Disappeared teenager Amber Haigh feared losing her baby to the man now accused of her murder, and was forced to change the locks on her apartment when he broke in to steal the infant’s cot, a court has heard.
Haigh was a 19-year-old mother when she vanished from the New South Wales Riverina in July 2002, leaving behind her five-month-old son.
Now, 22 years since her disappearance, the father of her child, 64-year-old Robert Geeves, and his wife, Anne Geeves, are on trial for her murder. Both have pleaded not guilty.
In the NSW supreme court this week, a succession of nurses, social workers and counsellors gave evidence about their growing concerns for Haigh’s safety and that of her newborn baby in the final months of her life.
Dr Doug James, a counsellor at Young Community Health Centre, said Haigh presented as naive and vulnerable. She was suffering from an intellectual disability, but also was a “survivor of trauma”.
In court he was taken to file notes he took from a counselling session with Haigh in May 2001 in the first trimester of her pregnancy to Robert Geeves.
“Amber spoke about her life and the way she was. She spoke at length about … being raped at the age of seven and 12. Amber was able to give details of both these events. Amber spoke about how her father used to bash her.”
“Amber spoke about ‘not knowing what love is’ along with feeling useless at times.”
James described the unequal nature of Haigh’s relationship with Robert Geeves – who was 22 years her senior – as “profoundly sad”.
Another counsellor, Catrina Richens, gave evidence about a file note she entered in Haigh’s case file in late February, when Haigh’s son was just over a month old.
The court heard Haigh rang asking counsellors to come to see her at a friend’s house. The case notes read: “Amber said that Robert had taken the baby bassinet from the flat after gaining access with a spare key. Amber would like the locks changed and was happy for us to follow this up, along with funding a bassinet for [her child].”
The department of community services organised and paid to have Haigh’s locks changed that day and bought Haigh a new cot.
The court has heard that Haigh was repeatedly urged to protect her safety and the safety of her baby. Police raised concerns for Haigh’s safety with counsellors, citing Robert Geeves’s criminal history.
A counselling note from Richens was read into court: “Amber was encouraged … to ensure that she does the best for herself and baby.
“Amber spoke about Robert [Geeves] previously shooting a woman, and that Robert had tied Amber up when he thought she was cheating on him.”
Haigh repeatedly raised concerns she would lose custody of her child.
A file note revealed in court stated that Haigh in a meeting “expressed concerns for her own safety and the future safety of the baby, fearing that Robert and Anne would take the baby from her if something happened to her”.
An earlier witness Sue Powell, a nurse, gave evidence Haigh consistently said to her that Robert and Anne Geeves wanted to take her baby from her.
In her file notes she recorded Haigh “has fears her baby will be taken away”.
“Amber informed me she did not want Robert and Anne to have custody of the baby.”
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Haigh’s unresolved disappearance has been an enduring mystery in NSW’s Riverina, where she was last seen alive more than two decades ago. She left behind a five-month-old son that, the court has heard, she “adored” and “never let out of her sight”.
Haigh’s body has never been found, but a coroner has ruled she died from “homicide or misadventure”.
The prosecution has alleged in court that Haigh – described in court as “very easily misled” – was used by Robert and Anne Geeves as a “surrogate mother” because they wanted another baby.
It alleges that once Haigh’s baby was born, they sought to have her “removed from the equation” by killing her.
Haigh was last seen on 5 June 2002. The Geeves say they drove her that evening from Kingsvale to Campbelltown railway station so she could visit her dying father in hospital, and have not heard from her since.
They told police Haigh willingly left her infant son in their custody.
The Geeves reported Haigh missing a fortnight later, on 19 June 2002.
The court has previously heard the Geeves had had one child together – a son the same age as Haigh, and who had previously dated her – but the couple wanted more children, having subsequently endured three miscarriages and a stillbirth.
“The crown case theory is that it was always the intention of the Geeves to assume the custody and care of [the child] from Amber, but they knew that to do that, Amber had to be removed from the equation … so, the crown asserts, they killed her.”
The crown case is circumstantial, the court has heard, but in the absence of forensic evidence over Haigh’s disappearance will rely on witness testimony from people who knew Haigh, and were concerned she was being exploited and abused by Robert and Anne Geeves.
The court heard this week from a woman who said she met Haigh at a train station and that Haigh told her Robert Geeves would ply her with alcohol before tying her to a bed and having sex with her.
The court has also heard the crown case will also include evidence of phone intercepts – placed in the Geeves home and car in 2002 – that were re-transcribed in 2019, with significant discrepancies from the original transcripts discovered. These will be contested in court.
Lawyers for Robert and Anne Geeves have argued the case against the couple – now more than two decades old – was deeply flawed, arguing that “community distaste” at Robert Geeves’ relationship with “a much younger woman with intellectual disabilities” fuelled “gossip and innuendo”.
“Everything they did was viewed through a haze of mistrust and suspicion,” the court has heard.
The judge-alone trial continues in Wagga Wagga.