Sister of murder victim Anne-Marie Culleton wants tougher laws for rapists who kill

The sister of a woman who was raped and murdered in her own bed by a “sadistic” intruder three decades ago is calling for the creation of stronger laws to prevent sexually-motivated killers from ever being released from jail.

Jonathan Peter Bakewell, who was released in 2016, is currently facing allegations of another parole breach, 33 years after he murdered Anne-Marie Culleton in suburban Darwin.

He was sentenced in 1989 to life in prison and, in 2005, was transferred from Darwin to Adelaide to be closer to his father.

Since being released in 2016, Bakewell has breached parole by taking drugs, and has been jailed several times.

He was released again in 2019, and the state’s Parole Board is meeting today to discuss Bakewell’s case and whether he should be allowed to remain free.

Eileen Culleton said what her sister went through was “every woman’s worst nightmare”.

“The Parole Board in South Australia is a revolving door. It’s a disgrace,” Ms Culleton said.

“I’m talking about it now because I want the public to know the danger they’re potentially in if he gets released again.”

Bakewell’s first parole breach in July 2017 resulted in a warning, but he was jailed for four-and-a-half months in November 2017 and again for five weeks in September 2018 for a further two breaches.

In 2019, prison officers used a decoy in an attempt to shield Bakewell from media attention as he was released on parole from the high-security Yatala Labour Prison.

Ms Culleton has launched a petition calling for the creation of a new category of criminal offence, “murder with sexual assault”, that would carry no prospect of parole.

“Jonathan Bakewell is a sadistic rapist [and] murderer. His crime was horrific,” she said.

“At the moment, the crime of murder is tried as the murder, and the rape is just an aggravated feature.

“This is why ‘murder with sexual assault’ needs to be its own offence — to represent the gravity of the crime.”

Ms Culleton referred to the case of Claremont serial killer and rapist Bradley Edwards, saying the fact that Edwards had secured a non-parole period, albeit of 40 years, was evidence of the need for national reform.

Ms Culleton also cited the recent example of Dudley Davey, who had repeatedly attacked women before he murdered outback nurse Gayle Woodford in 2016, as “someone who should have been given a life sentence with no parole”.

“New sentencing will send the strongest possible message that Australia doesn’t tolerate rape crime, and I believe this new law will have an impact in reducing all rape crimes across the board,” she said.

She said the law reform she was seeking had been knocked back by the SA Government, but she hoped the Opposition would take up the cause.

In a statement, Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said Anne-Marie Culleton was “taken from her loved ones in a senseless, barbaric act”.

“As a government, we are committed to keeping the community safe, and we have already introduced a range of measures to ensure the penalties available to the courts reflect their seriousness of the offence,” she said.

“In South Australia, there is the option for a sentencing court to decline to set a non-parole period for an offence of murder.

“This power has been exercised in the past, and remains available for judges to use at their discretion.”

Shadow Attorney-General Kyam Maher said Labor had yet to “make a firm announcement about what we’ll do”.

“There wouldn’t be a person who wouldn’t understand and sympathise with Eileen,” he said.

“What we’ve said and what we’re committed to do is looking at potential law reform, not just in the area of parole but in the area of sentencing.

“We will look at potential law reform … and we will have more to say about that in the coming months.”

The ABC has contacted the Parole Board for comment.