Dean Shillingsworth
February
25, 2005 - October 11, 2007
On October 17, 2007,
some children playing near a pond in a park in Mandurama Reserve at Ambarvale,
New South Wales, Australia found a suitcase that contained the body of
a child.
Rachel Pfitzner had
three children in all and each of her children had a different biological
father. Dean was in the middle between his older half sister, who was eight
and younger half brother who was six at the time of his death.
 ....
Only four months
prior to his death, Rachel Pfitzner had moved into a new home, a public
housing estate in Pindarus Place, Rosemeadow, with her children, including
Dean. Calls to The NSW Department of Community Services were made concerning
the welfare of Dean and that prompted a court order to be made and custody
of Dean was transferred to his grandmother. Dean had been living with his
paternal grandparents in Tamworth, up until June when he had gone for a
visit with is mother. Rachel had never brought home from that visit. When
police went to talk to her about the court order, Rachel said that Dean
was already in the custody of the DOCS. That was, of course, a lie.
Between 11am and
11:30am on October 11, 2007, Rachel had shaken Dean and thrown him to the
floor. She believed she had killed him so she wrapped his body in plastic,
stuff him inside of a suitcase and dumped his body into the pond where
his body was discovered by the children six days later. Four days later,
Rachel, who was on parole, was arrested and charged with murder. Rachel's
father said that he had only been able to see his grandson three times
since he had been
born. It had been
about six weeks since he had last seen him he said:
"I never got
the chance to cuddle him once, nor to hear him call me poppy"
Neighbors had thought
the way Rachel had behaved was odd, though none of them suspected she would
kill her child:
"He was very
quiet; we saw him once or twice, but never with his mother when she left
the house
to go to the
shops. She was always pushing the baby in the pram and had the little girl
with her. My
son said he
was obsessive. He woke up one night and was so hungry he ate a whole loaf
of bread.
We had little
to do with them. Most times it was through the little girl, when she would
go around to
neighbours'
houses with a note asking for cigarettes. Other times she would be playing
on her own
in the street
on her bike. We had not seen anyone at the house since last Sunday. Then
two days
ago police
came to my house asking questions, that's when we realized. I'm still pretty
numb"
Greg Massey
- neighbor
Kevin Greene, a Community
Services Minister, defended the way the case was handled. He said that
several calls made to their helping did not indicated that there was a
threat against the life of Dean:
"The reports
to the Department of Community Service, DOCS helpline that in some way
involved the
young boy,
I'm clearly advised by the director general of DOCS, that none of these
reports could
reasonably
be assessed that the child's life was in danger. "I'm not minimizing the
seriousness o
r the tragedy
of this case. I'm not suggesting these reports were unimportant"
The town continue
to mourn for Dan and the Reverend David Cole from the Rosemeadow Anglican
Church said that he would leave a service for Dean with three simple prayers:
"One is for
the family who's grieving, so Dean's family, simply that they will find
the courage and the
strength to
face the future without Dean. We are going to pray for the community, that
they make
sensible choices
from this point on. And then, just for Dean himself, we are going to ask
that God
treat him
with mercy and kindness"
Dean's biological
father, Paul Shillingsworth, was in jail at the time of his death, for
breaking parole on a bodily harm sentence. Paul had applied for a transfer
so that he could attend the funeral of his son. Beverly says that Paul
was a violent man and that there had been instances of domestic violence
in the relationship between Rachel and Paul.
Paul's family said
he was a talented, traditional dancer in a troupe that included several
of his brothers and they had performed at many events including the opening
of the Mount Druitt Medical Center. They did not see the violent man that
Beverly saw. Both sides of the family did agree that Dean was a bright,
lively little boy. Beverly said that his favorite words were food and biderman:
"He loved me,
I loved him. I was very, very close to him. He was a normal two-year-old.
The terrible twos.
He loved Chicken
In a Biskit. I used to go over there every Sunday. I would take enough
for all the kids
but he always
managed to find a box himself. He was very smart."
Donald Shillingsworth
said that his nephew loved his toy motorcycle, jumping castle and jumping
on the trampoline:
"He had
everything, he got what he wanted"
When Paul was let
out of jail, Rachel's family was disgusted at the way he was treated, like
a hero. Paul had been in jail on charges of sexual assault, against Rachel.
A family member spoke out:
"In the lead-up
to his release from jail last week, she had been terrified for her safety.
It had been made
clear to her
Shillingsworth would be coming back the moment he was out. Psychologically,
she
had felt tortured"
The same family member
said that they were unable to attend the memorial service held for Dean,
due to threats made against them. Detective Superintendent, Geoff Beresford
said that they were making rounds, patrolling and that there has been a
bad history between the two families of Dean.
Rachel's mother, Beverly, said that she had
called the DOCS to get some help for her to raise Dean properly, she said
she was told that there were not enough resources to help her daughter.
Beverly said she had been having trouble bonding with Dean because he had
been living with his grandmother, Ann Coffey, who had custody of him for
the last year:
"What can we do about it? We haven't got the
kind of resources for that"
DOCS worker
Rachel had visited the DOCS office earlier in the
year and was asking for help and advice on how she could regain custody
of her son. With no help available, Rachel decided to just keep Dean after
a scheduled visit on June 7. From the start, Rachel had trouble raising
him. Dean's grandfather, Edmund Capan said that at least three checks were
made concerning Dean, in the month of July after they contacted police
to say that Rachel had not returned him from her visit. Edmund told
police that he was concerned for Dean's well being:
"We knew she couldn't handle him"
Edmund also said that something more should have
been done to help his grandson:
"They DOCS should have done something. They
could have went out there and could have helped
in some way"
Beverly disagreed with what Edmund had said:
"I wouldn't say she wasn't coping, she was
struggling. She was able to cook meals for them every night.
She fed them and clothed them."
Kevin Greene said that action was taken, though he
wouldn't say what type of action it was:
"DOCS did receive a call to its helpline and
the call was assessed and there was some action taken.
Sadly, there is no perfect child protection
system in the world but we want to do the best we can to
continue to improve the child protection system."
On October 29, 2008, Rachel was in court where she
said that she thought Dean was dead when she stuck him into the suitcase
and put it into the pond. Belinda Rigg, Rachel's attorney asked Diane little,
the Forensic Pathologist if his death happened the way his mother said
it had and then she told Rachel's account of what happened. Rachel cried
while she listened to her attorney say that she had shaken her son, thrown
him to the ground and he had wet himself, become
unresponsive, made gurgling sounds and had foam
coming from his mouth. Belinda then said that Dean's hand had frozen into
a claw and when she checked, Rachel thought he had no heartbeat. Rachel
then attempted to do CPR on Dean.
Diane Little said there was a possibility that Dean
had been alive when he was stuffed into the suitcase, however, since he
had been dead for at least a week, his body was badly decomposed and the
actual cause of his death could not be determined. Diane also said that
a lack of bleeding in his brain suggests that he had not been shaken to
death. She said that he could possibly have suffocated.
"Is one of the possibilities in this case,
as you see it, that death could have been caused by the placing of the
child, who appeared to be deceased but wasn't, into the plastic bag and
then into the suitcase"
Belinda Rigg
"If he was completely unconscious but not yet
dead,
that's a possibility"
Diane Little
Edmund Caban was outside the courtroom and said that
he and his family were relieved that this case was finally going to go
to trial. He also said they were all looking forward to the truth coming
out.
"That's the one thing I hope for"
Edmund said that it had been a long, troubling struggle
for him and his family:
"but, we are getting there"
Rachel did not enter a plea and was held without
bail for trail. Her trial date was set for December 5, 2008 where she would
face the NSW Supreme Court.
Rachel was in court on December 12, 2008. Rachel
appeared in court though a video, instead of in person and only answered
questions, such as "Can you see'' with a short "Yep", from the Silverwater
prison for women. Ugo Parente, her attorney was pleading for compassion
for his client. Dean's fathers family was pleading for justice:
"I just ask that she be shown a bit of compassion
at this time. It is a sensitive matter and it has to be
dealt with fairly"
Ugo Parente
"We just want justice for the family"
Rita Wright - Dean's Aunt
Rachel is held in a protection cell in the Silverwater
Woman's prison, at her own request. She contacts her mother on a regular
basis. Paul Shillingsworth is also in prison, once again, after being release
on parole that was revoked after new charges were filed against him. Rachel
was due to appear in court, once again through video link, on February
6, 2009.
Read
about a memorial and Dean's funeral
UPDATE:
Dean Shillingsworth mum pleads guilty to murder
August 18, 2009 10:13am
A WOMAN has pleaded guilty to the murder of her two-year-old
son, whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in a Sydney pond.
Rachel Pfitzner, 27, pleaded guilty today in the
NSW Supreme Court to the murder of Dean Shillingsworth on October 11, 2007
at Rosemeadow.
His body was found in a suitcase pulled from a duck
pond at Ambarvale, in Sydney's south-west.
In June, Pfitzner had pleaded guilty to the lesser
charge of manslaughter.
But the Crown representative then told the judge
he was not in a position to say whether that plea would be accepted.
When the murder charge was read out today, Pfitzner
admitted the more serious offence.
Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC told Justice Robert
Allan Hulme a statement of agreed facts would be forwarded to him before
the sentencing hearing.
That hearing has been listed for October 8.
The
Herald Sun
Thank you to Emma for alerting me to this update.
I am so glad that so many people are willing to help me keep these pages
up to date with the latest news about the cases of these children.
UPDATE:
Body-in-suitcase mum loses appeal
December 16, 2010
The body of two-year-old Dean Shillingsworth was
found in a suitcase in a duck pond in Sydney.
A Sydney woman who murdered her two-year-old son
and stuffed his body in a suitcase has lost an appeal against her jail
sentence.
In December 2009 Rachael Pfitzner was jailed for
at least 19 years after pleading guilty to murdering her son Dean Shillingsworth.
The todder's body was found floating in a suitcase
in a duck pond at Ambarvale in Sydney's south west.
When she was sentenced, the New South Wales Supreme
Court heard that Rachel Pfitzner first choked the child and that she loathed
and punished him.
Today a three-judge panel has dismissed an appeal
against her sentence.
The judges ruled that although it is severe, it is
not excessive.
An ombudsman's investigation into the 2007 death
found the Department of Community Services failed to protect the boy even
though it had been warned that he was at risk.
Thank you to Ashleigh for this update.
For information about preventing child abuse in Australia
click below. If they can't help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER
give up looking for help for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
   
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