A member of a cult-like religious group accused of causing the death of a diabetic girl told her father: “Peace, healing and comfort are your birthright,” urging him to have a “peaceful sleep” as the girl lay dying.
The texts sent by members of the religious sect, known as The Saints, were obtained from downloads on the phones of the 14 co-defendants following the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs in early 2022.
The Crown alleges that members of the church group – who included Elizabeth’s father, Jason Richard Struhs, and mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs – withheld her insulin for several days in accordance with their beliefs in God’s healing power.
He died of diabetic ketoacidosis between January 6 and 7, 2022.
Mr Struhs, 52, and The Saints frontman Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, are charged with the girl’s murder.
Kerrie Struhs, 49, Zachary Alan Struhs, 21, Loretta Mary Stevens, 67, Acacia Naree Stevens, 31, Therese Maria Stevens, 37, Sebastian James Stevens, 23, Andrea Louise Stevens, 34, Camellia Claire Stevens, 28, Alexander Francis Stevens , 26, Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34, his wife Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26, and Keita Courtney Martin, 22, all charged with murder.
All 14 have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
In a text message to his father at around 10:50 p.m. on January 5, 2022, Sebastian Stevens urges his father Brendan to have a “peaceful sleep” after “enduring another day.”
Elizabeth Struhs (pictured with her parents Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs and Jason Richard Struhs) died in early January 2022 from diabetic ketoacidosis after reportedly being taken off insulin for several days.
Jason Richard Struhs and Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs are charged with the murder and torture of their daughter Elizabeth Rose Struhs.
The text, shown to the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday, was sent days before Elizabeth died.
In the message, Sebastian says, ‘Praise the Lord, Dad,’ and declares that he has ‘sought the Lord in His time and trial and has declared his true following before the Saints, as always.’
“We are one day closer to the end of Elizabeth’s illness and one day closer to the Lord’s return. The path is narrow and there are few who follow it, but when she returns she will find faith in Israel,” Sebastian’s message continues.
“Good night and God bless. Peace, healing and comfort are your birthright, so take them all.”
Other images taken from their phones were shown to the court, including some of Elizabeth recovering in hospital following an incident in which she nearly died from the disease in 2019.
The court was told the woman spent weeks recovering at Brisbane Children’s Hospital before being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Jason was in charge of administering the girl’s insulin and had resisted joining the Saints for years until August 2021.
The Brisbane Supreme Court has been told that Brendan Stevens (pictured) has received text messages from his son Sebastian Stevens in which the 23-year-old thanks his father for declaring him “a true follower”. Photo: Supplied / A Current Affair
A video of his baptism was shown in court, showing Brendan Stevens immersing the 52-year-old in a large basin of water.
Other members of the group can be seen and heard singing, playing music, and clapping as Jason dives in before Brendan speaks in an unknown dialect.
The court was previously told this was in line with the group’s beliefs in “speaking in tongues”, described as a special, unknown language known only to God.
Another text seized from a defendant’s phone was sent to Lachlan and Samantha Schoenfisch on January 7, 2022.
It read: ‘Hi Sam and Lachlan, please pray as much as you can and get to Struhs as soon as possible. Elizabeth doesn’t seem to be breathing but we will see a victory very soon. God can do anything.’
A text sent to Kerrie Struhs’s phone by Child Safety in July 2019 was also shown, asking her to meet ‘Jason, Child Safety and the hospital staff once Elizabeth was released from hospital’.
The trial continues.
