How Julene Thorburn
Some people are excusing Julene Thorburn’s decision to help cover-up Tiahleigh Palmer’s murder and that needs to stop - for Tiah’s sake, writes journalist SHERELE MOODY
AUSTRALIA, we need to have a big talk about the role Julene Thorburn played in covering up the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer.
While her husband Rick Thorburn is the person responsible for killing the 12year-old, Julene’s decision to help cover-up Tia’s death cannot be underplayed.
A surprising number of people — including some anti-violence campaigners — are excusing Julene’s role in the tragedy, saying she had no choice but to stand by her man because they believe he subjected her to coercive control and/or domestic violence.
Others says she was doing everything in her power to protect her incestuous son and that she was just a victim of circumstance. And then there are those who mitigate her wrongdoing because “women are not capable” of such vile and reprehensible acts.
I’m here to call bulldust on all of this.
Julene Thorburn was not an innocent bystander caught up in a nightmare of her husband’s making.
She was a victim of her own screwed up, selfish moral compass.
As a foster carer, Julene’s responsibility to Tia was exactly the same as her responsibility to her own sons. It was her job to love and protect the youngster and that meant ensuring she was safe from sexual and other violence.
However, when her husband revealed he had taken care of Tia after their son abused her, Julene agreed to help roll out a shocking charade designed to protect the Thorburn family’s way of life.
Julene knew Tia lay dead at the family’s property on the night she was killed, but — despite having ample chance to call the police — she did nothing.
She watched Rick Thorburn drive Tia’s body away the next day — and still she did not call the police.
When he returned to tell her he had fixed their “problem”, she chose to continue playing his sick game.
She lied to authorities about where Tia was, helping to trick them into believing the girl had run away and therefore leading to a delay in the search for her.
And when the search for Tia did begin, Julene stood by as her husband joined the community, authorities and Tia’s family in the desperate hunt for the schoolgirl.
She allowed him to tell lies to journalists covering the case.
She helped Thorburn throw a posthumous birthday party for Tia and did nothing as he cried fake tears with the girl’s heartbroken mates at that event.
Julene did nothing as Thorburn presented himself as grieving father of the year at Tia’s funeral, standing aside as he helped carry Tia’s coffin to the hearse.
Julene Thorburn did not tell the police the truth for 12 months — in that time, she lied under oath at the Crime and Corruption Commission, she lied to Tia’s mum, she lied to