This episode may contain content of a graphic nature, including descriptions of physical and
sexual violence against adults, children, and animals. Listener discretion is advised.
Hi everyone, I'm Tanya and I'm Talia and we are Crimes and Consequences,
a true crime podcast. Hi Talia, Hey Tanya. Welcome back. Everyone
to come back another special episode of Crimes and Consequences. Before I begin,
please hit the subscribe follow like whatever you know the drill, I mean,
maybe this is your first episode. Maybe and if so, probably not.
Whatever app you're listening to, please follow us. Yeah, I would do
me too. I have a story today about Unfortunately, it's about a child
death, so I'm just preparing everyone. If you're extrasensitive to that, you
might want to skip it. But yeah, okay, okay, well I'll
skip it. All right, I'll skip it. You're gonna stop listening.
In the early hours of January twenty ninth, two thousand nine, kids across
Australia, we're preparing for their first day back to school after the long school
holiday break. By all accounts, this day would remain to be very average
for many Australians. Children were struggling to wake up in the early morning after
being able to sleep in for the last six weeks. So their holiday break
is long, it's a lot longer than ours. Nice parents were pestering their
children to wake up in order to get them ready for school while also preparing
for their day of work. Little did many Australians know that an event that
would transpire on this day would shake the country for years to come. Although
the school holidays were over, the scorching weather of an Australian summer was still
in full effect. I haven't been to Australia me either. I'm hoping to
go there someday. But I bet it's hot. I bet it's hot.
Will this day would reach temperatures above forty degrees celsius, which is one hundred
and four fahrenheits. So it is hot, hot, hot, hot hot,
And they've got that ozone problem, yeah, don't we all? Though?
I wonder if it's a dry heat or if it's a humid heat,
right, does it? But even though it was so hot, it wouldn't
put a hold on the return to school. It's like, you gotta go,
you gotta go. While some students wouldn't really be excited to go back
to school. There was one little girl who was extremely excited for her very
first day of school. She was four. Oh yeah, she's excited.
Yeah, hell yeah, it's a little Darcy Freeman. And she was just
she was over the moon about getting to finally go to her first day of
school. She was born February eleventh, two thousand and four, to Arthur
Freeman and Peta Barnes. Darcy was the middle child for this couple and the
only girl in the family. She was described by family as a determined and
strong willed girl. Her older brother Ben, who was six at the time,
and younger brother Jack, who was two. She had two brothers.
Like I told you, she was the only girl. She had an older
brother, Ben, who was six at the time, and a younger brother,
Jack, who was two. Darcy absolutely loved her brothers and she looked
up to her older brother Ben. Her parents had her hands full. Oh
my dad, really seriously. The children all loved playing together and they loved
their parents very much. In June of two thousand and eight, Peta and
Arthur separated, so the children had spent their school holidays split between their parents.
The children had spent the end of their holidays with their father, Arthur,
I mean the end of the holiday break with Arthur. The night before
their first day of school, the Freeman children were staying with their grandparents.
To get the kids to school on time, Arthur had to wake them up
bright and early, as the drive to school was about one hundred and twenty
eight kilometers away. But yeah, which is ok because they were at their
grandparents. Oh, okay, that makes sense. You know the drive was
gonna take him an hour and a half's dark, Yeah, that's long.
It is eager for her first day and to see her mother at the school
gates while she's dressed in her school uniform. Darcy jumped into the car with
her brothers and they got their seatbelts on and they were on their way.
The children were joking and playing in the backseat as Arthur was driving them.
During the drive, Arthur seemed a little off. It was very apparent that
something was on Arthur's mind, and the longer he drove, the more he
was dwelling on whatever it was that was bothering him. The children didn't seem
to take much notice in Arthur's behavior. They were just so distracted and occupied
with each other that the strange behavior from their dad was the firstest thing from
their mind. Little did they know that the day before, Arthur and Peter
had attended family court to discuss custody arrangements. After much discussion back and forth,
the custy arrangement went from equally shared fifty fifty custody to Arthur getting the
children for three days every second weekend as well as the afternoon on a Thursday
in the off week. That's pretty much minimum period of time here in our
county. The verdict had really thrown Arthur for a loop. After being at
the court, he made the drive back to his parents place and got there
around midnight. Arthur had been really stressed out over the court issue with his
ex wife, but he never would have guessed that he would have lost time
with his children that he loved so much. He spoke to friends and told
them he was really upset about not only the verdict but the way he felt
he was treated throughout the proceedings. He told his friends that although he was
very upset about the verdict, he was happy that it was all over and
he could get back to his life without this heaviness being held over his head.
We know how that goes, absolutely, we're divorced attorneys. Yeah.
Unfortunately, when he got home, he was so distraught that he didn't want
to speak to his parents about it. Arthur really couldn't think about anything else
at night, and he continued to dwell on the fact that the court felt
he was inadequate to look at Yeah, he's seething. He woke up in
the morning to take his kids to school, and his father could tell he
was still upset. He tried to talk to Arthur about it, but Arthur
was just dismissive, and he was at the point he still didn't really want
to talk about it. His father then asked if he wanted him to come
along for the drive to keep him company, but Arthur refused his father's offer.
As Arthur continued on the long drive to get the kids to school,
it's now rush hour, rush hours started. Cars are starting to pile up.
Oh my god, it's terrible. The traffic was causing the drive to
Hawthorne to take a little bit longer, and Arthur continued to think about this
verdict from the day before. He's Oh, he is pissed. As more
and more time passed, Arthur became more and more frustrated with the situation,
he should have hired us. He really needed someone to talk to, so
he decided to call one of his friends and during this conversation he just poured
his heart out. His kids are in the car. Yeah, while his
kids are in the car. He started crying and telling his friends that he
had lost his children. Oh that's nice, but he vowed to do whatever
it took to get them back. After finishing this call, Peter called Arthur
and Peter's the ex wife the kid's mom, to see what time she should
expect to see him and the kids at school. Arthur once again felt as
if his ex wife thought he couldn't look after his own children to get them
to school on time, and he gives offended she's trying to control and trying
to control him, so he started an argument with Peter. During the call,
Arthur told her to say goodbye to her children and he hung off that
stop. I know where you're going with this. Stop it. Scared of
what was happening. Peter called Arthur back and tried to talk some sense into
him. Arthur wasn't having it and told Peter, you know you're never going
to see your kids again. And he hung up on her a second time.
The kids are in the God yeah the car. Peter had no idea
what to think at this point, and she called her lawyers to tell them
what Arthur had said. As Arthur continued his drive, all he could think
about was how he was going to get back at his ex wife for everything
she had put him through. I don't want to know what he does.
Arthur and the children came up to Melbourne's largest bridge, the Westgate Bridge.
The bridge stretches across the Yarra River, connecting the city to the western suburbs
of Melbourne. It stands about one hundred and ninety feet from the river at
its highest point and can see up to two hundred thousand vehicles going across it
every day. Wow. The bridge opened in nineteen seventy eight and it has
seen some tragedy Before the bridge opened up in nineteen seventy eight and during the
construction, because it took a few years. During the construction of nineteen seventy
a section collapsed and killed thirty five were holy shit, Yeah, so what
the It's already got a reputation holy shit. But because it was large,
it quickly became the main road for many commuters as the years went on.
Yeah you said, two hundred thousand, Yeah a day, that's a lot.
The bridge was full from rush hour, giving Arthur more time to dwell
on the situation with his ex wife. Arthur then pulled over to the side
of the bridge, toward where it reached its highest point. How do you
pull over on the side of a bridge, You know, there's gotta be
some I guess, but I was feeling interrupting. I know, especially on
a bridge. Bridge is terrifying, right, Yeah, and at the top
I am, I get, I start to hyperventilate. Yeah, my mom's
got a bridge full. Yeah. I managed to drive over it, like
I drove over the Macana Bridge a few years ago, and I was like,
you know, my mom goes, just close your eyes. I was
driving anyway. Arthur pulls over and he turns on his car hazard lights and
puts the car in park. He turned to his children and told Darcy to
come up to the front seat while he unbuckled her seatbelt. Arthur then grabbed
her and got out of the car. I know, brings yourself. Other
commuters on the bridge saw Arthur take Darcy out of the car. But they
didn't think too much about it at the time, as he had turned his
Hanzards on. You know, they're thinking maybe something's up. Others thought that
Darcy was a doll and she really didn't move and eventually didn't seem to struggle.
Why is a grown man taking a doll out of a car? Yeah?
I know? During morning rush hour, right, Arthur walked with Darcy
to the side of the bridge and without hesitation stop it. He threw Darcy
over the one hundred and ninety feet highbridge. Arthur then calmly went back to
the car and started it up with the boys in the back seat and started
to drive again like nothing had happened. What And they're like what what?
I know? I'm sure they're freaking out. Did Darcy did right? Many
commuters who witnessed this horrible acte started to flood the Triple zero That's Australia is
nine one with calls, frantic about what they had just saw. Very confused
at what just happened. Darcy's brother Ben asked if he could sit in the
front. No, no, no, dude, no, no, you
don't want to sit in the front. So Arthur pulled over and Ben got
in the front seat, not fully aware of the severity of what just happened.
Ben Ben is six, right, yeah, and Ben is six.
Ben told Arthur he had to go back for Darcy because she couldn't swim,
and you know she's in the water. We gotta go back. Arthur ignored
his child's pleased to help his sister, and continued to drive to the Commonwealth
Locke Courts building, where he had spent the previous day with his ex wife
and courts. So we're no longer going to school. We're going to courts.
We're going to court. Once he got there, he parked his car,
paid for parking, and then grabbed his boys out of the car and
made his way into the building. I love how he paid for parking.
He doesn't want a ticket. He doesn't want to through his four year old
over a bridge, over a bridge. We don't want that ticket. We
don't want that ticket. Arthur, carrying his youngest in his arms and holding
the hand of his eldest, tried to give his children over to the court
security officer and said take my sons. The security officer refused, and then
Arthur started to crumble, like what the fuck? Okay, let me take
your sons. Yeah what? He became unresponsive to security and his children and
he started to shake, whimper and cry. The boys told the security guards
their names and the names of their parents. Arthur was then taken into a
separate room to be interviewed, but a psychologist team that Arthur was not in
the state at this point to be interviewed. Wait, they brought him into
the court and there was a psychologist there. And did anybody say, hey,
my sister Darcy. I don't know if the boys you would think that
Ben would be like hey yet yeah, I thought these kids would be hysterical.
As the calls made their way from police to news outlets like the emergency
Calls, the story broke and left the citizens of Melbourne really confused. People
who worked with the different news outlets thought it was fake. Police had gotten
to the scene and after being in the water for fifteen minutes, Darcy was
pulled out. She was still alive. What right? Oh my gosh.
Officers who attended the scene performed CPR on little Darcy until the paramedics arrived,
who then continued to perform CPR in the ambulance. Darcy was then taken to
the Royal Children's Hospital. As emergency workers continued to try and do whatever they
could to save her life. Police officers drove to the school to find Darcy's
mom to tell her the horrible news about her daughter and take her to the
hospital. Little Darcy hid and dirt head injuries, bruising and severe internal injuries.
Yeah, it's like hitting cement right from that high up. Yeah.
How she's still alive. I know, it's amazing. Right after five Yeah,
I mean she'd have been in there a while. She's young. Yeah,
she's just survived more. I'd be dead in a second. When Peter
was at the hospital and she was informed how severe Darcy's injuries were, she
had to make the hardest no, no for any parent to no. Yeah,
she had to turn off Darcy's life support. I thought you were going
to tell me Darcy surviving. No she didn't. I'm so sorry. I'm
thinking she must have been brained at at this point. Right at one thirty
five pm, Darcy Iris Freeman was pronounced dead while being cradled in her mother's
army. I know this is terrible. After being arrested in the Commonwealth Law
Courts Building, Arthur told police officers about what transpired When he was on the
bridge. He told police he was worried about being late for school. As
he approached the Westgate Bridge, he started to feel anxious and trapped, like
he wasn't going to make it the school on time. While the traffic on
the bridge. With the traffic on the bridge, his anxiety began to rise
more and more and he started to feel right. I know, he started
to feel frustrated. I get that too. Traffic gives me such anxiety.
Instead of a normal road rage of yelling or even hitting the dashboard, Arthur
decided he was going to grab Darcy out of the car and throw his only
daughter over the side of the bridge. Can't he just beat obnatches and beat
the horn at everybody, pip them off and flip them off and tell everybody
like, let's fucking go right, No, this is a weird decision.
As a news spread throughout Australia of Darcy's death, Australians were left just confused
as to how a father could throw his own daughter off this undred and ninety
foot high bridge to her death in the middle of rush hour. In the
middle of rush hour, A consensus among the public was that the only reason
was because Arthur was a psychopath. A reporter who was interviewed for TV series
Crimes That Shocked Australia told them that when people would ask her what she was
currently reporting at the time, she would tell them she was reporting the case
of Darcy Freeman, and people would tell her that they couldn't talk or hear
about the story. It was just too upset. Arthur's trial is getting ready
to start because obviously he gets arrested. Australians who were tuning into the case
were eager to see Peter Barnes. Many wanted to show her support as she
would have to sit in court with her ex partner, who man Peter Lea.
I know right, I would have to kill on. Honestly, I
don't know how anybody can keep their composure in times like this. Peter lived
in Western Australia, so many people had no idea what she looked like,
and she would have to travel from there for the court proceedings. When they
began, people were eager to see Arthur because, I mean, what a
freak, right, There was no hesitation in what he did. When Arthur
turned up to court, people were shocked by the man who appeared before them.
He looked disheveled and like a rest mutant, like mad Monk. The
hair Woody Harrelson on a really bad day, a little like pell Collins too.
Write a little bit, not to disparage them, but a little bit.
His hair was a mass. Yeah, his hair was a mass.
You'll see photos if you go on. Yeah, he's like bald, but
it's with male pattern baldness and his long hair. Yeah, and it's just
like over. His hair was a mess. And when he sat in court,
he just sat there blankly, staring ahead, without any emotion. He
pleaded not guilty by reason of mental impairment. The prosecution made their arguments,
telling the court that Arthur wasn't insane. He very clearly knew what he was
doing when he pulled over her. I mean he put on his hazard lights
and then he grabbed Darcy and threw her over the bridge, and he told
his wife. Yeah. Yeah. They said he did it as an act
of revenge against Peta due to their bitter custody battle. Yeah. Peta sat
through every moment of the court proceedings. She didn't want to let Arthur see
that his actions had gotten to her, so she sat completely composed during the
entire trial. God bless her. She eventually testified against Arthur, telling the
court about the relationship and the reason for their divorce. The court reporter told
Crimes That Shocked Australia that when Peta testified, she was very poised in articulate.
She carried herself well given the circumstances. The defense finally had a chance
to tell the court their version of what cause Arthur to throw his daughter over
the bridge that day. They told the court that Arthur had disassociated from the
event, that he acted robot like when he grabbed a little Darcy out of
the car and threw her to her death. The prosecution didn't believe this.
I like, this is fucking bullshit, said That's what the bron scuter said.
This is fucking bullshit, your honor, that's our interpretation what he said.
In fact, the prosecution had gone to five different psychologists to find some
sort of reasoning as to why the events on January twenty ninth occurred. All
of them he had agreed that Arthur fully understood what he was doing and he
knew right from wrong when he did it. He knew full well that not
only could he have hurt his child by throwing over the bridge, that he
could also potentially kill her. Potentially, Yeah, one hundred nine drop in
the water and she can't swim. Let's see you jump into that water from
that point. Now, Oh, that's very high. That's giving me like
anxiety just looking at it. One psychologist testified and said, quote, all
the observations of witnesses regarding his behavior on the morning of Darcy Freeman's death suggests
that he knew the nature and quality of his conduct. Mister Freeman continued to
demonstrate that he was able to think purposefully about a situation and to continue to
make reasoned judgments about both his own behavior and the behavior of others. Unfortunately,
we do not know what mister Freeman was thinking at the time he threw
his daughter over the rail of the Westgate Bridge. Nonetheless, there is minimal
evidence to support a conclusion that at the time of engaging in conduct constituting the
offense, mister Freeman was suffering from mental illness that had the effect that he
did not know that his conduct was wrong. That is, that he could
not reason with a moderate degree of sense and composure about whether the conduct,
as perceived by reasonable people, was wrong. He knew it was wrong,
and quote exactly, he knew it was wrong. The jury heard about the
phone calls that Arthur was making during the drive. You know those phone calls
that he made to Peter. He also made phone calls to his sister,
telling her that he was worried about the kids lunches and getting Darcy to school
on time, but not once it assist get the indication that something terrible was
about to transpire. He then called his friend, who was living in the
UK at the time, and told her about his court verdict previous day and
how it felt like he had lost his children, but he was fully prepared
to fight the court as he was treated unfairly. He's making all these weird
ass phone calls. He claimed. The court was full of angry women who
were against fathers, which was the reason why he lost custody. We hear
that all the time. I'm lightly dude. Yeah, they hate men.
It's not true. It's not true anymore. Maybe maybe they used to be.
They hate bad man, yeah, but now it's not true now it's
He made no indication to his friend that he was going to murder his daughter.
Then he received the first call from Peta, who was becoming increasingly worried
that Arthur was running late to drop Darcy off on her first day of school.
The prosecution felt that this call was the catalyst for the events that transpired
Next. Arthur started to feel the rage build up inside him and wanted pet
to feel the pain he was feeling. Arthur gave the war to his ex
wife about what was going to happen only moments later. This warning to the
premeditation as exactly this warning to Peter showed the court that Arthur was clearly not
mentally unstable and was fully aware of what he was about to do. And
he just pissed talking to her. Yeah, like this fucking bitch, I'm
going to get her. They believe that Arthur didn't want to murder Peta,
as that wouldn't have the desire to fact he was going because her, Yeah,
he killed one of their kids. It would cause tremendous pain to Peta
for the rest of her life. Before I tell you more, we're going
to take a break. Arthur continued to sit in court emotionless as countless witnesses
and professionals all testified against him. When the coroner described the injuries Darcy had
stained in the fall, Arthur finally broke down and cried as he listened to
every single detail. This would be the only time Arthur would show any emotion
during the So what were her injuries? She had damage to her heart,
the traumatic brain injury, and she had a collapsed lung and the traumatic brain
injury. Also she lost oxygen and she was brain dead, and that's why
her mother had to shut the way of support off. A bit about Arthur's
background came out during the trial. His childhood was really nothing to note.
His father was a school teacher and his mother was a crossing supervisor. While
he was in crossing Guard, Yeah, crossing Guard. While he was in
primary school or elementary school, he had a hard time as he was bullied
and he even received counseling because of it. As he reached high school,
however, he was no longer bullied, so the remainder of his childhood seemed
uneventful, like nothing to really suggest that he could have the potential to do
this to one of his own children. He attended university where he studied aquatic
science, but then he later transferred to a different school and studied computer science,
where he eventually graduated with a bachelor's degree. Arthur married Peter in nineteen
ninety nine, and it was reported that the couple was very happy. They
would then move to the UK or They purchased an apartment in London's North area.
They gave birth to Ben, Darcy and Jack in the UK. Peto
was ready to move back to Australia so the children could go to school there,
so they rented a place in Hawthorne. Peto went back to work and
Arthur was a stay at home dad who looked after the children all day.
Oh he was yeah. The Peta and Arthur became unhappy with their relationship eventually,
and it ended in March two thousand and seven. Despite many attempts at
counseling, they eventually divorced in June of two thousand and eight. Was he
stay at home dad on purpose? Or are you just can't fund a job?
Girl? I don't know. Okay. While these events may have been
upsetting, nothing would have suggested to people who knew Arthur that he would murder
his child just six months later. However, there are some things people didn't
know about Arthur. No one knew what he was like behind closed doors.
People described Arthur as a nice guy and he was put together well. However,
little did anyone know that Peter had reported to three different doctors that she
believed Arthur was harming her children. She told one doctor that she felt he
was so vengeful that he was going to kill her children just to get back
at her. Another incident that Peter talked about was when she went to leave
the house with her youngest son, Arthur grabbed him out of her arms and
acted as if he was going to smashim into the fireplace. What Peter's mother
was at the house when this happened, and both Peta and her mother had
to fight Arthur off when he wouldn't give his son over to Peta. Another
instance of Arthur's aggression showed its ugly face when Arthur attended a social function in
two thousand and eight, where he started to make threats against Peta if she
tried to prevent him from having access to the children's whether there's some red flags,
but no one ever thinks this would happen, Not this now. After
nineteen days, the trial came to a close and the jury was sent to
reach its verdict. It took the jury multiple days for them to come back
with a decision because to them this didn't seem so cut and dry. Really,
yeah, well, maybe they were arguing about second grievers. Maybe they
came back multiple times to ask the judge questions, and it was obvious that
the jury just couldn't grasp what they needed to decide. The judge then posed
the question as to whether Arthur deliberately killed Darcy or whether he was insane.
The jury really struggled with the fact that though they believed he wasn't insane,
they then felt that would mean he deliberately killed his child, and nobody really
wants to think that. Arthur claimed he had no recollection of what happened,
but his actions caused the death of Darcy, so that left the jurors conflicted
about reaching a verdict. They eventually came back and told the court that they
were deadline and couldn't make a decision. There were women in the jury that
were clearly upset when they informed the judge they couldn't come up with a unanimous
verdict, and some were crying. It was evident to everyone in the courtroom
that there was some tension among the jurists. This started to worry people in
the courtroom who wanted to see Arthur found guilty. The judge wasn't having any
of it from the jury. It was seven pm and most jurors go home
at four thirty. When the judge told him, you're going to go back
and you're gonna make a decision, as he believed they could come up with
a final decision, the judge rephrased the question without any legal jargon to help
the jury understand the question better, and they were once again sent to come
to a verdict. Fourteen minutes later, they had a verdict. Okay.
They were like, okay, we're gone. It was like, we want
to go home. I'm sorry. That's probably not true. It probably is,
but it's probably not in the in the in the name of justice,
it's probably not true. The jury found Arthur Freeman guilty of murdering his daughter
and that he had no mental impairment. A reporter told Crimes That Shocked Australia
that after the verdict was read, she got into a taxi and just cried.
She felt the sense of relief that Arthur was found guilty after what he
did to Darcy and that Darcy's family got the justice they deserved and Arthur was
going to be punished for his crime. As the sentencing hearing came around,
Peter read a victim impact statement. Oh Man, and this was the only
time she allowed herself to show how much the loss of her daughter really hurt
her. She didn't want to give Arthur the satisfaction of the pain he caused
until after he was found guilty. The judge would later repeat parts of Peter's
impact statement when the sentencing came as he wanted to reiterate to Arthur the magnitude
of his crime. Quote. Where to start is a challenge, as this
statement brings to the surface all of the raw emotions I live with daily since
the loss of Darcy. I grieve on a daily basis and realistically do not
see how it can ever change. The same time heals all wounds is not
true for myself, and I don't ever expect it to be. Not a
day goes by where I do not constantly think of Darcy, where I don't
miss her and wish with all my heart that she was with me. I
can feel her little hand holding mine when I walked down the street or drive
in the car. I lie in bed at night and hold her in my
arms. I talked to her and think of her daily, wishing she was
participating the activities that were happening at the time. No words could ever truly
describe the loss of a child to a parent, the emptiness that sits with
you, the piece of you that no longer exists, the fact that you
no longer go on in life as a complete person. Seeing little girls who
have similar traits or looks to Darcy heightens my already active emotions. Holding myself
back from giving the child a hug is always a struggle of self control.
Not a day goes by where I don't flash back to the emotions I felt
when I was told by my ex husband that I would never see my children
again. The panic and fear these words oft inside me resonates within me even
today. I feel and now an incidents of my daily life that would not
have impacted me prior to Darcy's passing. I noticed that I have heightened anxiety
in everyday situations and have to manage myself carefully to control this end quote just
got those two boys got to take care, right? Don't I want to
cry? Time heals all wounds. I don't think not losing a child.
Now. Officers who were on the scene and found Darcy's body in the water
have been diagnosed with PTSD and major depressive disorder, and many commuters that witnessed
Arthur throw Darcy over the bridge had to receive counseling for the tragic event they
witnessed. Many of those people wrote impact statements for the court to show the
impact of Arthur's actions, like what it had on the community was crowded,
crowded. You know, many of these people are just trying to get to
work and they're just never going to forget this day because of what Arthur did.
On April eleventh, two thy eleven, Arthur was sent to life in
prison with a minimum sentence of thirty two years. The judge believe that Arthur
was not beyond redemption but needed to be punished for his heinous act. Arthur
will be eligible for parole in twenty forty one, when he will be sixty
seven years old. Like many times we've seen before, this would not be
the end for Arthur. Arthur, what's that mean? Well, Arthur set
out to appeal his sentence, okay, believing that what he had been given
was manifestly excessive. Once again, your core is just bringing him. Yeah,
they're just you know, they're giving it to him. Once again.
Unfair, unfair. Arthur's team felt that while the judge thought Arthur's depression at
the time was moderate, he completely overlooked it and it should have been considered
high. Okay, well, hi to your depression. Yeah, doesn't mean
you're throw a kid, you know. They said, because he had high
depression, his sentence should be reduced. He should have I mean, this
sounds bad, but he could have killed himself, right, right, Yeah,
why but it wouldn't hurt Peta if he killed himself, right. Arthur's
appeal was ultimately rejected on multiple grounds. There was nothing provided to the court
that could prove that Arthur was in such a depressive state that he was unaware
of what he was doing. Is basically what the court decided the minished capacity
right and wrong. The previous judge said during a sentencing quote, I except
that your offending was not premeditated, but related to your increasing anger towards your
former wife over the family court proceedings, exacerbated by you being late for Darcy's
first day at school. It should be noted that Professor Burrows, who was
the psychiatrist called by the defense, did not doubt that you were angry at
the time you killed your daughter. Well, no, shit, I have
no doubt that the resentment you bore your wife had been building for some time.
Yeah, he did it because he's pissed and he's anxious. Yeah,
for sure, he wanted revenge. He hated her, and she was taking
away his kids, so he was going to take dar. She wasn't even
taking away his kids, you know, she wasn't see his kids, and
she didn't make the decision the court did. While Arthur is living out a
sentence in a maximum security prison, it is reported that he was involved in
a prison brawl where he sustained minor injuries. Apparently, other inmates were constantly
tawning him, which eventually resulted in him exploding at them. This then caused
the inmates to start a fight with Arthur, and it would be a minute
before the prison guards stepped in to break up the fight. Arthur and the
other inmates in the fight were eventually separated across the prison to prevent another altercation.
An inquest was conducted from statements made by Peter Barnes. Was this tragic
event preventable and is there anything we can learn from this? The focus of
this inquest was mainly on Pete's appointments with her doctors, where she disclosed to
them about the potential abuse her children were suffering, and whether the doctors acted
responsibly by not reporting the allegations to authorities. But I don't think they have
to report hypothetical Yeah, oh, you're not going to see your children again.
Now if he said he was going to kill them, right, that's
true, He didn't say that. He didn't say that. The inquest heard
that the police did attend to domestic dispute between Pete and Arthur in two thousand
and seven. The police were aware of some instances of concern, so the
doctors felt that they didn't need to report the allegations to polices. They were
already aware of them, and that's why he didn't get joint custody exactly right.
The doctors felt there were no indicators at the time that would suggest that
Arthur would hurt his children. One doctor said that even in hindsight, he
had no idea what Arthur was going to do. He didn't threaten to throw
a kid in a fireplace though, right, he didn't threaten it, he
acted like he was going to do it. Yeah, Arthur always seemed to
appear well put together and calm. So not in the pictures I saw them.
They was during the trial. Though. After Darcy's death there were a
spike in suicides off the Westgate Bridge. Yeah, could have been prevented.
I guess if there was some talk of putting more barriers up on the bridge,
but high, yeah, higher ones. The Westgate Bridge now has.
They have nets. Oh right, they do down on like on a bridge.
They would jump and then that catches you. Well, then you could
always jump off the net. It's true. I think I'm kind of hard
to get out of though. I'm just saying, yeah, there's a will,
there's a way. It's true. The Westgate Bridge now has safety barriers
to prevent anyone from jumping off the bridge or being thrown off. Many Australians
still feel great sadness when they hear Darcy's name or see the Westgate Bridge.
It is unclear how Darcy's family is currently doing, but I hope they're doing
well. I did too, and they're able to remember Darcy for the beautiful
little girl that she was, and not for her death. When when did
this happen? This wasn't that long ago? Right? No? Ten years
ago, two thousand and nine. Her poor brothers, I know. Ok
how do you, I know, get over that? How do you get
over that? I don't know? And that's my terrible, sad story about
little Darcy Freeman. I don't like those kinds of stories. I know.
I'm very very very sad and horrible. And it's just how can you do
that? How anybody could do this? He snapped, Yeah, lost it
definitely, Teliah. Before we get into our business, would you like to
do some review the reviewer? Oh my gosh, we haven't done that in
so long. Oh my god. Well we've gotten some who star reviews recently.
Well, I have to go from sad to pissed off. Yeah,
and they're mostly about me. So you're going to enjoy this. I'm just
kidding you would enjoy it about you? Okay. This one was left on
August seventh, twenty twenty three, by Chris Jesse Jake and it's two stars
and the title is used to be a fan Oh. I used to love
the show, but I feel like every time I listen it gets cornier corner.
Tanya needs to go what all these he needs to fucking go all the
oh my gods, and seriously, and she just piggybacks on whatever Talia says
this. No, you are real. Like when I'm having a normal conversation
with Tanya, she talks exactly the same. I have no idea how in
the world she's an attorney. She seems to have like half a brain.
What the mother fuck? Yeah, fuck this person. He needs to fuck
off. Yeah, Chris jesse Ja gets one star. No, he gets
no stars, and he gets a big fuck off Chris jesse Jay can lick
my nuts. Okay, it's gracious, Well he's lucky he's not in front
of me right now. Yeah, we have another one Okay, two stars.
I don't like these. This was left July thirty, first, twenty
twenty three by eight five eight Mia. Okay eight five eight Mia Mia.
I've been listening for a long time, but the past five or so episodes,
I've had to stop them midway. I can't finish. It. Sounds
like they are reading directly from a script and it's their first read through.
Sometimes it is the constant, Oh my god, and seriously throughout the story
are obnoxious and they and they saw first in fake, they're not worse in
fake. They're definitely not fucked sake. Oh my god. Right, Like,
what what is your reaction when you hear a horrible story like she's getting
thrown off the bridge? Oh my god, Oh my god. All right,
I'm gonna have to think of something else. I'm gonna have to have
new natural reaction. It's me and not you. So it's like the host
give up, are no longer into true crime. So they're just going through
the motions. I don't know what happened, but I have to stop listening.
Oh okay, well you can also fuck off. Yeah, you can
also fuck off and fuck off some more. When you're done fucking off,
fuck you. Then there's a five start, so we're gonna do some good
ones, okay or something nice. So July twenty fourth, JBT Mom said,
addicted five stars to what. I really love this podcast. Great host,
chemistry, lesser known cases, and victim focused checks all the boxes for
true crime junkies. Then August fifth, wait, I love her, Oh
yes, I love her. She's five stars, five stars across the board.
Ye right, we love you, we love you JBT mom. Yeah,
absolutely absolutely, it was very nice of you to leave a nice review.
Yeah, oh my god, oh my god. So seriously. Then
in August fifth Jazzy Girls sixty six, she gave us five stars. She
said, I came across you recently and have been binging from episode one.
I love it exclamation point, exclamation point. I'm with Tanya. I hate
people, and none of the killers deserve a second chance. Whoa shit.
I know I'm kind of hard on it. I mean, I hate people,
but sometimes redemption love the fact that you ladies can talk honestly and you
don't care about what anyone has to say. No, we don't give a
fuck except her. I like what she had to say. We're very sweet.
We love you, we love you. You don't need to fuck off
because we like you. We do lovely. The other two star people can
go fucking kiss my ass, kiss lin too, and go find a different
podcast. I mean, honestly, yeah, go go. If you don't
like the way I talk or the things I say, Sorry for being real.
Would you rather me sit here like a robot? You know who scripted?
Oh, I'm not gonna say. I'm not gonna say their name,
but maybe she could listen to them. Yeah, at least they don't say
oh my god. And seriously, seriously, do I really say it that
much? We both do it all times? Sometimes do we say seriously at
the same time? Seriously seriously? I know? Just sorry? Well,
you know what, Like I said, now, I'm pissed. I'm really
pissed about those two stars, especially the one that's trying to hurt my friend,
because Honey is my friend. I know, you know, it doesn't
hurt we're feeling. If I knew where he was at our slashes tires and
run really fast away and maybe keys car, I don't know, maybe maybe
maybe we could do together my dog shit on his mirror or windows or whatever
or yeah, but I won't I wouldn't do that. It's illegal, but
I might do it. If I wouldn't fantasize about it, I could,
you know, you never know if I had enough alcohol, right, what
I might do. So that was our segment review the reviewer. Yes,
well I don't like those people. Yeah, those people can fuck right off.
But I love the other two so absolutely. And there's lots of other
really great ones. You know, we do review the reviewer usually when there's
a bad review that comes by because because we hate them. Because we hate
them and I need to vent a little bit somebody, you know, if
I need to go to Leah really doesn't want to do the show with just
on her own. Oh yeah, hey, I'll be like, hey,
so then she jumped off, you know, I got thrown off a bridge.
Maybe Oh my god, you could do both? Yeah, like it
just what, no fucking way to Leah. Yeah no, it doesn't work
that way. Yeah, no, fuck them anyway, before we go,
We'll just do the business now. You can find our website Crimes and Consequences
dot com. You can find out information there about becoming a Patriot member,
or you can go to Patreon dot com slash t NT crimes like Dynamite and
becoming a patreont member means that if you sign up for the highest level,
you can get an extra episode every week that's unreleased to the public. You
also get ad free an early release of our normal weekly episodes. Yes,
if you want to check that out, go to either our website or patriot
dot com slash TMT crimes Crime. You can find us on social media and
hardcore true crime, hardcore crime on Facebook and Instagram. Even though we haven't
been active all I haven't. One day we will. I'm sorry, but
life has been horrible these past pisser. Yes, so I'm sorry. Life's
a real big pisser and I think that's everything. So until our next episode,
don't kill each other. Bye bye,