A violent and manipulative father killed himself and his young daughter on the same day a court granted him access to her, an inquest has heard.
South Australia Deputy Coroner Ian White opened an inquest on Tuesday into the deaths of nine-month-old Kobi Anastasia Isobel Shepherdson and 38-year-old Henry David Shepherdson at the Whispering Wall of the Barossa Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide , on April 21, 2021.
The lawyer who helped Martin Kirby said it was a murder-suicide that had shocked South Australians.
“It is unlikely that this investigation will be able to identify any interaction, any system or procedure that was ultimately responsible for the deaths of Mr. Shepherdson and Kobi,” he said.
“Each of the potential failures alone might not have led to this outcome, but in combination, the holes that Mr. Shepherdson slipped through, in each case, aligned into catastrophic results.”
Shepherdson had a history of violence, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues.
He met Jenna Hutchins, a member of the Defense Forces, on a dating app in late 2019, and she became pregnant within a month, Kirby said.
After the couple moved in together, Shepherdson began verbally abusing her.
Baby Kobi was only nine months old when her father tied her to his chest and threw herself off a dam wall.
Henry Shepherdson threw him and his daughter from the Whispering Wall at the Barossa Reservoir in 2021. Pictured are emergency services at the scene.
The situation worsened and Shepherdson was arrested in December 2020, charged with false imprisonment and death threats.
He was taken into custody and an intervention order prohibited any contact with Hutchins and his daughter Kobi.
In January 2021, Hutchins began receiving calls from Shepherdson in prison.
“Mr. Shepherdson called and spoke to Ms. Hutchins 149 times,” Kirby said.
“And that’s 149 crimes,” White said.
Shepherdson gave Hutchins specific instructions on how to drop the charges.
“Once Your Honor hears these calls, you will be asked to classify them as showing highly manipulative behavior by Mr. Shepherdson towards her and, ultimately, that he was successful in his strategy of illegally contacting her and getting her to do what he wanted,” Kirby said. .
Police, prosecutors or the courts were not made aware of any of the calls, and Hutchins was vulnerable, distraught and without close family support, Kirby said.
Kobi’s manipulative father had been granted access to the baby hours earlier, an inquest heard Tuesday.
In February 2021, he signed a form to have the charges dropped.
Shepherdson was released from prison and in March police found him hiding in Hutchins’ bathroom.
He was returned to custody and, a week later, pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with the intervention order and was sentenced to six days in prison.
Hutchins told police he wanted the intervention order to remain in place. But weeks later, he signed another form to vary the conditions, so that there could be contact.
On April 21, 2021, Shepherdson appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court and, through his lawyer, asked if the intervention order could be varied, Kirby said.
The prosecutor carried out checks on police systems and agreed to remove no-contact conditions.
The same day, Shepherdson arranged to spend time with Kobi.
That afternoon, she traveled to the 34m-high Whispering Wall, and with Kobi strapped to her chest in a baby carrier, she climbed the railing and jumped.
“Since Ms Hutchins’ first report in October 2020, both South African Police and the Department of Correctional Services were aware of and had access to records demonstrating Mr Shepherdson’s past history, his history of violence, failure to comply with orders and poor mental health,” Kirby said. .
“I want to emphasize that Ms. Hutchins was a caring and diligent mother who suffered intense mental and, at times, physical abuse at the hands of Mr. Shepherdson.”
The investigation would attempt to answer many questions, including how Shepherdson accessed opioids from his primary care doctor, Kirby said.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
1800Respect: 1800 737 732