Man throws daughter of Melbourne's West Gate Bridge

[Belangalo]

Article found at news.com.au 29 January 2009

A four-year-old girl has died after allegedly being thrown of the West Gate Bridge by her father this morning.

A Royal Children's Hospital spokeswoman said the girl , name Darcy , died at 1.35pm.

Arthur Freeman ,36 , of Hawthorn , has been charged with murder in Melbourne Magistrates Court this afternoon.

Darcy was pulled from the water by water police at about 9.30am after allegedly being thrown 58m from the bridge at 9.10am.

Mr Freeman was arrested at about 10.30am after security staff at the Commonwealth Law Courts on the corner of William St and La Trobe St noticed him standing in the foyer with his two sons aged 7 and and 23 months.

Police were called and several officers arrested Mr Freeman , who offered no resistance.

Just before he was taken away , he asked security guards to look after his children.

At the time of his arrest , police had no indication Mr Freeman was connected to the west gate bridge incident.

Paramedic team manager Trevor Weston said paramedics worked on Darcy for almost an hour.

Paramedics worked for about 50 minutes at the scene and the child was then conveyed to the Royal Childrens Hospital Mr Weston said.

She was airlifted to Royal Childrens Hospital in a critical condition with massivem internal injuries.

Homicide squad Det-Insp Steve Clarke said Mr Freeman's sons may have been in the car with him on the bridge.

He said the girl's mother , Peta Freeman , had been informed and was with police.

''She's currently assisting police the best she can in terrible terrible circumstances he said.

Det-Insp Clark said a number of witnesses had already come forward and were being interviewed by police.

[Belangalo]

Article found at news.com.au by Norrie Ross Paul Anderson

A hand written note found in home of a father accused of murdering his young daughter by throwing her off Melbourne's west gate bridge spoke of keeping a clear head.

''You have a big fight on your hands and by no stretch of the imagination will it be easy ,''say's the partly legible note on the TV in the Hawthorn home of Arthur Phillip Freeman 35.

Freeman was too mentally disturbed to appear in court , which was told he was on suicide watch.

The Hawthorn IT consultant was remanded in custody until May 21 on a charge of murder.

Freeman and his wife Peta seperated in March 2007.

He was due to deliever his children to school and creche yesterday morning and when they did not arrive his wife raised the alarm.

One of the girls , maternal unclers last night said from Perth that the family was too distressed to comment.

In Melbourne Magistrates Court , magistrate Lance Martin was told the accused had been deemed mentally unfit to be interviewed by detectives.

Acting detective Sergeant Damian Jackson , of the homicide squad , told the court a forensic medical officer examined Freeman after his arrest. "He is in an accute psychiatric state ,'' sgt Jackson said.

A solictor for Freeman said the father of three appeared to be devoted to his children. ''He was very committed to his children ,'' she said.

Freeman and his wife are registered as the joint shareholders of a company called BDJ Management PTY LTD-named using the first initals of their children.

At Freemans rented home , yesterday , well-loved bikes , two trampolines and a rickety home-made swing sat abandoned in the back yard.

Freemans neighbours said they rarely saw him or were invited inside his sparten , two-storey house.

His bachelor-like decorating skills stretched to tacking finger-paintings to the wall , and leaving untidy piles of clothing , toy's and DVD's on the floor.

[Belangalo]

Article at dailytelegraph.com.au Sat 7 February

Sensitive documents relating to Darcey Freeman and her father who is accussed of killing her have been stolen from a judges car.

The documents were taken from a car belonging to a family court judge parked in central Melbourne.

The theft on Thursday night waas hours before Darcey was buried at a private funeral yesterday.

The daily telegraph understands that entry to the car was not forced to steal the briefcase , which contained several files.

Police have been told the theft took place between 7pm and middnight on Thursday but have not found security footage to help identify the culprit.

A search of near by laneways did not locate the briefcase and police ahve made an urgent appeal for witnessess to come forward.

It is not known whether the thief knew the contents of the briefcase when it was stolen.

The documents include transcripts of the Freeman case.

Chief Justice Of The Family Law Courts Diana Bryant confirmed a family court judge car was broken into and items includina a briefcase was stolen. "There were no court files but the papers included a transcript."

Chief Justice Bryant was to hand avaliable documents to the Attorney General next week after he called for an inquiry into the Freeman matter.