Australia NSW, Eastern Suburbs Rapist 1985 to 2001, Sydney *Keith Simms identified Nov 2022*

[iamshadow21]

(Mods, I couldn't find an existing thread, so if one exists, feel free to merge, and if this belongs better in another forum, please move it to where it belongs. Thank you.)

‘Bondi Beast’ breakthrough: DNA links eastern suburbs rape terror to Sydney grandfather

Detectives from State Crime Command’s sex crime squad have spent years analysing 31 incidents of actual or attempted sexual assault that occurred across Sydney’s eastern suburbs between 1985 and 2001.

...

For 16 years, women in Sydney’s eastern suburbs lived in fear of a sex attacker dubbed “The Centennial Park Rapist”, “The Tracksuit Rapist” and “The Bondi Beast”, and for decades police were hunting several men.

...


This is just breaking here today, big news. I'm sorry if this link turns out to be regionlocked or paywalled for anyone. There isn't an ABC (public broadcaster in Australia) article to link for this story yet.

No one thing broke this case conclusively, looks like it was a long, slow grind of policing, but this was crucial:

[in 2016] a random search of the police DNA database uncovered a familial match to the samples provided by victims.

 

[iamshadow21]

*sigh* As much as I hate the Mail, and giving them traffic, they do have a much greater amount of information and breakdown of his crimes than elsewhere, so I'm reluctantly linking, for those who don't know what the solving of this case means, or want a refresher on the scale of this.

'Beast of Bondi': One of Australia's worst serial rapists unmasked

This is a very big deal for Sydney. I grew up in the shadow of this. We all did. Even if, like me, we lived outside of his 'zone'. We'd wonder, like those who lived through Joseph DeAngelo or Richard Ramirez, whether he'd come to our suburb next. As far as I know, Simms didn't kill, but the fear of him had the same miasma. It crept into our lives and hearts and refused to leave.

 

[iamshadow21]

Finally got an ABC news article, after my sleep! The commercial media definitely got the jump on Aunty (common pet name for ABC) today.

Police name suspect behind dozens of rapes in Sydney's eastern suburbs



All incidents were investigated at the time but police were unable to make any breakthroughs.

It wasn't until new technology became available that police could identify several men linked to a DNA train associated with the victims.

In September this year, it was confirmed Mr Simms' DNA matched the suspect's.

"Strike Force Doreen investigators have since contacted the survivors and advised the man has been identified, but due to the circumstances, no further legal action can be taken," police said in a statement.


The circumstances, in case you haven't read the articles, are that he died of kidney failure in February.

 

[Eloise]

Wow so he essentially got off scot free.

All we can hope is that he lived in fear of being caught and was always watching his back and could never relax.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I read this news article late night and checked and thought about posting but they were the behind the paywall ones.

Thanks for making a thread. It seems he had a lot of victims, maybe even some that hadn't come forward

 

[iamshadow21]

Wow so he essentially got off scot free.

All we can hope is that he lived in fear of being caught and was always watching his back and could never relax.

Unfortunately, I suspect he lived secure in the knowledge that he'd got away with it. It sounds like it came as a complete shock to his family. He compartmentalised well. If it wasn't for the kidney disease, he might have seen a prison cell and served a long time. He was only 66 when he died, and didn't have a drug or alcohol problem.

Kidney disease is a major health issue that disproportionately impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples | Kidney Health Australia

(They haven't said he is A/TSI, but visually to me, he appears to be. If it turns out this is incorrect, I will ask a mod to modify.)

 

[iamshadow21]

I read this news article late last and checked and thought about posting but they were the behind the paywall ones.

Thanks for making a thread. It seems he had a lot of victims, maybe even some that hadn't come forward

I'd say dozens. Those thirty one were the ones they could definitively link to him by DNA or MO. He attacked people walking or jogging in parks, and people in their homes. As I said to my partner when this story broke, there would be many who never reported out of trauma or shame, but also, if he also attacked vulnerable people like survival sex workers or those sleeping rough, those people wouldn't have necessarily reported or been taken seriously if they did. I'd say doubling that number as an estimate isn't a ridiculous inflation.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I wonder if they're looking at him for any murders ?

 

[iamshadow21]

I wonder if they're looking at him for any murders ?

I don't know, but you'd think they'd be comparing him to any knife crime sexual assault cold cases with evidence available for DNA testing, including homicides and GBH. This guy was prolific, and it isn't a stretch to think he might have used his knife to do more than threaten and terrify.

 

[Melt71]

Police Reckon They've Identified Serial Rapist The Bondi Beast, But The Timing Is Unfortunate

The Bondi Beast was suspected of 31 assaults between 1985 and 2001.

www.pedestrian.tv

It wasn’t until new technology in 2019 was made available that police were then able to build a paternal family tree of DNA featuring 324 people. Cops worked through the suspects by a “process of elimination” and focused on age and location of relevant family members until they narrowed their search down to just one person: Keith Simms, a grandfather from La Perouse.

“We were given a link to a broad number of people who were possible contributors,” Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty told The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes.

“And then through the dedicated hard work over the last six years of the sex crimes squad we were able to then bring that link down to a single person and identify the contributor of that DNA. No two people share the same DNA, and that’s why we’ve been able to come back to this one person

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Now and in the future, cases probably won't stay unsolved for so long.

 

[iamshadow21]

Now and in the future, cases probably won't stay unsolved for so long.

That's the hope, but rape test kits only work if LE get around to testing them. This case shows they kept at least some of the evidence and were able to send it for forensic testing, or they never would have narrowed in on Simms. Simms didn't have a criminal record, had a steady job, had a family with kids and grandkids. Didn't have substance abuse problems. Wasn't an obvious suspect because he perfected the art of blending in.

So all those departments all over the world, storing away their rape kits and not testing them, GET TESTING. Be proactive about it. Fight for the budget to do it. You will solve so many cold cases! You will identify so many serial offenders. And yes, some will be in prison for other things, but others are hiding, like Simms, behind a mask of respectability. This is how you catch those guys. This is how you give closure to victims and their families.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Just reading back on the thread and I want to say something to him.

You Monster!!


I was going to say something else but it would have been censored.

 

[iamshadow21]

Just reading back on the thread and I want to say something to him.

You Monster!!


I was going to say something else but it would have been censored.

I've been breaking out the prepubescent swears on the Quinton threads. Every now and then the folks following get to hear how fudging angry I am.

 

[FruitTingles]

Unfortunately, I suspect he lived secure in the knowledge that he'd got away with it. It sounds like it came as a complete shock to his family. He compartmentalised well. If it wasn't for the kidney disease, he might have seen a prison cell and served a long time. He was only 66 when he died, and didn't have a drug or alcohol problem.

Kidney disease is a major health issue that disproportionately impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples | Kidney Health Australia

(They haven't said he is A/TSI, but visually to me, he appears to be. If it turns out this is incorrect, I will ask a mod to modify.)

Is there a photo of him?

 

[iamshadow21]

Is there a photo of him?

There are multiple photos, at different ages, of him in each of the three articles I linked at the top of the thread.

 

[FruitTingles]

There are multiple photos, at different ages, of him in each of the three articles I linked at the top of the thread.

I hadn’t gotten around to opening the links as yet. Thanks

 

[TootsieFootsie]

‘Bondi Beast’ breakthrough: DNA links eastern suburbs rape terror to Sydney grandfather

Police have used DNA technology to achieve an astonishing breakthrough in the hunt for one of Sydney’s most prolific sex offenders.

www.smh.com.au

Watch 60 Minutes on Sunday, November 27 for Sylvia Jeffreys’ full story behind Strike Force Doreen.

 

[iamshadow21]

‘Bondi Beast’ breakthrough: DNA links eastern suburbs rape terror to Sydney grandfather

Police have used DNA technology to achieve an astonishing breakthrough in the hunt for one of Sydney’s most prolific sex offenders.

www.smh.com.au

Watch 60 Minutes on Sunday, November 27 for Sylvia Jeffreys’ full story behind Strike Force Doreen.

FYI, for the international folks, that is the AUSTRALIAN version of 60 Minutes, not the original US version. So if you want to watch it, you'll probably have to use a VPN or something to access the show at 9now.

 

[dotr]

rbbm,

Beast of Bondi serial rapist Keith Simms exposed months after funeral

Keith Simms was recently identified by DNA technology as responsible for a dozen sex attacks committed across Sydney's east between 1987 and 2000, and linked to at least 19 more.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''Mourners at Keith Simms's funeral remembered a loving husband, father and grandfather. Simms was recently identified through DNA as responsible for a dozen sex attacks Sydney's east and linked to at least 19 more''


'Armed with a knife and disguised in a balaclava, Simms attacked vulnerable girls as young as 13 and women as old as 55. Some of his victims Simms ambushed in their homes in the middle of the night or early morning'

'Commander of the sex crime squad, Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty, said Simms had never been in trouble with the law for any serious offences and did not suffer from mental illness, drug or alcohol problems.

'As far as we know, through all the investigations, he was never on the radar and so he didn't have all those normal triggers, so by not having those, probably helped stay so anonymous,' she told the Daily Telegraph.

The scores of family and friends who filed into St Andrews Catholic Church at Malabar in the city's east on March 3 heard tales of a respected community member and hard worker.''


''One of Simms's granddaughters fought back tears as she said her 'Pop' was like a father to her and her brother.

'Growing up with Pop meant so much to me,' she said. 'To have someone like him in my life was more than I could have ever asked for.

'My Pop was my favourite person in this whole world and I know that I was always his baby girl.'

Simms's cousin described his wife as the 'love of his life'.

'They loved one another and would would do everything together,' she said. 'Their children and grandchildren never wanted anything. He was with them 100 per cent.'

The congregation heard Simms had been employed by Boral, MasterFoods, the University of New South Wales, Bonnie Doon Golf Club, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Botany Council. ''