Pod Insights Casefile True Crime Case 313: Keith Hibbins About this episode *** Content warnings: Sexual assault, homophobia***
On Anzac Day of 1999, life partners Keith Hibbins and David Campbell were walking through the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne when they were approached by two agitated young men, John Whiteside and Kristian Dieber. The young men claimed they were on the lookout for a pair of rapists who had just sexually assaulted a young woman nearby, but were they telling the truth?
---
Narration – Anonymous Host https://www.instagram.com/caseys.snaps/
Research & writing – Elsha McGill
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Production & music – Mike Migas http://mikemigas.com/
Music – Andrew Joslyn
Audio editing – Anthony Telfer
Sign up for Casefile Premium:
Apple Premium https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casefile-true-crime/id998568017?ign-itscg=30200S&ign-itsct=casefile_podcastsSpotify Premium https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/9gSwcv7USsbPatreon https://www.patreon.com/casefileFor all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-313-keith-hibbins
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 From journalist Olivia LaVoix, the creator of the hidden investigative series The Bakersfield Three, comes the new Case File Presents series Ada. In 2011, the body of a woman was discovered in a California vineyard. For more than a decade, she was known only as Jane Doe. Then detectives finally discovered her name. But identifying her was only the beginning. Listen to Ada wherever you get your podcasts.
0:34 Speaker 01 Hi, this is Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman. I've been writing about food and restaurants for almost 50 years, my whole career, really. And what I know is that the good restaurants all have something in common. They're busy, genuinely, chaotically busy. And somehow, in the last few years, the best of them have begun to make it look easy. And do you know why? Because they're running on Toast's technology. Toast is built for restaurant owners who understand that Toast's tools keep the line moving and keep their customers happy with fewer mistakes and hiccups in ordering and paying. For owners, that turns busy into business. To learn more, head to toasttab.com.
1:19 Speaker 01 That's T-O-A-S-T-T-A-B, toasttab.com. Toast: Built for Busy.
1:28 Speaker 02 If you're still sleeping on cotton or satin, that could be the reason for frizzy hair, sleep creases, overheating, and even breakouts. Dermatologists actually recommend switching to silk because it's naturally cooling and much gentler on your skin and hair. That's exactly why over 3 million people have made the switch to Blissie. Blissie pillowcases are made from 100% pure mulberry silk, the highest quality silk you can get. It's breathable, hypoallergenic, and surprisingly machine washable, so it's easy to care for. People love waking up with smoother hair, calmer skin, and no sleep lines. Plus, Blissie makes the perfect gift. And you can even complete the set with matching sleep masks, silk bonnets, and crease preventing scrunchies.
2:10 Speaker 02 Blissie is offering 60 nights risk-free, plus 30% off when you shop at blissie.com/unwind. Your skin and hair will thank you.
2:35 Speaker 00 Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. This episode was originally released on Casefile’s Patreon, Apple Premium and Spotify Premium feeds as an early bonus for our paid subscribers. These episodes are designed to be slightly shorter, allowing us to cover a broader range of cases. To receive these episodes early and ad-free, you can support Casefile on your preferred platform.
3:26 Speaker 00 April 25, 1999 had been allegedly Sunday for 47-year-old David Campbell and his partner of 15 years, 45-year-old Keith Hibbins. The pair lived in the inner Melbourne suburb of Collingwood in a house they’d designed together. Keith was an architect while David was a landscaper, and they’d combined their skills to create the home of their dreams. The two typically spent their weekends lounging at home or catching up with friends at the pub, but they’d decided to take advantage of the autumn weather and spend a day in the country. After visiting waterfalls and wineries in the Yarra Valley town of Marysville, they drove back to the city with a nice bottle of red wine.
4:10 Speaker 00 On the way home to cook dinner, David remembered they were out of olive oil. They’d need to get cash out to buy some.
4:18 Speaker 00 The ATM they usually frequented was located on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne's CBD, just outside of the Peter McCullum Cancer Institute. This was on the corner of Lansdowne Street and St Andrews Place, a park-lined thoroughfare just a few minutes from the famous Melbourne cricket ground, known as the MCG. It was usually easy to find a parking spot, but it was busier than usual on account of it being ANZAC Day. Technically, the National Public Holiday signified an annual day of remembrance for Australians and New Zealanders who had served a war. But for Melbourneians, it also marked the annual Australian Rules Football Match between two of the state's most popular footy teams, Collingwood and Essendon.
5:04 Speaker 00 The game had been held earlier at the MCG and had drawn a crowd of around seventy-three thousand spectators. Given the lingering football traffic, there were no available car spaces near the ATM. Instead, Keith and David parked further down Lansdowne Street and took a longer walk. After getting cash out at the ATM, they decided to walk back to their car through the Fitzroy Gardens, a sixty-four-acre urban green space filled with tree-lined pathways, an ornamental lake, and a mock Tudor village. By this point, it was around 7pm. The brush-tailed possums came out at night, and David and Keith enjoyed watching them.
5:49 Speaker 00 As the couple made their way through the park, two young men suddenly raced towards them. One of them asked aggressively, "Hey, you blokes, have you seen two blokes running through here or hiding in here?" The young men told Keith and David that a woman had just been raped in the gardens, and they were looking for the offenders. David could smell that the men reeked of alcohol. In unison, he and Keith offered to call the police, but the men replied that they'd already done so. David asked them what the rapists looked like. The taller of the two men replied angrily, "We don't know."
6:33 Speaker 00 The younger men became increasingly hostile. David began to sense that trouble was brewing. Keith asked the men why they were being so aggressive when he and David were happy to offer their help. But, inside, the couple had their suspicions.
7:17 Speaker 00 From the 1970s to the early 2000s, Sydney earned an undesirable reputation as the gay-bashing capital of Australia. For many years, gay men were targeted by gangs for nothing more than their sexuality. These beatings were considered by many to be a form of "sport", and the perpetrators often bragged about their crimes.
7:41 Speaker 00 In 2018, the New South Wales Government launched a landmark special commission of inquiry into these historical hate crimes, and found that over those four decades, an average of 20 gay men reported being bashed every single day. As many as 88 gay men were murdered during that time. Many of these deaths were framed to look like suicides.
8:06 Speaker 00 Sydney wasn't the only Australian city troubled by these violent hate crimes. Throughout the early 1990s, it was reported by The Age newspaper that on average, a gay person was murdered in Melbourne and its surrounding suburbs every 2 to 3 months. Offenders sought victims at toilet blocks and public parks known to be frequented by gay men seeking casual sex. Bashings at one regional toilet block became so commonplace that authorities recommended it be demolished altogether.
8:38 Speaker 00 To protect one another, gay men created a warning system by writing the number plates of known bashers on the walls of gay beats. Victims were often reluctant to report the crimes, making the statistics unclear. But for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the threat of violence was an everyday reality. Keith Hibbins and David Campbell were openly gay and presented themselves as such, often walking around arm in arm. As David later told author Steve Dow: “Most people know that we’re gay, without our ever having to say it.” They were all too aware of the looming threat of violence, with David alone having been
9:20 Speaker 00 the victim of at least four gay bashings in the past. There was a particular area within the Fitzroy Gardens that was known to be a hangout for gay men. Therefore, when they were approached by two young men who were acting overtly aggressive towards them, David and Keith were immediately suspicious of their story that they were trying to catch a rapist. Instead, David thought they might have been gay bashers. He exchanged a knowing look with Keith, who said: “We’ve got to get out of here. Run.” David and Keith took off towards Lansdowne Street. The other two men started chasing them.
10:04 Speaker 00 As they ran past the light pole, David’s foot became caught on its concrete base and he tripped over. He tried to pull himself back up, but before he managed to do so, something made contact with his mouth and nose. He couldn’t tell if it was a fist or a foot. David was then pushed face-first into the ground, where the man struck him numerous times in the legs, hips, and face. He heard one of them say: “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
10:35 Speaker 00 Keith saw what was happening and rushed back to help. "Leave him alone", he demanded.
10:42 Speaker 00 This brief distraction gave David the opportunity to get up and run away. With a surge of adrenaline, he continued bolting towards the safety of Lansdowne Street. He could feel that one of the attackers was hot on his heels. Once they reached the street, David sideswiped straight into the oncoming traffic. He ran into the middle of the road, desperately waving his arms in an attempt to flag someone down. By the time he got to St Andrews Lane on the other side, the attacker was gone.
11:15 Speaker 00 A married couple named Paul and Michelle Rogers pulled over. "Somebody help us, please", David pleaded. "I've been bashed". Keith didn't take the straight path out of the gardens. Instead, he ran at an angle into the darkness, with the taller of the two attackers pursuing him. An accident years earlier left Keith with a broken arm and leg, which had been screwed back together. As a result, he wasn't particularly agile, and ran in a way described as being like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. Keith pushed onwards until he emerged from the gardens further north up Lansdowne Street.
11:58 Speaker 00 From the seventh floor of the nearby Peter McCallum Cancer Institute, a woman peered out of a window and had noticed what was unfolding on the street below. Keith Hibbins was pinned up against a car while the two younger men were "punching the crap out of him".
12:15 Speaker 00 From the woman's view, it looked like the attackers had restrained Keith by the shoulders and were beating him with their fists and elbows. She thought they must have administered at least twenty blows, describing one of the men as "a bloody animal", "savage". At no point did she see Keith fight back. At street level, a passerby heard Keith screaming for help and saw the attack unfolding. As the two men continued to beat Keith, they were also heard verbally abusing him. The passerby called for an ambulance, panic in his voice, as he told the operator. "They're getting stuck into someone up here. Make it quick."
13:04 Speaker 00 Within minutes, Keith Hibbins fell to the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, around the corner, David Campbell stood outside the entrance of the Peter McCullum Cancer Institute. The couple he'd flagged down, Paul and Michelle Rogers, were doing their best to console him as he explained what he and his partner had just been through. Suddenly, the two attackers came running towards them. David immediately fled into the medical centre, while Paul Rogers did his best to block the men from entering. Paul and Michelle could smell alcohol on the men's breath and noted that they were slurring their words as they heatedly tried to talk over one another.
13:46 Speaker 00 They aggressively tried to push Paul out of the way to get to David, yelling that a woman had been raped in the park. One of the men asked rhetorically: "What would you do if you approached two guys, told them that, and they ran off?" He told Michelle that she was protecting a rapist. Michelle said that David was gay and he wasn't responsible. One of the men replied: "He would say that, wouldn't he?" While the other sneered: "Likely story." The two offenders returned to the spot where Keith Hibbins lay unconscious in the street and waited for the police to arrive.
14:28 Speaker 00 They presented themselves to the officers immediately, identifying themselves as 27-year-old John Whiteside and 23-year-old Christian Peter Debar. Whiteside and Debar outright admitted they were responsible for the beating. As far as they were concerned, they were just doing their civic duty. A woman had been raped, and they had apprehended the culprit.
14:55 Speaker 00 Air conditioning technician John Whiteside was operating on little sleep when a friend picked him up to go to the Anzac Day footy match at the MCG. An avid sports fan, Whiteside had stayed up late watching the World Cup cricket on television. Still, he managed to get ready in time to have a few drinks at a pub around the corner from the ground before the match kicked off. It was there that Whiteside and his mate met up with some mutual friends, one of whom was Christian Deber, a recent economics graduate who worked in the accounts department of a security guard company. The group headed to the game together, where they had a few more drinks, before returning
15:37 Speaker 00 to the pub after watching Essendon beat Collingwood by eight points. Keen to carry on, they decided to head further into the city for more drinks before calling it a night. At around 7pm, the group of six began walking down Wellington Parade along the southern perimeter of the Fitzroy Gardens. There, they came across a young woman who was slumped on the ground, crying hysterically. She was barefoot and wearing just one sock, while the strap of her singletop had slipped off her shoulder. The group approached to see if she was okay, but as they did so, she yelled: “Are you going to rape me too?”
16:19 Speaker 00 In an apparent state of panic, she threw her wallet at them, saying: “Just take it and leave me alone.” John Whiteside, Christian Deber and their group of friends didn’t know what to do. One of them gave the woman his jacket, before Whiteside draped his Collingwood scarf around her neck. A jogger came over and told the group he’d run past the woman earlier and heard her arguing with two men. While the group had discussed what to do, the woman continued to sob uncontrollably. They opened her wallet to check if she had any ID and learned that she was 23-year-old Evgenia Seonis.
17:01 Speaker 00 The group offered to hail her a taxi, but Evgenia said no, she wanted the police instead.
17:09 Speaker 00 A member of the group called emergency services requesting both the police and an ambulance. Evgenia continued crying. One of the men asked her if she'd been raped, but she didn't give a clear answer. They pressed on, asking if she'd been sexually assaulted. She said yes, she had been assaulted by two men. John Whiteside and Christian Deba didn't wait around to hear more. With the police and paramedics on the way to tend to Evgenia, they set out on a mission of their own: to find the men responsible.
17:54 Speaker 00 Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. The end of the year can come with a lot of expectations, from family traditions and social obligations, to the pressure to find the perfect gifts. But just because something is a tradition doesn't mean you have to keep doing it, especially if it's causing more stress than joy. Sometimes, doing things differently and making time for yourself is exactly what you need. If you're looking for support, get started with BetterHelp. Their licensed therapists have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience,
18:38 Speaker 00 and BetterHelp matches you with a therapist based on your needs and preferences. If the match isn't quite right, you can switch to a different therapist at any time. BetterHelp is now in-network with more than 125 health plans, with many copays as low as $15 for eligible members. And if you don't have eligible insurance or live outside the US, you can still get 10% off your first month. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/casfile. That's better-h-e-l-p dot com slash casfile.
19:18 Speaker 00 Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the busiest shopping days of the year, with millions of people looking for a bargain. But for retailers, that means a huge surge in orders to pack and ship, often in a very short time. That's where ShipStation comes in. It brings all your orders into one place, helping teams stay organised and manage the rush without scrambling when order volumes spike. ShipStation also offers smarter LTL freight shipping, helping businesses compare carriers and track shipments every step of the way. For retailers managing a high volume of orders, having those tools in one place can make a real difference. Over 1 million businesses have relied on ShipStation to get through peak season,
20:01 Speaker 00 scaling their fulfilment capacity up to 40 times when they need it most. Casefile team member Paulina uses ShipStation to manage orders for her own Shopify store, and having that extra time back makes a real difference. Before switching, she spent hours tracking orders and following up with customers. Now, she's cut that time in half, giving her more time to focus on growing her business and preparing for the busy shopping periods when orders start rolling in. Peak season doesn't wait, and neither should you. Get ahead of it today with ShipStation and get 60 days free at shipstation.com with code CASEFILETC. That's shipstation.com code CASEFILETC.
20:46 Speaker 00 Taxes and fees apply. It's the details that make a house feel like home. The sofa you look forward to sinking into at the end of the day. Shelves that display your record collection. A dining table that becomes the centre of every gathering. The details matter, and that's something Cozy understands. What started with modular sofas has grown into a whole home furniture brand, with rugs, tables, bedroom furniture, outdoor collections and more, all designed to make creating your space feel simple. And because life changes, Cozy can change with it. The pieces are modular, so they can adapt to your space.
21:30 Speaker 00 And the covers are washable and interchangeable, so you can easily switch them up or give them a clean. If you're not sure where to start, Cozy offers free one-on-one design consultations to help bring the whole space together. Visit Cozy today. That's C O Z E Y dot com and make yourself at home. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content.
22:06 Speaker 00 After arriving on the scene to find Keith Hibbons unconscious and battered on the street, police took Whiteside and Deba into custody. Both of them cooperated fully with all procedures and had no hesitation in giving their version of events. Their recollections matched each other's, but differed significantly to David Campbell's and other witnesses who'd watched the attack unfold. Both Whiteside and Deba said they were shocked upon finding Evgenia Seonis.
22:47 Speaker 00 Whiteside described her as being so frightened that it was scary. Someone close to him had been raped and this prompted an emotional reaction. While he admitted he probably should have just waited for the police with the rest of his group, his thought process at the time was that the safest thing to do was to look around for the offenders. Whiteside and Deba claimed that they weren't aggressive when they approached Keith Hibbins and David Campbell to ask if they'd seen anyone running past. Deba recalled: “We were as calm and rational as you can get.” It was only when Keith and David started acting nervously and decided to sprint away
23:30 Speaker 00 that Whiteside and Deba suspected they were responsible for the rape. Whiteside told the police: “The two gentlemen just acted very, very strange and when they started to run off, that wasn't a good look. It looked like they did it.”
23:49 Speaker 00 Neither John Whiteside nor Christian Deba mentioned attacking David Campbell after he tripped over, or threatening to kill him. Deba said he'd simply grabbed David and asked why he was running away. When David took off again, Deba said he chased him for a while before giving up. He looked up Lansdowne Street and saw that Whiteside had caught Keith. Deba told the police: "I thought I'd help Johnny because I was dead-set convinced that they knew something about this girl getting raped. Johnny was just trying to hold him, so I came up and just said: 'Listen mate, just fucking stay there and wait for the police.'"
24:33 Speaker 00 According to Deba, Keith yelled some violent things back at them, at one point threatening: "I'm gonna kill you, you dober!", which was a colloquial term for an informant. Deba said their aim was simply to keep Keith in place until the police arrived, but he resisted, prompting Deba and Whiteside to throw a few punches. Deba claimed they hadn't hit Keith that hard, and that the real injury must have been caused when he knocked his head on the ground. He told the police: "I am a security guard, so I know you can use reasonable force to make a lawful arrest. My objective wasn't to hurt him, but what else can you do?
25:16 Speaker 00 I didn't have handcuffs or anything like that. I thought you could use a bit of force to make a citizen's arrest."
25:28 Speaker 00 John Whiteside contradicted his friend slightly, saying it was Deba who dive-tackled Keith on the street before Whiteside stepped in. He claimed that he grabbed Keith, who tried to take a swing at him. Whiteside said he then hit Keith a couple of times in the jaw, four at the most, but they were only short, sharp hits, and not enough to knock him out. Whiteside explained: "I was chucking the swings basically in self-defense. I was shaking him, saying, 'What's going on? How come you're running away? You obviously know something.'" According to Whiteside, he and Keith started to wrestle and Keith began to overpower him.
26:11 Speaker 00 That's when Deba stepped in and hit Keith, rendering him unconscious.
26:17 Speaker 00 Both men firmly denied that Keith had been hit upwards of twenty times, as the witness watching from upstairs had described. They both showed genuine remorse for their actions, explaining they were completely out of character. Background checks supported this. John Whiteside and Christian Deber came from solid homes in good areas and were close with their families. Both were well-educated, employed in respectable fields, and involved in community sports. Neither had any history of violence or any form of criminal record.
26:55 Speaker 00 Christian Deber apologised profusely to the police, saying it was never their intention to cause any serious harm or bash someone for no reason. John Whiteside told detectives: "I'm guilty for hitting him, but I mean, he chucked the first one. If this guy's got hurt, I'd be the first bloke to say sorry. But it's just the way they came across. It was very sus."
27:22 Speaker 00 In hindsight, Whiteside said that while they just wanted to help, their decision to pursue Evgenia's rapists was probably the stupidest idea he'd ever had. "I'm not a thug," Whiteside explained. "What's happened is a mistake, and that's basically all I can put it down to. I'm sorry what happened to that bloke, and I mean it 100%. I didn't mean to hurt him, and I don't think Christian meant to hurt him. If we had stayed in the pub for another half an hour, none of this would have happened. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
28:00 Speaker 00 Keith Hibbins had been rushed to St Vincent's Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. He'd sustained serious injuries to his head, neck, chest and arms, resulting in brain damage. Keith was put on life support, but doctors were hopeful that he'd recover. John Whiteside and Christian Deber were both subsequently charged with intentionally causing serious injury.
28:28 Speaker 00 While all this had been unfolding, paramedics had arrived on the scene near the Fitzroy Gardens and found Evgenia Seonis curled up in the fetal position, crying, "Why me?" She'd been reluctant to tell them much, but, once at the hospital, she admitted to a doctor that she'd been raped.
28:48 Speaker 00 It was two days before Evgenia gave her first statement to police from the rape squad. She recalled that she'd been walking through the gardens when a man grabbed her from behind and forced her into the back of his ute. He managed to pull her pants down without unzipping them, at which point Evgenia said she could feel his semi-erect penis between her upper thighs. She broke free before there was any penetration and managed to provide a decent description of the offender. He looked to be around twenty-eight to thirty years old and spoke with a deep voice. His hair was short, dark and straight, styled in a single length. In her statement, Evgenia said,
29:32 Speaker 00 "All I could think of was, 'Why me?'"
29:38 Speaker 00 While police investigated the rape, Keith Hibbins remained unconscious and fighting for his life. His partner David stayed by his side, willing him to wake up.
29:50 Speaker 00 For David, life without Keith was impossible to imagine. The two had met by complete chance fifteen years earlier. David had waved at Keith across a crowded pub, having mistaken him for someone else, and they ended up talking all night. Keith was a country kid, having grown up in the north-west Victorian town of Maryborough. He eventually moved to Melbourne to study architecture, where he dated a few women, before coming out as gay. At six feet tall, he was known to be a bit of a party animal who loved the nightlife. Even though David considered himself more of a homebody, he was instantly drawn to Keith.
30:32 Speaker 00 Their connection was immediate, and it wasn't long before they'd moved in together and started building a shared life.
30:40 Speaker 00 In recent years, Keith had slowed his partying ways. The couple's weekend routine typically consisted of watching movies at their renovated Edwardian home that Keith had redesigned, and a trip to the pub.
30:55 Speaker 00 The doctors and police reassured David that Keith was going to be okay, but as the days ticked by, he still hadn't regained consciousness. By Thursday, May 6, 1999, 11 days had passed since the attack. David was away from the hospital when he got a call saying it was time to come and say his final goodbye. He made it there in time for Keith to die in his arms.
31:27 Speaker 00 An autopsy confirmed Keith's cause of death to be blunt head trauma, which resulted in dissection of the left vertebral artery and caused a fatal brain bleed. Not only was this news a tragedy for Keith's loved ones, it also changed things for John Whiteside and Christian Deber. With Keith having passed away as a result of the attack, the charges against them were upgraded to murder. While those involved struggled to come to terms with these developments, there was still the question of who was responsible for the sexual assault against Evgenia Seonis. Weeks passed and no arrests were made.
32:07 Speaker 00 Then, one month after the attack, Evgenia made a shocking revelation. On Anzac Day of 1999, Evgenia woke up at her boyfriend's place and started the day by smoking cannabis. The couple lounged around in bed for a while before deciding to go rollerblading in the beachside suburb of St Kilda. After a short jaunt around the foreshore, they stopped in at the nearby Esplanade Hotel. It was 11:30 a.m. when Evgenia ordered her first drink for the day, a bourbon and coke. She had three more drinks in quick succession and the booze kept flowing from there.
32:50 Speaker 00 Evgenia and her boyfriend Tony spent the day hopping from one St Kilda pub to the next. By nightfall, Evgenia's head was spinning. She was so drunk that she was staggering on her feet. She and Tony got into his car and began driving towards the CPD. Evgenia wanted to go to another pub, but Tony felt she was already too drunk and they should call it a night. As they approached the Fitzroy Gardens, an argument broke out between them. Evgenia became furious. When Tony stopped at a red light, she jumped out of the car, saying she wanted to go for a walk and get some fresh air.
33:33 Speaker 00 Tony drove onto the grassy verge and urged her to get back in, but Evgenia refused. Frustrated by the whole situation, Tony drove off, leaving her in the cold with no shoes or jumper.
33:48 Speaker 00 Stumbling around to the park, Evgenia began to cry. She collapsed onto the grass, sobbing, until a group of passersby approached. When they asked if she'd been raped, she spontaneously said yes. Everything she'd said from that point on was a lie.
34:16 Speaker 00 Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode sponsors.
34:24 Speaker 00 This episode is sponsored by Vinted. We all hold on to things we know we're never going to wear again. I've got band t-shirts and hoodies tucked away in my wardrobe that no longer fit, and I know that some of them haven't seen the light of day in a very long time. It's a shame to have perfectly good clothes sitting there when someone else could get plenty of wear out of them. And if you can make a bit of extra money in the process, even better. Thankfully, there's an easy way to pass those clothes on. Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app that makes it easy to sell the clothes you no longer wear. Find great deals and give quality items a second life. All you need to do is add some photos, a description and a price.
35:08 Speaker 00 When something sells, Vinted creates a prepaid shipping label for you, so there's no complicated postage process. Plus, there are no seller fees, so you keep what you earn from every sale. Whether you're clearing out your wardrobe or making room for something new, Vinted makes it easy to turn those unworn clothes into extra cash. And the app is free to download. Give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn. I've always liked the feeling of travelling and finding a small local store that has things you haven't seen everywhere else. You always remember those places.
35:52 Speaker 00 Maybe they have a really unique selection of vinyl records, art or local products you wouldn't find at a big name store. I think what a small business chooses to stock can say a lot about the local community. Sometimes you'll find something that becomes a little memento of a place, something you take home, remember the trip by, or come back looking for the next time you visit. FAIRE is a wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with more than 100,000 brands from around the world. Instead of spending hours trying to find new products and suppliers, businesses can browse everything from homewares and beauty to food, apparel, gifts and more, all in one place.
36:35 Speaker 00 And with the holiday season coming up, it's a useful way for small retailers to find something a little different for their shelves. Sign up today and get 50% off your first wholesale order up to $100 at faire.com/casefile. That's faire.com/casefile. Terms may apply.
37:04 Speaker 00 Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content.
37:20 Speaker 00 With Evgenia Seonis admitting she'd made the whole rape story up, it added a whole new level of confusion to an already complex case. John Whiteside and Christian Deba maintained they had no idea that Keith Hibbons and David Campbell were gay, and that they'd only pursued them in an attempt to perform a citizen's arrest. But that in itself prompted some heated debates. The level of violence inflicted on Keith went well beyond an attempt to restrain him. Many believed that even if the men's pursuit began with honourable intentions, it quickly escalated into something else entirely. To some investigators, the ferocity of the attack was more in line with vigilante justice.
38:06 Speaker 00 In the eyes of the law, vigilantism was to be punished, not only to uphold the law, but to deter others from similar behaviour. Complicating matters further was the fact that both John Whiteside and Christian Deba maintained they were only acting in self-defence. They'd both attempted to diminish their own involvement by placing the blame on Keith Hibbins himself. Whiteside said that Keith had struck him first and he was simply fighting back, while Deba claimed he'd only gotten involved after seeing that his friend was having trouble subduing Keith, who threatened to kill them.
38:47 Speaker 00 While both Whiteside and Deba continued to express sincere remorse for their actions, they entered not guilty pleas. As their trial date loomed closer, the proceedings were assigned to Justice Philip Cummins, a revered judge with a reputation for being particularly tough on violent crimes. For David Campbell, this was welcome news. Ever since Keith's death, he'd struggled to come to terms with what had happened. In the days after Keith passed, David was so distraught that he'd been put on suicide watch. He'd built his entire life around Keith, and a friend commented:
39:28 Speaker 00 "It will be very, very hard for David to pick up the pieces and go on."
39:35 Speaker 00 As the months passed by, David became socially isolated and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression. Speaking about David's condition, his psychologist remarked: "In all my years of working, I have not witnessed such excruciating suffering in a bereaved person." That pain only worsened when word got out that the defence team intended to discredit David's evidence by claiming he had a phobia of being beaten up, which prompted him to run from the offenders even though they showed no aggression. In the words of the defence, David's account should be viewed with doubt given he had been
40:20 Speaker 00 "very distressed, depressed and hysterical." David believed that Whiteside and Deba genuinely went looking for a rapist, but after failing to find what they were looking for, they had to direct their anger and adrenaline somewhere. He told author Steve Dow that when they spotted two obviously gay men, it gave them a target. This was a theory shared by others, including a senior Victorian judge who spoke to Steve Dow on the condition of anonymity. He agreed with David Campbell that it had been a gay bashing and that Whiteside and
40:59 Speaker 00 Deba had then tried to "white knight themselves as vigilantes, knowing they'd get a lesser penalty." The trial was scheduled to commence in June 2000, 14 months after the attack. All those involved hoped that the truth would come out in court, but just days before the starting date, there was an unexpected announcement. John Whiteside and Christian Deba had agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. While this would spare everyone a possibly lengthy trial, and the two defendants still
41:38 Speaker 00 faced a significant jail sentence, it also meant they wouldn't have to give evidence. David Campbell was devastated, viewing the decision as "an enormous breach of trust and a travesty of justice."
41:58 Speaker 00 At the sentencing hearing, the lead prosecutor said that it was reasonable for John Whiteside and Christian Deba to believe Evgeniosionis’s claims of rape. But it was just as reasonable that Keith Hibbins and David Campbell believed they were being targeted by gay bashers. The problem therein lied in the ferocity of the assault against Keith. The prosecutor put forward that the level of violence indicated a desire to punish Keith, saying that Whiteside and Deba were overcome with a sense of righteousness. He therefore stated that the crime should be considered a serious example of manslaughter and punished accordingly.
42:39 Speaker 00 At the time, the maximum amount for manslaughter was 20 years imprisonment. Lawyers for the defence pointed out that Evgeniosionis played a significant role in Keith’s death, while downplaying the extent of Whiteside and Deba’s behaviour. Even though both men admitted that they’d been drinking throughout the entire day of the attack, they denied being drunk. Their lawyers called into question evidence given by the witness who viewed the attack from the 7th floor of the nearby Peter McCallum Cancer Institute. She said Whiteside and Deba had hit Keith at least 20 times, while Keith’s autopsy
43:21 Speaker 00 found only 6 to 8 injuries on his head and neck. They also called David Campbell’s evidence into question, refuting his claim that Whiteside and Deba had threatened to kill him. Whiteside’s lawyer said his client was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, at which point the judge cut him off, saying: “No one forced him to chase the poor deceased man and to bash him.” Both defence lawyers highlighted the otherwise good character and clean criminal record of their clients, both of whom admitted to the stupidity of their actions. Whiteside’s lawyer said his client was simply an overzealous citizen who overreacted
44:03 Speaker 00 and made a mistake, while Deba’s lawyer described the ordeal as a “tragic happening, where best intentions went wrong.”
44:14 Speaker 00 Justice Philip Cummins acknowledged that Whiteside and Deba were both men of upstanding character who didn't go out looking for violence, and agreed it was reasonable for them to believe of Janusionis's claim of rape. While Cummins didn't believe that the defendants purposely aimed to mislead police, he concluded that their heightened emotions had caused them to downplay the extent of their aggressive behaviour, and lay some of the blame on the victims. Justice Cummins said: "You both ran up to the two men. You were full of anger and indignation." He pointed out that the defendants had no idea that Keith and David were a peaceable
44:56 Speaker 00 gay couple, and that they didn't wait to ask. "That is the risk of citizens' law enforcement," the judge said. "Mistakes occur." He didn't find that their actions were in line with vigilantism, as vigilante justice requires a level of premeditation. But he also rejected the defence that it was a citizens' arrest gone awry, saying: "This was not a citizens' arrest because you punished the suspect, not apprehended him." Cummins also found that their conduct wasn't in line with that of aggressive drunken sports
45:35 Speaker 00 followers. If it had been, he said their punishment would be more severe. Keith's decision to run, thinking he was the target of a gay bashing, was also reasonable to Justice Cummins, who remarked: "The fact that his mistake was reasonable brings shame on us all. Shame that our society has been so inept for so long in eliminating violence or the risk of violence against gay people. And shame that by our failure, gay people have become inured to violence or the risk of violence against them."
46:12 Speaker 00 Addressing the two defendants, the judge concluded: "Your aggressive and excessive conduct towards Mr Hibbins is to be condemned. It caused the death of a human being. But the categories of manslaughter range widely in culpability. Yours is in the least culpable category. Yours was the conduct of two young men of good character not looking for trouble, who truly and reasonably believed a woman had been raped, and who without reflection or premeditation, sought to ensure the perpetrators did not escape before the summoned police arrived. Who then, in a rush of emotion, believing you had found the perpetrators,
46:56 Speaker 00 severely but briefly assaulted the victim. Finally, there is the rare and perverse confluence of events which channeled you towards this tragedy: the false cry of rape, your decent belief in its truth, and the socially induced fear of the victims for which we all share blame. You are of course responsible for your own actions, no one suggests otherwise. But you and the victims were under a malevolent star that Anzac night."
47:30 Speaker 00 With that, Justice Cummins sentenced both John Whiteside and Christian Debar to three years in prison. As they'd both already served six months in pre-sentence detention, he suspended the remaining two and a half years, concluding: "I propose that each of you be released immediately from further custody."
47:56 Speaker 00 For many members of the public, the sentences caused outrage. At The Age newspaper, letters flooded in from people expressing disappointment at what they viewed as a miscarriage of justice. One reader called the case "a potent cocktail in the current moral climate in which male ethos equates violence with virility." She wrote: "There is no place in the law for a subjective moral bias. It is irrelevant that the perpetrators appeal to be respectable, intelligent young men, or that they believed themselves motivated to apprehend a rapist, or that their unfortunate victims were gay."
48:37 Speaker 00 The facts of the situation are that in a state of fury, without a single shred of evidence to justify their choice of victim, they engaged in deliberate, sustained, physical violence causing grievous bodily harm to one defenceless human being, and a death to another.
48:55 Speaker 00 These are the facts on which a sentence should be based, and a mere six months in remand is grossly inadequate. David Campbell agreed that the sentences were abysmal. While he didn’t harbour any hatred towards John Whiteside and Christian Deeba, David told author Steve Dow that his anger was directed towards Justice Philip Cummins. “He was a gay basher,” David said, “a verbal gay basher. I believe that if Keith had been a heterosexual male who had children, he would have thrown the weight of the law behind it.” Another outraged citizen compared the outcome
49:36 Speaker 00 to a case where an indigenous child had been jailed for 12 months for stealing pens, and pointed out that drivers who cause accidental deaths receive harsher sentences. “How can this be?” she wrote to The Age. “These men will go on with their lives now, while Keith Hibbin’s family, lover and friends are left to deal with their devastating loss.”
50:01 Speaker 00 More than 300 people signed a petition urging the Court of Appeal to impose a tougher sentence on Whiteside and Deeba. The president of the Crime Victim Support Association commented to the press: “It was inexcusable that two fit young men could bash a gay guy to death, then walk free. Then you hear that someone who held up a bank with a gun didn’t shoot anyone and had got a little bit of money, got eight years in jail. The whole system is a joke.”
50:32 Speaker 00 The director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentences on the ground that they were manifestly inadequate. The DPP believed that the judge had downplayed the gravity of the offence by depicting it as an almost inevitable consequence of an unfolding tragedy, when the actions of Whiteside and Deeba went well beyond those of well-motivated citizens.
50:56 Speaker 00 The appeal was considered by a panel of three judges in the Supreme Court, with one concluding: "The viciousness of the assault and its lack of foundation smacks far more of a desire to avenge and punish by two persons disinhibited by liquor consumed than it does of misguided chivalry." It seems to me that no matter which way one tries to justify or explain the facts found by the judge, the conclusion remains inescapable: "That a decent life has been taken because the two respondents, hitherto of good repute, decided to take the law into their own hands and become, without proper justification, the judges and punishers of the deceased."
51:42 Speaker 00 Whatever good intentions may have existed when they chose to remove themselves from their own group and enter the gardens, those intentions had dissolved by the time they aggressively confronted Hibbins and Campbell. Thereafter, their good intentions were replaced by an unjustified desire to catch and punish. Any suggestion that they were acting as citizens concerned for the rights of the distressed woman became little more than a pale excuse for their unlawful conduct.
52:14 Speaker 00 The other judges agreed. They ordered that John Whiteside and Christian Deaver's sentences be quashed and that they both be sent back to jail for six years, eligible for parole after four. As the sentences were delivered, loved ones of Whiteside and Deaver began to cry. While David Campbell felt the new decision recognised Keith as a valued member of the community, it pained him that others were losing people they loved. Although the outcome gave him some sense of justice, David told The Age: "Nobody won."
52:56 Speaker 00 The circumstances surrounding Keith Hibbins’ tragic death and the subsequent proceedings prompted many ongoing questions within legal circles and the LGBTQIA+ community. Among these questions was what role did Evgenia Seonis’s story play? For her false rape claim, Evgenia was convicted of making a false report to police. When asked in court why she lied about the attack, she responded: “I cannot answer that question.”
53:29 Speaker 00 When it was put to her that her actions led to two men being charged for murdering an innocent man, Evgenia said: “I have been punished already for that. I didn’t go and tell them to do that.”
53:43 Speaker 00 She was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, which the judge allowed her to serve by way of an intensive correction order.
53:51 Speaker 00 Another prevailing question was whether or not the attack on Keith could be considered a hate crime. The same year that Whiteside and Debe were sentenced, the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby released a report titled “Enough is Enough”, which found that over the past five years, 66% of LGBTQIA+ people had experienced an assault or harassment in a public place. As one concerned citizen wrote to The Age: “We may never know whether the two killers were motivated by homophobia or not, but the fact that, when approached by two agitated young men, Keith Hibbins and David Campbell’s
54:34 Speaker 00 first instinct was to run, indicates the level of fear that many gay, lesbian, and transgender people experience daily.”
54:45 Speaker 00 Whiteside and Debe served their time and moulded back into the community. Neither has ever spoken publicly about the case. David refused to carry hatred for either of the men who killed his life partner. For him, one of the hardest things to comprehend was why Keith came back to rescue him, instead of running towards the light and safety of Lansdowne Street. In recognition of this courageous act, the Royal Humane Society of Australasia posthumously awarded Keith Hibbins with a Medal for Bravery.
55:21 Speaker 00 Years before Keith Hibbins was killed, a friend of David's gave him a wooden photo frame as a gift. While Keith was busy working on an architectural project one day, David snapped a candid photo of him and put it in the frame. He hid the frame away and didn't come across it again until after Keith's death. David told author Steve Dow:
55:46 Speaker 00 "I never had worn pajamas in my life, but now I wear pajamas and I stick this photo down my pajama top when I go to sleep at night. I talk to it then, and I talk to it in the morning, and I kiss it."
56:30 Speaker 03 Hey, I'm Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out, and I have chased down a lot of strange stories, but nothing quite like what's inside a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese. Hundred percent fresh beef, cooked right when you order it, hand-topped onions, plus cheese and pickles in every bite, and right now, you can get one with medium fries and a drink for just $8, only at McDonald's. For a limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and California, and for delivery, fresh beef not available in Alaska and Hawaii. Offer not valid for delivery.
57:09 Speaker 04 At Lowe's, this Veterans Day and every day, military members, veterans, and their spouses get automatic MyLowe's Rewards Silver Status benefits, plus 10% off eligible purchases with no annual limit. It's one way we honor and give back to those who have served and still do. Learn more and verify now at Lowe's.com/military. 10% discount can't be combined with another offer. Exclusions, terms, and conditions apply. Loyalty program, subject to terms and conditions. Details at Lowe's.com/terms. Subject to change.
Previous Case 312: Dustin Wehde Next Case 314: Yarmila Falater Page updated November 3, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated