An Australian couple accused of murdering their teenage lodger before feeding her body to pigs so they could steal her baby is currently facing trial after they were arrested 20 years on from the alleged crime.
Robert and Anne Geeves, both 64, pleaded not guilty to the murder of 19-year-old Amber Haigh, who vanished from the Geeves household in New South Wales in 2002.
Haigh, who was mentally impaired, was lodging 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 that on June 5 they drove her to a train station close to Sydney so she could visit her father, who was terminally ill in hospital.
The teenage mother never arrived at the hospital and was never seen again.
Her case remained cold for years until Australian police arrested Mr and Mrs Geeves in May 2022, almost exactly two decades later after Haigh’s disappearance.
Now grisly details of the case have emerged, with prosecutors alleging the couple used Haigh as a ‘surrogate mother’, before killing her and disposing of her body by feeding her to pigs.
Investigators also discovered the Geeveses had bought a chainsaw around the time of Haigh’s disappearance, having found the butt of a cheque they used to pay for it.
Amber Haigh (pictuted) vanished without a trace in 2002. Her body has never been found
Amber Haigh (left), her son Royce Haigh, and Robert Geeves (right) who fathered the baby
Amber’s son was just six-months-old when his mother vanished without a trace
Haigh was reported missing on June 19, 2002 after failing to return to her home in Kingsvale, close to Harden in New South Wales, where she and her five-month-old son had been living with the Geeves family.
Police were told the pair dropped the young mother at Campbelltown train station on June 5 that she intended to travel from there to Mt Druitt in western Sydney to visit her sick father in hospital.
A coroners inquest in 2011 found Haigh died as a result of homicide or other misadventure in June 2002, and police, suspecting the Geeves’ involvement in the crime, installed listening devices in their home.
But they were never able to gather enough evidence to charge the couple.
In 2020 a formal review of the case was conducted under the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide framework, and a fresh investigation was launched, culminating in the arrest of Robert and Anne Geeves in May 2022.
During the trial, now in its seventh week, the Australian court heard how Haigh ‘adored’ her young son and was said to ‘never let him out of her sight’ – a characterisation that raised doubts she would leave the baby with the Geeves while she left alone to visit her father.
Prosecutors told the court the couple had one son – who had previously dated Haigh – but desperately wanted another child, having given birth to a stillborn baby after enduring three miscarriages.
Haigh’s son was fathered by Robert with whom she had a sexual relationship – but a family counsellor that met with Haigh months before her disappearance told the court she was ‘a very vulnerable young woman’ who ‘would have difficulty in understanding the difference between love and exploitation’.
In her client notes turned over to the court, counsellor Emma Badlock revealed that Haigh deeply loved her son, and was fearful that the Geeves would try to gain sole custody of him.
‘Amber states that if Anne and Robert try to get (her child) because they want a baby – she will tell them to ”back off”,’ the notes read.
The Guardian reported that Haigh and Robert Geeves are said to have signed a handwritten agreement which stipulated that Geeveses would not attempt to take custody of the child, unless Haigh were to bring the boy into contact with members of her own family.
Haigh had a ‘dysfunctional’ relationship with her extended family, the court heard, and is said to have been subjected to violence and sexual abuse.
Anne Margaret Geeves (pictured during her arrest) and her husband pleaded not guilty to the murder of their teen flatmate
Another key part of the prosecution’s argument is evidence that Mr Geeves called a slew of rural properties nearby their house around the time of Haigh’s disappearance, asking whether he could access their land to borrow farm equipment or collect wood.
‘The crown case theory is that it was always the intention of the Geeves to assume the custody and care of (the child) from Amber,’ crown prosecutor Paul Kerr told the court in his opening.
‘But they knew that to do that, Amber had to be removed from the equation… so – the crown asserts – they killed her.’
The Geeveses pleaded not guilty to their murder charges and have consistently denied any involvement in Haigh’s disappearance.
Lawyers for the couple meanwhile argue the prosecutors’ case against their clients is riddled with flaws, that they have no clear evidence the Geeveses murdered Haigh and put the speculation over their involvement in her disappearance down to ‘distaste’ over Robert’s sexual relationship with ‘a much younger woman with intellectual disabilities’.
‘Many witnesses harboured grievances or suspicions particularly against Mr Geeves… who denies being in any way involved in (Haigh’s) disappearance or murder,’ lawyer Paul Coady told the court.
Another member of the 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 failing to return to her home in Kingsvale, close to Harden in New South Wales, where she and her five-month-old son had been living with the Geeves
Amber Haigh is seen in 2002, the year she disappeared
Lawyers also derided testimony from one witness, a former legal secretary, that claimed Haigh feared for her life and wanted to make out 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 legal offices in August 2001, claiming she needed the document ‘for the safeguard of her child’.
‘[Ms Haigh] was very straightforward and adamant that once her child was born her life would be taken,’ Pisaturo-McMillan told the court.
But defence lawyer Coady retorted that none of the secretary’s physical notes from her meeting with Haigh made any mention of her fearing for her life, and suggested this was because Haigh never actually made any comments about it.
He went on to claim the legal secretary had ‘mixed up’ evidence following years of negative press and rumours about the Geeves.
Last month, the Geeves’ son Robbie was called as a witness by the prosecution.
He did not accuse his parents of killing Haigh, but said that his relationship with them had been irrevocably damaged after his father impregnated the teenager, whom Robbie had previously dated.
‘I don’t know how to say it in a nice way: she was my ex-girlfriend, you can’t have a baby brother to your ex-girlfriend… it’s not right,’ he declared.
The Geeves are facing a judge-only trial at the request of their legal team, who say the media storm over their alleged involvement would have affected the jury given the length and notoriety of the case.
The trial, presided over by justice Julia Lonergan, is still ongoing.