A couple accused of murdering teenager Amber Haigh in regional New South Wales have been acquitted, deepening the mystery surrounding her disappearance more than 20 years ago. Robert Samuel Geeves and Anne Margaret Geeves, both 64, were found not guilty on September 25, 2023, of killing the 19-year-old mother in 2002.
Justice Julia Lonergan handed down the not-guilty verdict in the NSW Supreme Court after an eight-week trial, rejecting allegations that the couple had murdered Ms. Haigh to gain custody of her child. Ms. Haigh, who had an intellectual disability and epilepsy, had been living with the Geeveses on their Kingsvale property near Young before she disappeared in June 2002.
The Crown prosecution alleged that the couple killed Ms. Haigh and did not take her to Campbelltown train station, as they claimed. According to their account, they last saw her when they dropped her off at the station on June 5, 2002, so she could visit her sick father in Sydney. The court was told a $500 withdrawal was made from Ms. Haigh’s bank account later that evening, supporting the couple’s version of events.
Justice Lonergan noted that the Geeveses’ accounts of the trip were consistent and supported by independent evidence. “The account of this given by the accused is not inherently implausible and is supported by other independent evidence,” she said, ultimately deciding their version of events could be true.
The prosecution alleged the Geeveses had controlled Ms. Haigh’s finances and bank card use, but Justice Lonergan found no evidence to support this claim. “For all these reasons, the verdict I must enter in respect of both Robert Geeves and Anne Geeves is not guilty,” she stated.
Despite the acquittal, Justice Lonergan concluded that Ms. Haigh was deceased, as she had not collected her epilepsy medication or contacted her family since her disappearance. However, it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Geeveses were responsible for her death.
Ms. Haigh’s body has never been found, and her disappearance has long been a haunting mystery in the small, close-knit community of Kingsvale. In 2011, a coronial inquest ruled that she was deceased, but the cause of her death remains undetermined.
The Geeveses had reported Ms. Haigh missing on June 19, 2002. The trial also revealed that Mr. Geeves had begun a sexual relationship with Ms. Haigh in 2001, and the Crown alleged that the couple wanted to use her as a surrogate after Mrs. Geeves experienced multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth.
However, the defense pointed to the lack of incriminating evidence, including no useful findings from police surveillance of the Geeveses’ home and car. The acquittal leaves many questions unanswered, as Ms. Haigh’s disappearance remains unresolved, and her body has never been located.
