Barrie John Watts: Queensland man who raped and killed Sunshine Coast schoolgirl Sian Kingi fails in parole bid
Child killer Barrie John Watts, who raped and murdered 12-year-old schoolgirl Sian Kingi in one of Queensland’s most shocking crimes more than 35 years ago, has failed in his latest bid for freedom.
Watts and his then wife Valmae Beck were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990 for the murder of the Noosa girl on the Sunshine Coast in 1987.
Sian had been riding her bike home from school in Noosa Heads when she was asked for help searching for a supposedly lost dog.
She was bound and gagged and then driven about 12km to Tinbeerwah forest where she was raped and stabbed several times.
Barrie Watts, who was sentenced to life in prison, has failed in his latest quest for freedom
At the trial, Beck pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping Sian, but not guilty of murder.
Watts pleaded not guilty.
Beck, a mother of six, changed her name to Fay Cramb and died in May 2008 at the age of 64 in a north Queensland hospital.
Watts was first eligible for parole on December 15, 2000.
Now he has been denied parole again.
Queensland Parole Board president Michael Byrne issued a statement saying Watts could not reapply for parole until February 2034.
“I have made this statement because of the nature, gravity and circumstances of the offense for which the prisoner has been sentenced to life imprisonment,” he said.
“(Also because of) the risk that the prisoner may pose to the public if the prisoner is released on parole, and because of the likely effect that the prisoner’s parole may have on an eligible person or a victim.
“As a result, the inmate’s parole application received on October 14, 2022, which was deferred… is rejected.”
It comes after laws for the state’s worst killers were introduced in 2021, following a public call for Watts to be kept locked up.
The laws allow the Parole Board president to prevent child murderers and those who have murdered multiple people from applying for parole for up to ten years after their eligibility date.
Multiple charges may be filed against a person considered a restricted inmate.
The laws could also apply to other killers in the future, such as Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Peter Cowan, and triple murderers Max Sica and Scott Maygar.
Valmae Beck, then wife of Barrie Watts (pictured), was also sentenced to life in prison, but died in 2008