Katherine Knight was the first woman in Australia to be sentenced to life in prison. She earned this distinction after murdering her husband, decapitating him, skinning him, and then cooking parts of him with vegetables.
Katherine Knight’s Crime
Katherine Knight’s crime took place on the evening of February 29, 2000 in a suburban house in tiny town of Aberdeen in the NSW Hunter Valley in Australia.
She was a 44-year-old mother of four children working her “dream job”, slicing offal at the Aberdeen slaughterhouse.
She had several failed marriages and relationships – all involving domestic violence she perpetrated. Knight had been dating local man John Price. Their relationship was on its last legs due to Knight’s rages which saw her assault Price on a number of occasions, like her previous relationships.
On the fateful day Price went to court to take out an Apprehended Violence Order. He still returned home and had sex with Knight.
While he was sleeping, Knight went to work, stabbing Price 37 times and then expertly flaying his body with her favourite knife.
She made a “skin suit” which she hung from a meat hook and then decapitated him and boiled up his head on his kitchen stove with vegetables and gravy.
Supreme Court Justice Barry O’Keefe handed Knight a life sentence, with no chance of ever being released. She is imprisoned at Silverwater Correctional Complex.