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Key Points
- Robert and Anne Geeves have been found not guilty of murdering Amber Haigh.
- Haigh was reported missing in 2002 when she was 19 years old.
- The couple were arrested and charged with murder in 2022.
A married couple has been found not guilty of the murder of 19-year-old Amber Haigh, who was reported missing in 2002.
On Monday in front of a packed courtroom, Justice Julia Lonergan acquitted Robert and Anne Geeves after a judge-alone trial in the NSW Supreme Court.
Here’s what you need to know.
Who was Amber Haigh?
Haigh was 19 years old when she went missing. She had been living in Kingsvale, south-west NSW, with her five-month-old son.
Haigh has been described as “loving and caring”, but also”vulnerable” and “naive”.
Medical experts and family evidence given to the court showed the young woman as someone with the mental capacity of a 12- or 13-year-old who others could easily lead or take advantage of.
When did Amber Haigh disappear?
Haigh was reported missing on 19 June 2002 by Robert and Anne Geeves.
The couple told police they had dropped her at Campbelltown railway station, on Sydney’s outskirts, on 5 June, to visit her father in Sydney’s Mt Druitt. They said she had left her son in their care.
Later that day, money was withdrawn from her bank account at an ATM in Campbelltown at about 8.45pm.
There have been extensive investigations, including numerous public appeals and a $1 million reward for information, but no trace of her has been found.
In 2011, a coronial inquest found Haigh to be deceased, having died “as a result of homicide or other misadventure” in June 2002.
What were Robert and Anne Geeves accused of?
The Geeveses were arrested in 2022 and charged with murder.
Prosecutors alleged they had killed Haigh in order to take custody of the child. The defence argued there was no evidence to support this.
In her judgment, Lonergan said the Geeveses’ version of events “may be true”. She said Haigh had likely died in June 2002, but said it had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the couple had killed her.
The couple have always maintained their innocence and denied having anything to do with Haigh’s disappearance.
Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press.