In a special report published in the February issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – illustrated by exclusive photos of Keli in prison – the Innocence Initiative of Melbourne’s RMIT University has confirmed it has taken on and intends to re-examine Keli’s controversial case.
Keli has served five years of her 13 year non-parole sentence. In 2010, the former water-polo champion was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of her newborn daughter, Tegan.
Lawyers who have taken on Keli’s case for review have told The Weekly they will be examining whether a murder conviction should ever have been delivered in Keli’s case – a case for which there was neither a body nor any credible motive.
Between the years 1995-1999, Keli secretly carried to term and gave birth to three children. She adopted two of the children out. The third, Tegan, has seemingly disappeared.
Despite Keli insisting she gave Tegan to her natural father – a man whose name she believed was either Andrew Morris or Andrew Norris – a 12-person jury found the former Manly life-saver guilty of murder.
As the special report in this month’s Women’s Weekly explains, the trial itself continues to be the subject of rumblings within the legal community about whether justice was served. The judge sitting on the trial, Justice Anthony Whealy, even took the extraordinary step of expressing his doubts two years after Keli went to prison.
Photographs of Keli behind bars – exclusive to this month’s Women’s Weekly – show a woman who has undergone a remarkable physical transformation.
If Tegan is still alive – as her mother maintains is the case – she would turn 20 years old this year.
In part two of this special report, to be published in the March issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, Keli’s parents will break their ten year silence.
If you have any information about this case, email The Weekly’s Executive Editor, Bryce Corbett on: brycecorbettaww@gmail.com.
Read more of this story in February issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
