Murder of Kylie Maybury

Maybury lived with her younger sister, Rebecca, and their mother, Julie, in Gregory Grove. She was a primary school student in grade one and was enrolled in calisthenics (to give historical context: the early 1980s was an era of an exercise and fitness movement targeted at little girls and adult women).[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/murderer-gregory-keith-davies-wants-a-jail-discount-because-hes-a-marked-man/news-story/e1e98a5c0b6a896192b284adeaa900e7 Evil killer’s final insult to Kylie’s family]Herald Sun {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405075240/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/murderer-gregory-keith-davies-wants-a-jail-discount-because-hes-a-marked-man/news-story/e1e98a5c0b6a896192b284adeaa900e7 |date=5 April 2023 }}

On the afternoon of 6 November 1984, Maybury had been sent to a convenience store on Plenty Road to buy a bag of sugar, which she bought at around 5:30 p.m. She was last seen going home, carrying the sugar, and looking as if she were lost.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122527072 |title=Body of girl, 6, found in gutter. |newspaper=The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995) |location=ACT |date=8 November 1984 |accessdate=28 December 2014 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Her mother and neighbour went looking for her at around 6:00 p.m., when a woman approached them saying that she'd seen a girl being driven away in a white Holden station wagon.{{cite news|last1=Silvester|first1=John|title=Kylie Maybury's killer trapped by mix of new-age science, old-fashioned policing|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/kylie-mayburys-killer-trapped-by-mix-of-newage-science-oldfashioned-policing-20170529-gwfe06.html|accessdate=21 December 2017|work=The Age|date=29 May 2017}} Maybury's body was found in the gutter of Donald Street at about 12:45 a.m. the next morning by a fire brigade electrician, Neil Rickwood, but had not been there when police searched the street at 7:30 p.m.

She had died of asphyxiation while being raped and had suffered severe internal injuries, including vaginal trauma. The autopsy found that diazepam, a strong sedative, was in her body, suggesting that she had been drugged.{{cite news |first=Rosemary |last=Mullaly |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19860123&id=kcwzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6758,4146460 |title=Murdered girl might have been drugged, coroner finds |newspaper=The Age |date=23 January 1986 |page=10}}

Maybury's murder received significant media coverage.

Maybury was interred at Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park. Her grandfather, John Moss, was a suspect, committing suicide in 1985.{{cite news|last1=Silvester|first1=John|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/kylie-maybury-6-was-murdered-on-a-family-errand-32-years-later-police-swoop-20160609-gpfny0.html|title=Kylie Maybury, 6, was murdered on a family errand: 32 years later police swoop|date=9 June 2016|work=The Age|accessdate=1 December 2017}} Her uncle, Mark Maybury, was similarly a suspect in the case; he committed suicide in jail in 1987. He was later found to be innocent of the crime, and is buried in the same cemetery as Maybury.

In the 1990s, Victorian Police focused their attention on Robert Arthur Selby Lowe, who had murdered Melbourne schoolgirl Sheree Beasley. Shortly before Maybury's murder, Lowe had been interviewed by police about offensive behaviour to young girls near Preston. DNA profiling later proved that Lowe was not responsible for Maybury's murder. Victoria Police began a new investigation into the murder among other cold cases in 2014, after media interest in the case led to numerous suspects being reported to the police.{{cite news|last1=Moor|first1=Keith|title=Fresh probes into 63 cold case murders|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/cold-case-files-victoria-police-secretly-starts-fresh-investigations-into-63-unsolved-murders/news-story/45ab429f8a2222e67fa31c31dc7e6dbe?nk=402e4020e57038fb7086c1198f56ec97-1512095837|accessdate=1 December 2017|work=Herald Sun|date=7 December 2014|language=en}}

In June 2016, 73-year-old Gregory Keith Davies was charged with the false imprisonment, rape and murder of Maybury, with a committal hearing for the case scheduled for May 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-09/kylie-maybury-case-man-arrested-over-1984-abduction-murder/7496190 |title=Kylie Maybury death: Gregory Keith Davies charged with murder, rape of Preston girl in 1984 |publisher=ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |date=9 June 2016 |accessdate=2016-07-27}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-29/mother-of-murdered-girl-to-be-questioned-about-valium-court/7888376 |title=Kylie Maybury's mother to be quizzed about 'murdered' girl's access to Valium |publisher=ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |date=29 September 2016 |accessdate=19 October 2016}} Davies had been interviewed by police two days after the murder during the original investigation. In 1970, he had bludgeoned a teenage girl with a hammer and told police he intended to rape her.{{cite news|author=Bucci, Nino|title=Kylie's Killer Attacked 14 Years Earlier|work=The Age|location=Melbourne|date=31 May 2017|page=1 |via=EBSCOhost |url=http://www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=DOC6V5KCOHYC3A1KCR6MNJM&site=ehost-live |url-access=subscription }} At the time of the attack on Maybury, Davies lived in the area with his mother,{{cite news|title=Kylie Maybury's killer 'a marked man' as family describes anguish after 6yo's death|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/kylie-mayburys-killer-gregory-keith-davies-a-marked-man/9197284|accessdate=1 December 2017|work=ABC News|date=27 November 2017|language=en-AU}} and drove a white Holden HQ station wagon, but was removed from the investigation without giving a DNA sample because he gave an alibi.

On 29 May 2017, Davies pleaded guilty to one charge of murder and one of rape, and asked for the false imprisonment charge to be taken into consideration.{{cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Adam|title=Gregory Davies pleads guilty to murder of six-year-old Kylie Maybury 30 years ago|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/man-pleads-guilty-to-murder-of-kylie-maybury-30-years-ago-20170529-gwf7zp|accessdate=29 May 2017|work=The Age|date=29 May 2017}} The following day, Davies was remanded into custody until a plea hearing on 21 September. On 23 July, Davies was attacked by another inmate while on remand, suffering serious burns from scalding water.{{cite news|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/851738/Kylie-Maybury-Gregory-Keith-Davies-boiling-water-Australia-prison-Melbourne |title=Paedophile who murdered girl, 6, has boiling water poured over him in prison attack |work=Sunday Express |location=United Kingdom |date=8 September 2017 |access-date=18 August 2018 |author=Mowat, Laura }}

On 21 December 2017, Davies was sentenced by Justice Lex Lasry in the Supreme Court of Victoria to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 28 years. With time in custody taken into account, Davies will be eligible for parole in June 2044; however, as he will be 101 years of age at that time, he will almost certainly spend the rest of his life in custody.{{cite news|title=Six-year-old Kylie Maybury's killer gets life sentence|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/gregory-davies-sentenced-for-murdering-kylie-maybury/9276302|accessdate=21 December 2017|work=ABC News|location=Australia|date=21 December 2017|language=en-AU}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/kylie-mayburys-killer-gregory-keith-davies-to-die-in-jail-court-hears/news-story/b58e62ff15a8f073e86ec4470d0ab2f1|title=Kylie Maybury's killer Gregory Keith Davies to die in jail, court hears|work=The Australian|author=Akerman, Tessa|date=27 November 2017|access-date=18 August 2018}}

Earlier in his life Davies was convicted of another sex crime; and, according to a relative, Davies spent years jailed for other sex crimes against children.{{cite news|author=Moor, Keith |title=Kylie's Murderer Molested Others, Relative Says |work=Herald Sun |location=Melbourne |date=1 June 2017 |page=2 |via=EBSCOhost |url=http://www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=9X9DHSNEWSMMGLSTRY000276439779&site=ehost-live |url-access=subscription }} After the publicity of Maybury's rape and murder, several children told their parents that Davies had sexually assaulted them, but the charges against Davies were dropped as prosecutors suggested that it would be too hard for the children to testify in court.{{cite news|author=Moor, Keith |title=Killer's Sick Abuse in Van |work=Herald Sun |location=Melbourne |date=21 December 2017 |page=10 |via=EBSCOhost |url=http://www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=9X9DHSNEWSMMGLSTRY000355171852&site=ehost-live |url-access=subscription }} Lasry revealed in the sentencing proceedings that in May 1968 Davies was placed on a three-year good behaviour bond for larceny, fraud, and uttering. In February 1971 he was tried in the Victorian Supreme Court on the charge of attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, the victim being a 14-year-old girl. Davies was acquitted on the basis on insanity, yet ordered to be detained at the Governor's pleasure and was released from custody on 3 November 1982. During this ten-year period in custody, Davies did not undergo any psychiatric treatment. In 1993 Davies was convicted on a number of burglary, theft, and dishonesty charges; in 1996 he was convicted of charges involving indecent assault and gross indecency charges for which he served time in custody.{{cite AustLII|litigants=The Queen v Gregory Keith Davies|court=VSC|year=2017|num=800|pinpoint=10:15|courtname=auto}}

• List of kidnappings

{{reflist|40em}}

• Moor, Keith; Wilkinson, Geoff. Mugshots 2: A Compelling Line-up of Murderers, Madmen and the Mafia in Australia, Volume 2, News Custom Publishing, 2006 {{isbn|9781921116049}}
• Silvester, John; Rule, Andrew. Underbelly 5, Allen & Unwin (Kindle Ed.), 2012 {{asin|B0083ZLXEQ}}less it’s this man try to take me from my push bike he come from regent station approach me in verdan grove it was reported to police many years later and I found the bastard

• {{cite AustLII|litigants=The Queen v Gregory Keith Davies |link=|VSC|800|2017|pinpoint=|parallelcite=|date=21 December 2017|courtname=Supreme Court|juris=Victoria, Australia}}

{{Australian crime}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maybury, Kylie}}

Category:1978 births

Category:1980s in Melbourne

Category:1984 murders in Australia

Category:1984 deaths

Category:Crime victims from Melbourne

Category:Deaths by person in Australia

Category:Deaths from asphyxiation

Category:Formerly missing Australian people

Category:Incidents of violence against girls

Category:Kidnapped Australian children

Category:Child murder in Australia

Category:Murder in Melbourne

Category:November 1984 in Australia

Category:Female murder victims

Category:People from Preston, Victoria