Couple ‘murdered teenage mother so they could take her baby – then fed her body to pigs after buying a chainsaw’

An Australian couple accused of murdering their teenage girl and then feeding her body to pigs so they could steal her baby are now facing trial after being arrested 20 years after the alleged crime.

Robert and Anne Geeves, both 64, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 19-year-old Amber Haigh, who disappeared from the Geeves’ family in New South Wales in 2002.

Haigh, who was mentally handicapped, had been staying with the couple, along with her then five-month-old son, fathered by Robert, and was last seen in public on June 2, 2002.

The Geeves claim they took her to a train station near Sydney on June 5 so she could visit her father, who was terminally ill in hospital.

The teenage mother never returned to the hospital and was never seen again.

For years, her case remained unsolved until Australian police arrested Mr and Mrs Geeves in May 2022, almost exactly twenty years after Haigh’s disappearance.

Now, gruesome details of the case have emerged. Prosecutors say the couple used Haigh as a “surrogate mother,” murdered her and fed her body to pigs.

Investigators also discovered that the Geeves had purchased a chainsaw around the time of Haigh’s disappearance. They found the back of a check they had used to pay for the saw.

Amber Haigh (left), her son Royce Haigh and Robert Geeves (right) who fathered the baby

Amber’s son was only six months old when his mother disappeared without a trace

Haigh was reported missing on June 19, 2002 after she failed to return to her home in Kingsvale, near Harden in New South Wales, where she and her five-month-old son lived with the Geeves family.

Police were told the couple dropped the young mother off at Campbelltown train station on June 5 and that she planned to travel from there to Mt Druitt in Sydney’s west to visit her ailing father in hospital.

An inquest in 2011 found that Haigh had died in June 2002 from murder or another accident. Police suspected the Geeves were involved in the crime and installed listening devices in their home.

But they were never able to gather enough evidence to charge the couple.

In 2020, a formal investigation into the case was conducted within the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide framework and a new investigation was launched, resulting in the arrest of Robert and Anne Geeves in May 2022.

During the trial, which has been going on for seven weeks, the Australian court heard how Haigh “adored” her son and “never let him out of her sight”, a characterisation that raised questions about whether she would leave the baby with the Geeves while she visited her father alone.

Prosecutors told the court the couple had one son, who had previously been in a relationship with Haigh, but were desperate for another child. They had suffered a stillbirth after three miscarriages.

Haigh had a son by Robert, with whom she had a sexual relationship. A family therapist who met Haigh months before her disappearance told the court she was “a very vulnerable young woman” who “would struggle to understand the difference between love and exploitation”.

In notes tendered to the court, defence lawyer Emma Badlock revealed that Haigh loved her son very much and feared the Geeves would try to gain sole custody of him.

“Amber says that if Anne and Robert try to have (her child) because they want a baby, she will tell them to ‘leave it alone,’” the notes read.

The guard reported that Haigh and Robert Geeves allegedly signed a handwritten agreement stating that the Geeveses would not attempt to take custody of the child unless Haigh introduced the boy to members of her own family.

Haigh had a “dysfunctional” relationship with her extended family, the court heard, and was said to have been a victim of violence and sexual abuse.

Anne Margaret Geeves (pictured during her arrest) and her husband have pleaded not guilty to the murder of their teenage roommate

Another important part of the prosecution’s argument is the evidence that around the time of Haigh’s disappearance, Mr Geeves telephoned a large number of rural residents near their homes asking if he could access their land to borrow farm machinery or collect wood.

“The theory in the Crown’s case is that it was always the Geeves’ intention to take over custody and care of (the child) from Amber,” prosecutor Paul Kerr told the court in his opening statement.

“But they knew that in order to do that, they had to take Amber out of the equation… so, the prosecution alleges, they killed her.”

The Geeves have pleaded not guilty to murder charges and have consistently denied any involvement in Haigh’s disappearance.

Lawyers for the couple claim that the prosecution’s case against their clients is full of flaws and that they have no clear evidence that the Geeveses murdered Haigh. They blame speculation about their involvement in her disappearance on “disgust” over Robert’s sexual relationship with “a much younger woman with an intellectual disability”.

“Many witnesses had grievances or suspicions, particularly against Mr Geeves… who denies any involvement in (Haigh’s) disappearance or murder,” defence lawyer Paul Coady told the court.

Another member of Geeves’ legal team added that Anne Geeves had “no motive to kill Amber or wish her dead” and dismissed the case against them as being fuelled by “mistrust and suspicion”.

Haigh was reported missing on June 19, 2002 after she failed to return to her home in Kingsvale, near Harden in New South Wales, where she and her five-month-old son lived with the Geeves.

Amber Haigh is seen in 2002, the year she disappeared

Lawyers also ridiculed the testimony of a witness, a former legal secretary, who claimed that Haigh feared for her life and wanted to make a will while she was pregnant to prevent Robert from ever getting custody of the child.

Legal secretary Rebecca Pisaturo-McMillan testified that Haigh came to the law firm in August 2001, She claimed she needed the document ‘for the protection of her child’.

‘[Ms Haigh] “She was very direct and adamant that the moment her child was born, her life would be ended,” Pisaturo-McMillan told the court.

But defence lawyer Coady countered that none of the notes the secretary had taken of her meeting with Haigh mentioned her fearing for her life, because Haigh had never actually said anything about it.

He further alleged that the legal secretary had “swapped” evidence after years of negative press and rumours about the Geeves.

Last month, Robbie, the Geeves’ son, was called as a witness by the Public Prosecution Service.

He did not accuse his parents of killing Haigh, but said his relationship with them was irreparably damaged after his father impregnated the teenager, with whom Robbie had previously been in a relationship.

“I don’t know how to say it nicely: she was my ex-girlfriend, you can’t have a little brother for your ex-girlfriend… that’s not right,” he stated.

The Geeves are being given a judge-only trial at the request of their legal team, who say the media storm over their alleged involvement would have influenced the jury, given the length and notoriety of the case.

The trial, presided over by Judge Julia Lonergan, is still ongoing.