VIC: Bega schoolgirls killer never to be freed

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-1999
VIC: Bega schoolgirls killer never to be freed

By Stuart Walsh

MELBOURNE, April 27 AAP - Killer Leslie Alfred Camilleri, convicted of the cold-blooded
murders of two Bega schoolgirls, had "forfeited the right ever to walk among us again", said
the judge who today jailed him for life without the possibility of parole.

As Victorian Supreme Court judge Justice Frank Vincent pronounced the sentence, the
grey-faced, powerfully-built 29-year-old Camilleri showed little reaction.

However, as he was led away, he appeared to be irritated by a prison officer holding the
sleeve of his jacket and wrenched his arm free before leaving the packed court in silence.

The bodies of Nichole Collins, 16, and her 14-year-old friend Lauren Barry were found in
dense bushland at Fiddlers Green Creek, 10 kilometres inside the Victorian border, on November
12, 1997.

Police were led to the lonely spot by Camilleri's co-accused, Lindsay Hoani Beckett, 25,
who confessed to the killings.

Beckett pleaded guilty to the murders and is now serving life with a minimum of 35 years.

He told the court he was acting under orders from Camilleri. He said Camilleri had
threatened to stab him to death if he did not obey.

The trial heard that after picking up the girls on the Bega-Tathra Road, on October 5,
1997, Camilleri and Beckett - both from Yass - drove their victims hundreds of kilometres for
more than 10 hours.

The girls were repeatedly raped by both men before being tied up and knifed to death by
Beckett.

Camilleri told the police he was present when the girls were picked up but was asleep when
they were murdered.

He had, he said, taken amphetamines and heroin, was "doped out" and had no idea Beckett had
decided to kill the girls.

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KEYWORD: CAMILLERI NIGHTLEAD

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