exposed. She was recognised amongst her classmates for being a bully who once attacked a boy at school. Knight even attempted to strangle her first husband, David Kellett, on their wedding night and is reported to have smashed his skull with a frying pan. She also killed another partner's dog and attacked him with scissors. Alarmingly, Knight, a former slaughterhouse worker, was acknowledged by neighbour Rick Banyard as "a very proficient meatworker." It was their final argument before Price's death that made the father suspect he might be in grave danger. After a particularly fierce row, Price allegedly told his workmates that if he didn't turn up for work the following day, they should contact the police and come searching for him. Then, blood stains were discovered on Knight's front door. On the morning of March 1, 2000, neighbours rang the police after spotting the horrifying signs of violence. Arrested after police discovered her unconscious beside Price's body, her conviction came in 2001, and her appeal was rejected in 2006, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC). "By the time I got to the scene, Katherine was leaving in an ambulance. She had taken some pills. Not enough to kill her, but they made her sleepy," former Sergeant Robert Wells shared with ABC. "I walked inside and saw the human skin pelt hanging up, completely intact in one piece. John Price's decapitated and skinned body was lying on the floor in the lounge room. We found his head, it had been boiled and cooked in a pot on the stove. There were a number of slices of rump, taken off his human rump, baked in the oven with some vegetables and put on plates, with the name of two of his children on them. "The last minutes of [Price's] life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her," Supreme Court Justice Barry O'Keefe stated during Knight's sentencing. Yet to those familiar with the couple, their relationship appeared utterly ordinary. "I think, basically, nobody sort of expected any significant drama at all, let alone the crime that became recorded as one of the worst pieces of history in Australia," he said.
Irish Daily Mirror
07-07-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Woman dubbed 'Hannibal Lecter wife' stabs lover then cooks him for his kids
One woman, infamously known as Australia's "Hannibal Lecter" was labelled a "horror movie in the making" after displaying chilling signs of violence prior to stabbing her husband 37 times, beheading him and cooking his body parts with potatoes. Katherine Knight became notorious as the first woman in Australia to receive a life sentence without parole for her heinous actions. In a macabre incident that stunned the small town of Aberdeen, New South Wales, the mother-of-four carried out a barbaric crime. She murdered her partner John Price by stabbing him 37 times, decapitating him, boiling his head, and suspending his carcass from a meat hook. On February 29, 2000, following the murder, Knight concocted a gruesome meal using Price's cooked remains, which she plated with cabbage and gravy, intending to feed it to his children as they came home from school. The atrocity, however, was not unforeseen. Ex-detective Luke Taylor spoke to about her inclination towards "violent" behaviour due to "an abusive childhood", reports the Mirror US. "There were so many warning signs yet none were heeded," remarked Taylor. "She was a horror movie in the making," he added. Knight's terrifying narrative didn't just appear out of nowhere; she had a violent past. She had once stabbed Price during a dispute, leading him to file a restraining order against her. Despite this, the couple reconciled before the tragic day. Knight alleges she suffered severe sexual abuse during her childhood by various men. She claimed she was sexually abused by different family members throughout her youth, which set the stage for her turbulent relationships with men later in life. In Peter Lalor's book Blood Stains, Knight's early years are unveiled. She was known among her peers as a bully who once attacked a boy at school. Knight even attempted to strangle her first husband, David Kellett, on their wedding night and is reported to have fractured his skull with a frying pan. She also killed another partner's dog and assaulted him with scissors. Frighteningly, Knight, a former abattoir worker, was recognised by neighbour Rick Banyard as "a very proficient meatworker." It was their final argument before Price's death that made the father suspect he might be in grave danger. After an especially heated dispute, Price allegedly told his colleagues that if he didn't show up for work the next day, they should alert the police and come looking for him. Then, blood stains were spotted on Knight's front door. On the morning of March 1, 2000, neighbours called the police after noticing the horrifying signs of violence. Arrested after police found her unconscious next to Price's body, her conviction came in 2001, and her appeal was denied in 2006, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC). "By the time I got to the scene, Katherine was leaving in an ambulance. She had taken some pills. Not enough to kill her, but they made her sleepy," former Sergeant Robert Wells shared with ABC. "I walked inside and saw the human skin pelt hanging up, completely intact in one piece. John Price's decapitated and skinned body was lying on the floor in the lounge room. We found his head, it had been boiled and cooked in a pot on the stove. There were a number of slices of rump, taken off his human rump, baked in the oven with some vegetables and put on plates, with the name of two of his children on them. "The last minutes of [Price's] life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her," Supreme Court Justice Barry O'Keefe stated during Knight's sentencing. Yet to those familiar with the couple, their relationship appeared utterly ordinary. "I think, basically, nobody sort of expected any significant drama at all, let alone the crime that became recorded as one of the worst pieces of history in Australia," he said.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
After She Stabbed and Skinned Her Husband, Police Found a Gruesome Stew on the Stove — and Plates Set for His Kids
Katherine Knight's story reads like the plot of a horror movie. The first woman in Australian history to be sentenced to life in prison, Knight was arrested in 2001 after police found her passed out alongside her slain husband John Price, whom she had brutally stabbed to death before skinning him alive with intentions to serve his remains in a stew to his two children. It's fitting, then, that Knight was dubbed 'Australia's Hannibal Lecter,' according to the Australian Broadcasting Company and PEOPLE is looking back at the horrific 2001 murder case and the warning signs that investigators said preceded Price's gruesome death, all of which were documented in the book Blood Stains by journalist Peter Lalor a year later. Before the murder, Knight carried a certain reputation in her Aberdeen, New South Wales, community for being 'a very proficient meatworker,' neighbor Rick Banyard told ABC on the 20th anniversary of the murder. But Knight also had a short fuse, according to former detective Luke Taylor, who told that she had a penchant for being 'violent' that originated 'from an abusive childhood.' The outlet reported that Knight claimed she was sexually abused by different men in her family throughout her childhood, leading to a string of troubled relationships with men throughout her adult life. 'There were so many warning signs yet none were heeded,' Taylor said. Lalor's book on Knight explores some of these incidents: She was remembered by childhood classmates as a bully who once beat up a boy. She tried to strangle her first husband, David Kellett, on their wedding night and later fractured his skull with a frying pan during a domestic dispute. She also once killed another partner's dog and stabbed him with a pair of scissors. 'She was a horror movie in the making,' Taylor, the former detective, said. Knight and Price's relationship seemed like 'nothing out of the norm' to neighbors and coworkers, Barnyard told ABC. "I think, basically, nobody sort of expected any significant drama at all, let alone the crime that became recorded as one of the worst pieces of history in Australia,' he said. But Knight was abusive, and once stabbed Price during an argument, leading to Price getting a restraining order against her. But the couple briefly reconciled, according to the outlet. After another particularly tense dispute at home, Price reportedly warned coworkers that if he didn't show up for work the next day, they should call police and come look for him. Neighbors phoned officers the next morning, March 1, 2000, after becoming concerned about blood stains on the couple's front door. Police arrived and soon found Price's body mutilated inside the home, while Knight was found passed out nearby, reported. 'By the time I got to the scene, Katherine was leaving in an ambulance. She had taken some pills. Not enough to kill her, but they made her sleepy,' former Sergeant Robert Wells told the outlet earlier in 2025, 25 years after the gruesome killing. 'I walked inside and saw the human skin pelt hanging up, completely intact in one piece. John Price's decapitated and skinned body was lying on the floor in the loungeroom. We found his head, it had been boiled and cooked in a pot on the stove. There were a number of slices of rump, taken off his human rump, baked in the oven with some vegetables and put on plates, with the name of two of his children on them.'Knight was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2001 and later lost an appeal in 2006, according to The Guardian. 'The last minutes of [Price's] life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her,' supreme court justice Barry O'Keefe said at Knight's sentencing, according to the newspaper. He was stabbed 37 times before Knight began cutting up his body. Knight is the first woman in Australian history to receive a life sentence without parole. She remains in custody at Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People
