Last hours of little Darcey Freeman; little girl murdered by dad "distressed" by custody arrangements (Melbourne, Australia)

I understand that in Australia, the Fathers Rights groups are already beating the pity party drum for "poor dad" ARTHUR PHILLIP FREEMAN. In their bizarro worldview, you get visitation every other weekend, and that's perfectly understandable grounds--for throwing your 4-year-old daughter off a bridge and killing her. I guess it's "understandable" if you understand the FR mind set: that love or the best interests of the children have nothing to do with anything they think or do; in fact, outside their official communications, they usually forget to mention that stuff.

However, such FR sympathy for a killer DOES make (twisted) sense when you realize what that the FRs really are all about: the one-sided "right" of fathers to have absolute unilateral power over their children and current and/or former partners. So when the courts refuse to let it be all about you and don't totally give you your way on everything, it's perfectly acceptable to vent your wounded ego by disposing of your children like so much dirty Kleenex in one giant temper tantrum. Nice way to wound your ex, too, since it's always about hurting other people as well.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/last-hours-of-little-darcey/story-e6frf7jo-1225785220928

Last updated: October 13, 2009

Last hours of little Darcey Freeman
Paul Anderson From: Herald Sun October 10, 2009 12:00AM

IT was to be the first day of a wonderfully exciting new chapter in the life of a sweet four-year-old girl.

LITTLE Darcey Freeman's life was set to blossom the day she was thrown from the West Gate Bridge.

Excited about her first day of school at St Joseph's Primary in Hawthorn, she was up and dressed, and having breakfast with her older brother Ben, by the time her paternal grandmother, Norma Freeman, woke and came downstairs.

Darcey's younger brother, two-year-old Jack, was still asleep despite the heat.

It was January 29, a brilliant sunny morning at Aireys Inlet.

The children and their father, Arthur Phillip Freeman, had spent the night at his parents' holiday home.

The kids had spent the long weekend there, playing on their scooters and with an assortment of toys they had taken for the trip.

Mr Freeman, an IT worker, had arrived the previous night.

In a police statement tendered to Melbourne Magistrates' Court this week, his father, Peter Freeman, said he seemed "very distressed" about custody arrangements.

Arthur Freeman and his wife, Peta Barnes, were divorced in June last year, the court heard.

Arthur had his breakfast before he and the two older children loaded their gear into his Toyota LandCruiser.

The kids got in, and Arthur buckled Jack into the baby capsule.

"I was concerned that Arthur was very stressed and I suggested that the children miss a day of school and stay home," Peter Freeman told police.

Norma Freeman said in her statement: "When they left (about 7.30am), Arthur was a bit short with me and a little stressed, but I was in no way concerned for the children's safety."

According to court documents, a crying Arthur Freeman rang friend Elizabeth Lam, in the UK, at 8.09am and told her that he had lost custody of his children.

"He was very upset," Ms Lam said in her police statement.

"I tried to reassure him that he had not lost his children, as he would have them every second weekend, but he was too upset to listen to me.

"He cried as he asked who would read them stories at night, as Peta never did this.

"He was also upset that Peta had taken the money out of the family account that came from the sale of their London property, and that the court decided that he was only entitled to $15,000.

"Arty was concerned that because of this he would not have any money to look after his children, let alone himself.

"From the way he was sounding on the phone, I was worried that Arty was going to kill himself. I just had a feeling, and I told him not to do anything stupid and that the children needed their father.

"He didn't respond and just cried."

On the other side of the West Gate Bridge, in Hawthorn, Peta Barnes was at St Joseph's Primary School waiting for her children to arrive.

She told police she called her ex-husband when they failed to arrive.

"He answered and I asked where Darce was," Ms Barnes said in her police statement. "He said to me, `Say goodbye to your children'."

According to her statement, Ms Barnes rang back and was told: "You will never see them again."

Ms Barnes phoned her solicitor, talked to the school principal and reported her children to police as missing, before going home to get photos of them.

SHIPPING manager Barry Nelson was driving across the West Gate Bridge about 9.15am, with his wife Michelle beside him, when the pair say they saw a man take a small child from a white 4WD.

"I thought he was taking his child out of the car for a pee," Mrs Nelson told police.

"In the next few seconds my husband said: `Oh my God, he's going to throw that child over the edge.'

"The child looked like it had that fright reaction because the child's body was tensed up."

Mr Nelson said: "It was like he was holding a bag and tipped it over.

"I couldn't believe what I had just seen."

Another motorist, Greg Cowan, said in his statement: "After dropping the child over, (the man) leaned over the edge for a couple of seconds with both hands on the railing to have a look, and then he turned around and casually walked back around the rear of his car.

"I couldn't believe what I thought I had seen and it made me feel sick.

"It was like he was just throwing out the trash."

Mr Nelson pulled over and ran to the rail.

"I yelled at him, `Hey, what are you doing?' He had no emotion on his face, like nothing had happened," he said.

"I started to tell myself it may have been a toy because I didn't want to believe it was a child that I had seen."

Prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said Mr Freeman then drove away.

"While (they were) driving, Ben Freeman asked his father to go back to get Darcey because she could not swim," Mr Silbert told Melbourne Magistrates' Court this week.

Commonwealth Law Courts security staff said Mr Freeman arrived in the Williams St foyer about 9.40am with two boys.

"The gentleman presented in a frozen state," law courts psychologist Ilana Katz said in her police statement.

"He seemed unable to communicate. He shook, tears ran down his face."

Sen-Constable Shaun Hill unsuccessfully tried to speak to Mr Freeman and asked young Ben if he and his little brother were OK.

"The male then stood up. He said, `Take me away'," Sen-Constable Hill said in his statement.

Peta Barnes was at home when she received a phone call from police.

Water police had recovered Darcey from the water. She was barely alive and was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital.

Ms Barnes was taken straight there. "I am incredibly thankful that I had some time with her before she passed away," the grieving mother told police.

Arthur Phillip Freeman, 36, this week pleaded not guilty to murder and has been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.