It’s been all over the news. A picture of a young woman next to a photo of her mother, their features so clearly alike, and a warning of a confronting and graphic story to follow.
The details that the public is privy to are shocking and upsetting.
Late on Saturday night in a suburban home in Sydney’s west, Jessica Camilleri decapitated her 57-year-old mother, Rita, with several knives. Covered in blood, she then knocked on her neighbour’s door and confessed: “I killed my mum.”
Rita’s head was discovered lying nearby on a footpath.
Rita was babysitting her grandson that night, a four-year-old boy believed to be Camilleri’s nephew, when an argument with her 25-year-old daughter erupted,
The boy was in the house during Camilleri’s attack. He was treated at Westmead Children’s Hospital for a minor head injury.
Detective Superintendent Brett McFadden told reporters the crime was “up there with one of the most significant, most horrific scenes police have had to face”.
“There is no stepping away from the fact that this was horrific and a significant attack, and the injuries that the victim suffered were extensive,” he said.
Camilleri faced Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday charged with the murder of her mother.
She did not apply for bail, with her lawyer telling the court she suffers from “severe mental health issues“.
Appearing via video link, Camilleri explained she had been injured and pleaded for help.
Top Comments
Funny how the search for excuses starts the minute it is a female offender. When it is a male, that almost never happens. Interesting comparison in how society deals with these type of people.
You're right. If it's a man we hear what a kind and loving father and great guy he was, what sports he played and what he did for work, alongside some shocked comments of 'I can't believe he would be capable of committing a crime' Men don't need excuses, their crimes are all out of character and punishment is often framed as a tragic waste of their potential.
Mentally ill people tend to get shafted regardless of gender. But good on you, yet again, for trying to make a point just for the sake of it.
Wow, do you even read the news?
Well said.
The only way that she would avoid jail and go to a mental health institution is that if it is proved that her actions were a result of her mental health issues. So I am pretty sure her lawyers are going to argue that when she killed her mother she wasn’t mentally competent and was under some sort of delusion. So no one is saying that all mental illness sufferers are violent but maybe the combination of disorders she had may have led her to misinterpret the horror movies and subsequently kill her mother.
Dude, no offence but this is not the time to play armchair lawyer or psychiatrist. You're over-simplifying matters here.