Horrifying story of 'female Hannibal Lecter' who killed partner and cooked body to serve his children
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions which some readers may find distressing.
A woman dubbed the 'female Hannibal Lecter' brutally killed her partner and cooked his body to later serve to his children.
From the outside, Katherine Mary Knight appeared to be a typically 'ordinary' woman so when the community heard of her harrowing crimes, they were left in utter shock.
In February 2000, Knight skinned and beheaded her partner, John Price, in his home in Aberdeen, Australia.
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She later became the first Australian woman to be sentenced to life in prison without the option for parole.
Landing the title ‘female Hannibal Lecter', Knight - who was an experienced meatworker - was found to have stabbed her partner at least 37 times in various areas of his body.
Speaking of what Knight did after she killed Price, Supreme Court sentencing judge Barry O'Keefe said: "After he had been dead for some time his body was dragged by the prisoner from the hallway into the lounge room, and thereafter the prisoner skinned Mr Price's body.
"This was carried out with considerable expertise and an obviously steady hand, so that his skin - including that of the head, face, nose, ears, neck, torso, genital organs and legs - was removed so as to form one pelt."
The judge added: "So expertly was it done that, after the post-mortem examination, the skin was able to be re-sown onto Mr Price's body in a way which indicated a clear and appropriate, albeit grisly, methodology.
"At some time after Mr Price had been skinned the prisoner hung his pelt on a meat hook on the architrave of the door of the lounge room, where it remained until it was later removed by investigating police."
Knight then sickeningly prepared her deceased husband for dinner and baked parts of his body 'as meals for the son and daughter'.
O'Keefe continued: "Not only was Mr Price's head removed but parts of his buttocks were also sliced off.
"The excised parts of Mr Price were then taken by the prisoner to the kitchen, and at some stage, after she had peeled and prepared various vegetables, she cooked Mr Price's head in a large pot, together with a number of the vegetables she had prepared, so as to produce a sickening stew."
Now-retired Detective Sergeant Robert Wells was one of the few law enforcement officials to attend the crime scene and described it as one of the worst cases he'd ever witnessed.
The judge added: "The prisoner showed no mercy whatsoever to Mr Price - the last minutes of his life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her."
It's said that Knight's file is marked 'never to be released'.
Callum Jones