A coronial inquest will investigate possible police and department failings ahead of the murder-suicide of an Adelaide father and his baby daughter at the Whispering Wall in 2021. The state coroner today heard Henry Shepherdson pressured the mother of his child to drop assault charges against him by contacting her almost one hundred and fifty times from prison.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:009-month-old Cobie Shepardson was dearly loved by her mother and family when she was murdered
00:08by her father at the Barossa tourist attraction.
00:12Less than six months before the murder-suicide, Mr Shepardson was arrested for alleged domestic
00:17violence offences against Cobie's mother.
00:20The 38-year-old was released from custody two months later after putting pressure on
00:25the mother to drop the charges during almost 150 calls from inside the Adelaide Remand
00:32Centre.
00:33But on the morning of their deaths, a court granted Mr Shepardson access to Cobie.
00:39Council assisting the coroner said,
00:41He exerts emotional pressure on her, effectively telling her she was the reason he was in prison
00:46and that their future depends on her.
00:49He gave her specific instructions on what to do to drop the charges, on what to say
00:54and to who.
00:55The coroner was urged to classify the calls as highly manipulative.
00:59The inquest will explore possible police failings and missed opportunities to prevent the tragedy.
01:05The coroner spoke directly to Cobie's maternal grandmother, saying he will make recommendations
01:11to prevent anything similar from happening again.
01:15The inquest is expected to go over the next fortnight, with two members of the South Australian
01:20Police expected to give evidence tomorrow.
01:25For more UN videos visit www.un.org