On the evening of July 20th, 2019, emergency services received a call from a quiet suburban street in St Clair, New South Wales.

 The woman on the line was twenty-five-year-old Jessica Camilleri — frantic, disoriented.



When police arrived, they found a scene so violent… so surreal… that even the most seasoned officers were left shaken.



The victim was Jessica’s mother, Rita Camilleri, a fifty-seven-year-old woman described by neighbours as kind, devoted, and endlessly patient.

 Her body was found inside the home. Her head — outside, on the front footpath.



And standing nearby, covered in blood, still holding strands of her mother’s hair...was Jessica.