Current Keli Lane

Did Keli Lane get a fair trial?

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 22.2%
  • No

    Votes: 14 77.8%

  • Total voters
    18
Sep 22, 2011
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Personally I think that she either got pregnant to someone high up or that the baby was given to a childless couple who have registered the baby in another name.

This still makes no sense. So many possibilities. On one hand I don't think she would've done anything sinister to the baby but on the other hand surely she would confess to giving the baby away by other means.

This is what I always come back to, and why I think she's guilty.

I can't think of plausible explanations where she'd sit in prison for 15 years to protect people for (relatively) minor crimes.

Add that to the enormous holes in her story and I always come back to the same conclusion: guilty.
 
This still makes no sense. So many possibilities. On one hand I don't think she would've done anything sinister to the baby but on the other hand surely she would confess to giving the baby away by other means.

You would think she would but I'm not sure we can fairly judge her by an action we might take to avoid a long prison term without knowing what the real story is. I can think of a couple of reasons why someone might dig their heels in.
 
This is what I always come back to, and why I think she's guilty.

Is that enough do you think though, for guilt beyond reasonable doubt?

Had she been convicted of illegal surrogacy/selling her baby to people whose identity she didnt even think to check or the arrangement was that she wasn't to know who they were, I'd be more comfortable with that. I think there's more evidence leaning towards that than murder with no body etc etc.
 
Mar 21, 2016
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You would think she would but I'm not sure we can fairly judge her by an action we might take to avoid a long prison term without knowing what the real story is. I can think of a couple of reasons why someone might dig their heels in.
I would take the rap for my children. Thats it
 
I would take the rap for my children. Thats it

Didnt think she'd be convicted, it's a year on already, she settles in to jail, probably had a really hard time of it but she's tough. She was playing water polo at eight months pregnant. (it's outrageous what a weirdo - Lindy Chamberlain was convicted for being weird) Wait for the appeal, another year or two down the track but confident she'll succeed. Fail. Her time has got easier to do and it's passing. Keeping herself busy looking for someone like CMH to take this on.

She has the same mindset and determination in prison that got her onto the womens polo team even lacking a lot of the talent the other girls had. So f*** you all. She knows she didn't do it and one day, her daughter is going to show up on a database somewhere. And when she does, Keli is going to get a big payout. Every extra year she spends in prison, the payout gets bigger. Verily f*** you all, especially you Nicholas Cowdery.

For example.
 
Repeated cases of disclosure failures (Australia)

In the Lane case, the apparent failure of police to disclose an estimated 2,000 potentially crucial recordings was only discovered following meticulous reviews of the case materials by our researchers.

Lane was convicted of the 1996 murder of her infant daughter, Tegan. The police had placed intercepts on her phone and a listening device in her house over several weeks in 2004 and 2008, but only a selection of those recordings was disclosed as part of the prosecution’s case.

We have made a freedom of information request to access to any undisclosed recordings and determine their exculpatory value. This application is currently under review by the Information and Privacy Commission NSW.

https://theconversation.com/why-pol...s-disclose-evidence-in-criminal-trials-104317
 
Aug 13, 2013
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The facebook group for this show is amazing. Here is just a few quotes/questions i found in 5 minutes.
- did they check the phone book for Andrew Norris?
- I've been googling for Andrew fiancee images, a couple of potential lookalikes there.
- I wonder if Andrew has not come forward as he is dead (posts image of death records of a random Andrew Morris)
 
Sep 22, 2011
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The facebook group for this show is amazing. Here is just a few quotes/questions i found in 5 minutes.
- did they check the phone book for Andrew Norris?
- I've been googling for Andrew fiancee images, a couple of potential lookalikes there.
- I wonder if Andrew has not come forward as he is dead (posts image of death records of a random Andrew Morris)

Yeah there’s interesting types in there.

One lady implored everybody to send pictures of the car model to everybody they knew to see if they knew of a car like this since 1996.

It’s a white Commodore.

Another theorised that “A. Morris” was a code. Morris Minor. “A. Minor”. She got pregnant to a minor and couldn’t come clean about it.

Yep.
 
Apr 13, 2015
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Strange case and a pretty compelling documentary series to boot.

Ultimately, I think she did it. She comes across as dishonest and I have no doubt she would’ve had a lot of pressure on her in her personal life which lead her to commit an awful act at the time.

That said, the series has pointed out some pretty massive flaws in the prosecution’s case which I don’t believe to be narrative bias like for example Making A Murderer. It’s troubling that somebody could be convicted and sentenced for such a long time on the basis of pretty flimsy circumstantial evidence.

Makes it even more mind boggling when recidivist, violent creeps get slaps on the wrist with sentencing.
 
Last edited:
Ultimately, I think she did it. She comes across as dishonest and I have no doubt she would’ve had a lot of pressure on her in her personal life which lead her to commit an awful act at the time.

Not sure here that she did it when she could have walked out and left the baby there. In the two days she had to tell staff she would put the baby up for adoption, the prosecution's case is she was plotting to kill Tegan. Plotting to kill the infant she cared for, gave a middle name and went out of her way to register with Medicare.

It might be more about whether she had a fair trial and imo she didn't and it's scary.
 
Professor Ann Buist assessment. She proposes your theory Bunk Moreland of leaving the baby somewhere hoping she would be found as more likely than killing her. Admits the possibility also of giving the baby away no documents or questions asked even if the story has some holes in it.

The case of Keli and Tegan Lane is the most baffling I've ever come across.

I can't say Keli Lane didn't kill her child — but I can say she doesn't fit easily into the categories of those who do.

Over a 30-year career as a perinatal psychiatrist, I have been asked to assess whether mental illness was a contributing factor to infanticide — the killing of a child under one year by their mother, or neonaticide if under 24 hours — in maybe a dozen cases and read research of maybe a hundred or more others. Keli doesn't fit easily in this company.


Visiting Keli in prison


Keli is a slim, attractive woman in her middle years, dressed prison-plainly, who gave a cheerful greeting to the guards. She was wary at first, but warmed up and was both engaged and engaging. She had the demeanour of a younger sister's girlfriend who you vaguely knew, chatting in the backroom at the local RSL club.

I had read the documentation of Keli's case and viewed the video of the police interviews. Tegan (the fourth pregnancy) went missing within two days of her birth, after leaving with Keli from the obstetric hospital.

The timeframe is technically outside the definition of neonaticide, but like the other neonaticide cases in reviews and that I have seen (or attempted neonaticide — in several the babies survived), Keli's babies were unplanned, unwanted and unacceptable.

Also in keeping with this subgroup of infanticide, she was young, with a pre-teen level of maturity and a family that didn't talk about emotions. She didn't realise she was pregnant until late; for these girls, this denial can be at a deep psychological level or actively pushing it out of their mind when it surfaces. It's difficult to imagine the shock of childbirth under such circumstances. They panic; hit out in fear, run, and may have no recall. These are familiar reactions to severe stress and trauma, and some courts will accept them as constituting a mental illness (acute stress disorder).

But in Keli's case, this is where the story differs. There was no evidence of the "panic" at delivery, typical of neonaticides. She knew she was having a baby by the third trimester, and delivered in a hospital. She planned what to do in all her pregnancies — two terminations; two adoptions; and in Tegan's case she claims she gave to the father of the baby and his girlfriend. She planned around her commitments on all occasions, making up stories if she needed to hide where she had been.

There was no compelling reason she had to be at the wedding she turned up at after Tegan's birth — she could have made up any number of stories as she had in the past. That she did turn up was in keeping with her character; you pulled yourself up and got on with things.

Keli did not have psychosis: psychotic and severely depressed mothers whose judgment is significantly impaired may kill their children for altruistic reasons. They often commit or attempt suicide. Other mothers who commit infanticide have less clear diagnoses (and personality disorders are not considered mental illness for the purpose of defence). They are often isolated, unsupported and desperate. They frequently love their baby but struggle to keep their child in mind as a result of their own childhood trauma, drug use and need for partner's approval. She didn't fit this group either.

Was she a narcissist?
Keli has some narcissistic traits, but doesn't tick enough boxes for a diagnosable disorder. Personality disorders are lifelong patterns, whereas her psychopathology was from age 16 to 24. Outside this time, she has no significant history of illegal behaviour or irresponsibility. She has maintained friendships, kept a job where she was liked, and sustained a marriage of several years. She has a current partner and regular contact with her daughter who she gave credible evidence of caring deeply about.

So why these hidden pregnancies, and what was it about her environment that allowed or supported this to happen?

And would this explain why Keli adopted out two children but, according to her conviction, murdered the one in between?

Keli's answers to my questions strongly suggested an avoidant attachment style, which is characterised from infancy by the child recognising that their caregivers are not comfortable sitting with and managing negative emotions. From a very early age, Keli got the message that her parents didn't like dealing with negative emotions. She learnt to suppress her emotions but still craved connection.

Keli's parents were heavily involved in sport, and she found her connection there. Her father was her role model and she became "one of the boys". She was strongly built, drank heavily, didn't bother with makeup.

There was little space in her teenage life of pre- and after-school training (at times 4.30am to 9:30pm) to reflect on becoming a woman. Her many coaches reinforced what Keli already knew to do — focus on sport. This also reinforced the underlying message — success (at sport) is what is rewarded.

'One of the boys'
There was little time and no encouragement for mother-daughter chats or giggling with girlfriends over boys and makeup and how tedious periods were. At important milestones — menarche, first sexual experience, first pregnancy — Keli felt traumatised, largely because she was unprepared or because of other factors happening at the time for her family and friends, and felt unable to seek support.

Here is the psychological immaturity I had seen in other neonaticides. But there were differences; in particular, why so many pregnancies?

In Keli's teenage years there were parallel processes at work.

The first was a need to be loved and accepted by her family. From her perception, there was no role model or encouragement to be anything other than outstanding at sport. Even when awareness of a pregnancy bubbled to the surface it didn't stay there long: she used the method of dealing with anything that caused anxiety, anger, fear or sadness that had been constantly reinforced since she was a baby — denial and repression.

The second process was her development from being "one of the boys" to a sexually mature woman.

It took six pregnancies for the latter process to win over the former. Keli's psychopathology was centred in that time in her life. Because she was never called out on any of the pregnancies (or at least not in a way she couldn't bluff past), she kept doing what she always did, the only thing she knew how to do with the tricky emotional female stuff — squash emotions down, get on and be successful.

Murder doesn't fit with Keli's image of herself
Though her planning was neither brilliant nor deeply considered, Keli planned what she was going to do in every pregnancy. She had been given a hard time with the social worker's questions at first adoption; being made to think about the child was harder still. Conceivably she was looking for an easier option with Tegan. In the following pregnancy because there was no-one to give the child to (Keli's story) or because killing Tegan had traumatised her (the prosecution psychiatrist's theory) she returned to the option of adoption.

But would she plan to kill a child?

It doesn't fit with any version of herself she has ever had, and is out of keeping with her other behaviour.

Lying to escape scrutiny is a long way from murder.

It is just as conceivable that Keli left Tegan somewhere after they were discharged from hospital hoping, perhaps unrealistically, she would be found, but I find it far less believable that she bashed, drowned or suffocated the baby.

These are acts of panic, not planning. And not acts of someone who saw herself as doing the right thing under difficult circumstances on each of the other occasions, who was upset by being forced to see the child prior to Tegan, and who continued to finally mature to a stage where she could keep a child, and be a mother.

In the past, even in the years of her problematic behaviour, Keli was concerned to provide the best outcome for the child within narrow childlike limit of thought, by adopting them out or — ostensibly — giving them away. This would include someone (father of the child or otherwise) who said they wanted a child, no paperwork or questions asked.

Though the story as it stands has holes, the concept fits with her psychopathology, which murder does not, however more complex it is than the average case of infanticide; from a psychological perspective, at the level of reasonable doubt.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-13/keli-lane-mother-who-kills-her-baby/10209554
 
Apr 2, 2013
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You'd reckon someone could come up with a complete floor plan. I don't want to add to the noise in there but I was in the area Keli said she handed the baby over early 2000 Similar look to Keli, I was noticed in a sea of non anglos and hijabis. I looked out of place, so much the Registrar of plastics was walking past behind the glass and his head snapped my way sitting in the corner trying to look invisible, wound his way in to talk to me.

The girl who says its a big area with lots of seating is right but the office/reception wasn't on the far right, it was closer to the entrance. Big corridor behind that ran the length and was behind glass.

She should have been noticed, asking for memory of her four years later though might be too much to ask.

This is the thing thou. In a public place like a Hospital, CBD etc you pass literally thousands of people. For all we know you or I could've walked past an axe murderer about to comit a crime but testimony would be useless as you would be unlikely to register. How many people do you pay attention to? (Unless it is the same place you get coffee, someone you see a few times).
Much better content on the FB page today. Trying to have a good look at the layout of the old hospital and if/how Keli left with Tegan and the ghosts the way she said she did.

Still nutter commenting, but at least it’s still a more interesting and relevant area.
Got access myself. Just a bunch of theorising. None of the theories are ground breaking or convincing.
 
This is the thing thou. In a public place like a Hospital, CBD etc you pass literally thousands of people. For all we know you or I could've walked past an axe murderer about to comit a crime but testimony would be useless as you would be unlikely to register. How many people do you pay attention to? (Unless it is the same place you get coffee, someone you see a few times).

As hospitals go, Auburn wasn't very big it operated with only three lifts. Pretty sure one of the staff should have walked her out and if they were surprised to find her bed empty at 2.00pm it seems right to me one of them should have asked if anybody saw who picked her up and at what time.

Keli said she was downstairs with baby and three other people for ten or fifteen minutes.
 
Apr 2, 2013
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As hospitals go, Auburn wasn't very big it operated with only three lifts. Pretty sure one of the staff should have walked her out and if they were surprised to find her bed empty at 2.00pm it seems right to me one of them should have asked if anybody saw who picked her up and at what time.

Keli said she was downstairs with baby and three other people for ten or fifteen minutes.

Maybe but if it was just a casual/first time nurse seeing her why would they specifically remember her out of the 1000s of patients they deal with? Bear in mind that this was now 22 years a go and this didn't hit the press until about 05-10.
 
Maybe but if it was just a casual/first time nurse seeing her why would they specifically remember her out of the 1000s of patients they deal with? Bear in mind that this was now 22 years a go and this didn't hit the press until about 05-10.

There were two staff posted there each time I went in, both hijabis. I was the only blonde in there each time and the staring made me uncomfortable. Keli had no visitors, no family, she should have been watched and questions should have been asked when she was noticed gone. And remarked on.
 
Oct 12, 2017
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Though her planning was neither brilliant nor deeply considered, Keli planned what she was going to do in every pregnancy. She had been given a hard time with the social worker's questions at first adoption; being made to think about the child was harder still. Conceivably she was looking for an easier option with Tegan. In the following pregnancy because there was no-one to give the child to (Keli's story) or because killing Tegan had traumatised her (the prosecution psychiatrist's theory) she returned to the option of adoption.

...

Keli's answers to my questions strongly suggested an avoidant attachment style, which is characterised from infancy by the child recognising that their caregivers are not comfortable sitting with and managing negative emotions. From a very early age, Keli got the message that her parents didn't like dealing with negative emotions. She learnt to suppress her emotions but still craved connection.

Keli's parents were heavily involved in sport, and she found her connection there. Her father was her role model and she became "one of the boys". She was strongly built, drank heavily, didn't bother with makeup.

There was little space in her teenage life of pre- and after-school training (at times 4.30am to 9:30pm) to reflect on becoming a woman. Her many coaches reinforced what Keli already knew to do — focus on sport. This also reinforced the underlying message — success (at sport) is what is rewarded.

If she was given such a hard time with the adoption questions from her previous pregnancy it's possible she didn't arrange anything and strongly avoided the issue with Teagan. Until the pregnancy became obvious to her parents and then she's confessed to her father that she hasn't made arrangements for this baby.

Her chances for success and possibly to play for Australia in water polo would be curtailed and her perceived value according the the psych. Did Dad offer to take care of the problem for Keli? She has been constantly lying about what she did with the baby, who she handed Tegan to if she actually did for no logical reason, in my opinion. Any scenario other than Keli killing her baby would logically seem to have either resulted in not being convicted or having a lessor sentence. But she would hesitate for a minute on camera when asked to tell the truth instead of telling the truth.

In those days with no body no charges could be laid and as this was known, I don't think Tegan's body will ever be found.


Professor Ann Buist assessment. She proposes your theory Bunk Moreland of leaving the baby somewhere hoping she would be found as more likely than killing her. Admits the possibility also of giving the baby away no documents or questions asked even if the story has some holes in it.

The case of Keli and Tegan Lane is the most baffling I've ever come across.

I can't say Keli Lane didn't kill her child — but I can say she doesn't fit easily into the categories of those who do.

Over a 30-year career as a perinatal psychiatrist, I have been asked to assess whether mental illness was a contributing factor to infanticide — the killing of a child under one year by their mother, or neonaticide if under 24 hours — in maybe a dozen cases and read research of maybe a hundred or more others. Keli doesn't fit easily in this company.


Visiting Keli in prison


Keli is a slim, attractive woman in her middle years, dressed prison-plainly, who gave a cheerful greeting to the guards. She was wary at first, but warmed up and was both engaged and engaging. She had the demeanour of a younger sister's girlfriend who you vaguely knew, chatting in the backroom at the local RSL club.

I had read the documentation of Keli's case and viewed the video of the police interviews. Tegan (the fourth pregnancy) went missing within two days of her birth, after leaving with Keli from the obstetric hospital.

The timeframe is technically outside the definition of neonaticide, but like the other neonaticide cases in reviews and that I have seen (or attempted neonaticide — in several the babies survived), Keli's babies were unplanned, unwanted and unacceptable.

Also in keeping with this subgroup of infanticide, she was young, with a pre-teen level of maturity and a family that didn't talk about emotions. She didn't realise she was pregnant until late; for these girls, this denial can be at a deep psychological level or actively pushing it out of their mind when it surfaces. It's difficult to imagine the shock of childbirth under such circumstances. They panic; hit out in fear, run, and may have no recall. These are familiar reactions to severe stress and trauma, and some courts will accept them as constituting a mental illness (acute stress disorder).

But in Keli's case, this is where the story differs. There was no evidence of the "panic" at delivery, typical of neonaticides. She knew she was having a baby by the third trimester, and delivered in a hospital. She planned what to do in all her pregnancies — two terminations; two adoptions; and in Tegan's case she claims she gave to the father of the baby and his girlfriend. She planned around her commitments on all occasions, making up stories if she needed to hide where she had been.

There was no compelling reason she had to be at the wedding she turned up at after Tegan's birth — she could have made up any number of stories as she had in the past. That she did turn up was in keeping with her character; you pulled yourself up and got on with things.

Keli did not have psychosis: psychotic and severely depressed mothers whose judgment is significantly impaired may kill their children for altruistic reasons. They often commit or attempt suicide. Other mothers who commit infanticide have less clear diagnoses (and personality disorders are not considered mental illness for the purpose of defence). They are often isolated, unsupported and desperate. They frequently love their baby but struggle to keep their child in mind as a result of their own childhood trauma, drug use and need for partner's approval. She didn't fit this group either.

Was she a narcissist?
Keli has some narcissistic traits, but doesn't tick enough boxes for a diagnosable disorder. Personality disorders are lifelong patterns, whereas her psychopathology was from age 16 to 24. Outside this time, she has no significant history of illegal behaviour or irresponsibility. She has maintained friendships, kept a job where she was liked, and sustained a marriage of several years. She has a current partner and regular contact with her daughter who she gave credible evidence of caring deeply about.

So why these hidden pregnancies, and what was it about her environment that allowed or supported this to happen?

And would this explain why Keli adopted out two children but, according to her conviction, murdered the one in between?

Keli's answers to my questions strongly suggested an avoidant attachment style, which is characterised from infancy by the child recognising that their caregivers are not comfortable sitting with and managing negative emotions. From a very early age, Keli got the message that her parents didn't like dealing with negative emotions. She learnt to suppress her emotions but still craved connection.

Keli's parents were heavily involved in sport, and she found her connection there. Her father was her role model and she became "one of the boys". She was strongly built, drank heavily, didn't bother with makeup.

There was little space in her teenage life of pre- and after-school training (at times 4.30am to 9:30pm) to reflect on becoming a woman. Her many coaches reinforced what Keli already knew to do — focus on sport. This also reinforced the underlying message — success (at sport) is what is rewarded.

'One of the boys'
There was little time and no encouragement for mother-daughter chats or giggling with girlfriends over boys and makeup and how tedious periods were. At important milestones — menarche, first sexual experience, first pregnancy — Keli felt traumatised, largely because she was unprepared or because of other factors happening at the time for her family and friends, and felt unable to seek support.

Here is the psychological immaturity I had seen in other neonaticides. But there were differences; in particular, why so many pregnancies?

In Keli's teenage years there were parallel processes at work.

The first was a need to be loved and accepted by her family. From her perception, there was no role model or encouragement to be anything other than outstanding at sport. Even when awareness of a pregnancy bubbled to the surface it didn't stay there long: she used the method of dealing with anything that caused anxiety, anger, fear or sadness that had been constantly reinforced since she was a baby — denial and repression.

The second process was her development from being "one of the boys" to a sexually mature woman.

It took six pregnancies for the latter process to win over the former. Keli's psychopathology was centred in that time in her life. Because she was never called out on any of the pregnancies (or at least not in a way she couldn't bluff past), she kept doing what she always did, the only thing she knew how to do with the tricky emotional female stuff — squash emotions down, get on and be successful.

Murder doesn't fit with Keli's image of herself
Though her planning was neither brilliant nor deeply considered, Keli planned what she was going to do in every pregnancy. She had been given a hard time with the social worker's questions at first adoption; being made to think about the child was harder still. Conceivably she was looking for an easier option with Tegan. In the following pregnancy because there was no-one to give the child to (Keli's story) or because killing Tegan had traumatised her (the prosecution psychiatrist's theory) she returned to the option of adoption.

But would she plan to kill a child?

It doesn't fit with any version of herself she has ever had, and is out of keeping with her other behaviour.

Lying to escape scrutiny is a long way from murder.

It is just as conceivable that Keli left Tegan somewhere after they were discharged from hospital hoping, perhaps unrealistically, she would be found, but I find it far less believable that she bashed, drowned or suffocated the baby.

These are acts of panic, not planning. And not acts of someone who saw herself as doing the right thing under difficult circumstances on each of the other occasions, who was upset by being forced to see the child prior to Tegan, and who continued to finally mature to a stage where she could keep a child, and be a mother.

In the past, even in the years of her problematic behaviour, Keli was concerned to provide the best outcome for the child within narrow childlike limit of thought, by adopting them out or — ostensibly — giving them away. This would include someone (father of the child or otherwise) who said they wanted a child, no paperwork or questions asked.

Though the story as it stands has holes, the concept fits with her psychopathology, which murder does not, however more complex it is than the average case of infanticide; from a psychological perspective, at the level of reasonable doubt.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-13/keli-lane-mother-who-kills-her-baby/10209554
 
Apr 2, 2013
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Is that enough do you think though, for guilt beyond reasonable doubt?

Had she been convicted of illegal surrogacy/selling her baby to people whose identity she didnt even think to check or the arrangement was that she wasn't to know who they were, I'd be more comfortable with that. I think there's more evidence leaning towards that than murder with no body etc etc.

This. Also she didn't touch her bank accounts for 5 months. That is unusual. Even if you get a windfall or significant amounts you would still use your account for minor everyday things/put some money in use a credit card (This was 96 so ATMs even EFTPOS were common place then).....But 5 months

Also no one knew she was pregnant. What 3 times (Tegan being 2 so twice at that point) Come off it.

Add in the shonky defence. No report of a baby missing till 99 and botched Police investigation. (Bear in mind around 96 was the Wood Royal Commission so NSW Police/Public Services wasn't exactly stellar at the time)

Easy to conclude there is a massive cover up(s) going on somewhere and there are smoke screens everyone is putting up to hide a truth.

Personally think it should be Not Guilty/retried if possible. Too much doubt.

My theory is: Honestly wouldn't have the faintest clue. It would be a guess. Just shows truth is stranger than fiction all right.
 
If this new contributor I'm seeing is for real on the ABCTV Exposed page and she's very adamant, she's suggesting there was an illegal adoption ring running out of Auburn hospital. Mothers in the early stages of their pregnancies were being approached about giving their babies up.

She was due about the same time as Keli and had her baby at Auburn.
 
Sep 22, 2011
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Professor Ann Buist assessment. She proposes your theory Bunk Moreland of leaving the baby somewhere hoping she would be found as more likely than killing her. Admits the possibility also of giving the baby away no documents or questions asked even if the story has some holes in it.

The case of Keli and Tegan Lane is the most baffling I've ever come across.

I can't say Keli Lane didn't kill her child — but I can say she doesn't fit easily into the categories of those who do.

Over a 30-year career as a perinatal psychiatrist, I have been asked to assess whether mental illness was a contributing factor to infanticide — the killing of a child under one year by their mother, or neonaticide if under 24 hours — in maybe a dozen cases and read research of maybe a hundred or more others. Keli doesn't fit easily in this company.


Visiting Keli in prison


Keli is a slim, attractive woman in her middle years, dressed prison-plainly, who gave a cheerful greeting to the guards. She was wary at first, but warmed up and was both engaged and engaging. She had the demeanour of a younger sister's girlfriend who you vaguely knew, chatting in the backroom at the local RSL club.

I had read the documentation of Keli's case and viewed the video of the police interviews. Tegan (the fourth pregnancy) went missing within two days of her birth, after leaving with Keli from the obstetric hospital.

The timeframe is technically outside the definition of neonaticide, but like the other neonaticide cases in reviews and that I have seen (or attempted neonaticide — in several the babies survived), Keli's babies were unplanned, unwanted and unacceptable.

Also in keeping with this subgroup of infanticide, she was young, with a pre-teen level of maturity and a family that didn't talk about emotions. She didn't realise she was pregnant until late; for these girls, this denial can be at a deep psychological level or actively pushing it out of their mind when it surfaces. It's difficult to imagine the shock of childbirth under such circumstances. They panic; hit out in fear, run, and may have no recall. These are familiar reactions to severe stress and trauma, and some courts will accept them as constituting a mental illness (acute stress disorder).

But in Keli's case, this is where the story differs. There was no evidence of the "panic" at delivery, typical of neonaticides. She knew she was having a baby by the third trimester, and delivered in a hospital. She planned what to do in all her pregnancies — two terminations; two adoptions; and in Tegan's case she claims she gave to the father of the baby and his girlfriend. She planned around her commitments on all occasions, making up stories if she needed to hide where she had been.

There was no compelling reason she had to be at the wedding she turned up at after Tegan's birth — she could have made up any number of stories as she had in the past. That she did turn up was in keeping with her character; you pulled yourself up and got on with things.

Keli did not have psychosis: psychotic and severely depressed mothers whose judgment is significantly impaired may kill their children for altruistic reasons. They often commit or attempt suicide. Other mothers who commit infanticide have less clear diagnoses (and personality disorders are not considered mental illness for the purpose of defence). They are often isolated, unsupported and desperate. They frequently love their baby but struggle to keep their child in mind as a result of their own childhood trauma, drug use and need for partner's approval. She didn't fit this group either.

Was she a narcissist?
Keli has some narcissistic traits, but doesn't tick enough boxes for a diagnosable disorder. Personality disorders are lifelong patterns, whereas her psychopathology was from age 16 to 24. Outside this time, she has no significant history of illegal behaviour or irresponsibility. She has maintained friendships, kept a job where she was liked, and sustained a marriage of several years. She has a current partner and regular contact with her daughter who she gave credible evidence of caring deeply about.

So why these hidden pregnancies, and what was it about her environment that allowed or supported this to happen?

And would this explain why Keli adopted out two children but, according to her conviction, murdered the one in between?

Keli's answers to my questions strongly suggested an avoidant attachment style, which is characterised from infancy by the child recognising that their caregivers are not comfortable sitting with and managing negative emotions. From a very early age, Keli got the message that her parents didn't like dealing with negative emotions. She learnt to suppress her emotions but still craved connection.

Keli's parents were heavily involved in sport, and she found her connection there. Her father was her role model and she became "one of the boys". She was strongly built, drank heavily, didn't bother with makeup.

There was little space in her teenage life of pre- and after-school training (at times 4.30am to 9:30pm) to reflect on becoming a woman. Her many coaches reinforced what Keli already knew to do — focus on sport. This also reinforced the underlying message — success (at sport) is what is rewarded.

'One of the boys'
There was little time and no encouragement for mother-daughter chats or giggling with girlfriends over boys and makeup and how tedious periods were. At important milestones — menarche, first sexual experience, first pregnancy — Keli felt traumatised, largely because she was unprepared or because of other factors happening at the time for her family and friends, and felt unable to seek support.

Here is the psychological immaturity I had seen in other neonaticides. But there were differences; in particular, why so many pregnancies?

In Keli's teenage years there were parallel processes at work.

The first was a need to be loved and accepted by her family. From her perception, there was no role model or encouragement to be anything other than outstanding at sport. Even when awareness of a pregnancy bubbled to the surface it didn't stay there long: she used the method of dealing with anything that caused anxiety, anger, fear or sadness that had been constantly reinforced since she was a baby — denial and repression.

The second process was her development from being "one of the boys" to a sexually mature woman.

It took six pregnancies for the latter process to win over the former. Keli's psychopathology was centred in that time in her life. Because she was never called out on any of the pregnancies (or at least not in a way she couldn't bluff past), she kept doing what she always did, the only thing she knew how to do with the tricky emotional female stuff — squash emotions down, get on and be successful.

Murder doesn't fit with Keli's image of herself
Though her planning was neither brilliant nor deeply considered, Keli planned what she was going to do in every pregnancy. She had been given a hard time with the social worker's questions at first adoption; being made to think about the child was harder still. Conceivably she was looking for an easier option with Tegan. In the following pregnancy because there was no-one to give the child to (Keli's story) or because killing Tegan had traumatised her (the prosecution psychiatrist's theory) she returned to the option of adoption.

But would she plan to kill a child?

It doesn't fit with any version of herself she has ever had, and is out of keeping with her other behaviour.

Lying to escape scrutiny is a long way from murder.

It is just as conceivable that Keli left Tegan somewhere after they were discharged from hospital hoping, perhaps unrealistically, she would be found, but I find it far less believable that she bashed, drowned or suffocated the baby.

These are acts of panic, not planning. And not acts of someone who saw herself as doing the right thing under difficult circumstances on each of the other occasions, who was upset by being forced to see the child prior to Tegan, and who continued to finally mature to a stage where she could keep a child, and be a mother.

In the past, even in the years of her problematic behaviour, Keli was concerned to provide the best outcome for the child within narrow childlike limit of thought, by adopting them out or — ostensibly — giving them away. This would include someone (father of the child or otherwise) who said they wanted a child, no paperwork or questions asked.

Though the story as it stands has holes, the concept fits with her psychopathology, which murder does not, however more complex it is than the average case of infanticide; from a psychological perspective, at the level of reasonable doubt.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-13/keli-lane-mother-who-kills-her-baby/10209554

Fascinating. Good to see something of worth come from this whole cluster*. Glad they engaged this psychiatrist.

For mine she’s dumped Tegan and by some unfortunate luck she was never found by anybody - exposure, weather, animal etc.

Either that, or she’s left her somewhere for the wedding etc, and she hasn’t survived, and she panicked and did a very good job of disposing of the body.

I don’t believe her story for one second. Nobody can help her until/unless she comes clean.
 
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