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This story is, by far, one of the most horrible things I’ve ever read.
A father allegedly threw his four-year-old daughter off a bridge in front of the girl’s two young brothers and scores of motorists during rush hour in Melbourne today.
Witnesses said Arthur Phillip Freeman, 35, suddenly stopped his family car – which also had his two young sons inside – and, with young Darcey Iris in his arms, walked to the side of the West Gate Bridge, just after 9 a.m.
He then allegedly dropped his young daughter over the railing and into the water, 190 feet below.
Shocked drivers who witnessed the incident – which police say occurred in a matter of seconds – immediately called emergency hotlines as Freeman reportedly got back in the large white family Land Cruiser, and drove away.
Darcey miraculously survived the fall and was pulled from the water by police within 10 minutes and ambulance officers spent the next 50 minutes resuscitating her on the bank on the side of the Yarra River.
She was then airlifted by helicopter to the nearby Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition and treated for the next four hours.
The tragedy gripped Australia as it unfolded on television, with footage of paramedics frantically trying to resuscitate Darcey on the riverbank streamed during regular news bulletins with updates on the little girl’s condition.
Freeman was arrested by police an hour after the tragic incident when he was spotted, accompanied by his two sons, Benjamin, 7, and Jack, 23 months, in a “visibly distressed” state outside the Commonwealth Law Courts across town in central Melbourne. The family had been in the midst of a custody battle.
Security staff at the court said that Freeman was shaking like a leaf, and staring with wild eyes when they spotted him and alerted police. Police, initially unaware he was involved in the bridge incident, said they took him into custody peacefully.
As he was being led away, Freeman reportedly begged court staff to “take care of my kids.”
“He was pretty down and he had the two other children with him and he tried to enter the court. He couldn’t talk to anyone, he wouldn’t talk to anyone, he was just a mess,” witness Vince Mascia told the Nine Network.
As Freeman was being questioned by detectives, Darcey died in hospital from massive internal injuries.
Her father was then charged with murder and set to appear before a criminal court. However he was deemed “suicidal” by psychiatrists and remanded in custody. He will next appear in court on May 21 for a committal hearing.
There’s nothing to be said about this beyond the obvious. Australia does not have the death penalty, but for something as horrifying as this, maybe they should think about reinstating it. This guy deserves to die a slow, painful death.
I think the father’s lawyer will argued diminished capacity. The father snapped. He was wrong. Should be punished, but I doubt that was first degree murder. Horrid.
Makes my stomach turn.
Long slow death? Maybe not. But I’d be in favor of dropping him off the side of that same bridge. Perhaps with a concrete brick or two tied around his ankles.
Loren says: This guy needs to go into the deepest darkest most horrible corner of hell possible
Maybe there will be a paperwork snafu and a guard will give him back his belt and shoelaces.
Could happen.
I have a feeling that unless this man is placed in solitary, he will find some jail-house justice in his future.
I am not condoning that sort of thing, mind you, but I am not going to condemn it either.
Good Lord, how much hate can a person have that they would kill their own daughter rather than let the other parent win?
Australia does not have the death penalty, but for something as horrifying as this, maybe they should think about reinstating it.
Not to sound too callous, but I’d be willing to step in for the country in this instance. As a believer in God, I know that God can forgive this piece of human debris. However, I would love to arrange the meeting between the two, sooner rather than later.
It causes me pain when my children stub their toes. I cannot fathom how any “human” could do what this asshole did.
bob says: Physics…..
right on…….
Chris says: Dear Heavens this is horrible. This is one of those cases where my father’s prescription would be that right after the death sentence was handed down to have the guilty party be seated in the electric chair right away and have the judge throw the switch.
Whatever goes through people’s minds in these cases we may never know but this behavior must not be tolerated and we need to give people a strong incentive not do these things. Swift justice.
Assuming no drag she hit the water at about 75 mi/hr. It’s incredible she survived that.
ABCD says: “This guy deserves to die a slow, painful death.”
ABCD says: And who the hell are you to judge that ???
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