Shock at murder arrests
SOMETIME around March, up to 10 members of the Stevens family moved into an unassuming split-level, threebedroom dwelling in Homestead Ave.
They planted dozens of fruit trees, dug fresh flower beds and transformed a bare patch of grass into a promising garden.
To the neighbours, they could have seemed like an average Toowoomba family preparing for the city’s annual Carnival of Flowers.
But behind the scenes, dozens of officers from the Toowoomba Child Protection Investigation Unit, the Child Trauma Unit and the Homicide squad were gathering evidence about the family’s alleged link to the death of Elizabeth Rose Struhs.
The eight-year-old Rangeville girl died on January 7, several days after she collapsed in a coma that police allege was caused by the people around her withholding medication needed to treat her type-1 diabetes.
Police allege it was done in line with her parents’ belief that God would heal her.
Shortly before daybreak on Tuesday morning, 30 police from across Toowoomba swooped on the Homestead Ave dwelling and arrested 12 people.
They included Acacia Naree Stevens, Alexander Francis Stevens, Camellia Claire Stevens, Andrea Louise Stevens, Loretta Mary Stevens, Sebastian James Stevens, Therese Maria Stevens, Zachary Alan Struhs, Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, Samantha Emily Crouch, and Keita Courtney Martin. Each one has been charged with murder.
Brendan Luke Stevens, 60, is also charged with murder along with a secondary charge of failing to provide the necessities of life.
The charges follow the arrest of Elizabeth’s parents Jason Richard Struhs, 50, and Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 46, who are accused of murder, torture and failing to provide the necessities of life.
For one neighbour, Amya, the arrests came as a shock.
The young mother lives two houses down from the property and said she would often hear singing and chanting at the address.
“A large group moved in a few months ago,” she said.
“They were always out the front doing random stuff, I thought they were renovating the house because they were always building stuff.
“There were so many of them, I thought they were people who go from town to town renovating homes.”
There are reports the families were building bunk beds for the 12 adults to sleep in.
Other neighbours reported hearing chanting and singing at the address, often accompanied by large bonfires.
“They are out there every day with a couple of young men and women working in the garden while an old man sat on the front porch and watched over them with a pen and a piece of paper,” Amya said.
In the days leading up the arrests, Amya recalled seeing a regular police presence in the area with marked and unmarked police vehicles often parked in her street,
At the time she thought it
was do with a spate of recent car thefts but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“You don’t know who lives next door to you,” she said.
Police allege Mr Stevens was the leader of a small, home-based church known to its members as “The Saints”.
Elizabeth’s oldest sister Jayde Struhs walked away from her family and the church when she was 16.
She said Mr Stevens had a tight control on not only his adult children, but also her brothers, sister and her mum.
He led the group in prayer, while the women in the church cleaned and tended to their children.
They followed the King James Bible with a devotion that meant no celebrations at Christmas or Easter.
“They were not mentioned in the Bible so we didn’t celebrate them, we did celebrate birthdays, though,” Jayde said.
As the years rolled on, Jayde said the group hardened in its beliefs.
Jayde said she had been forced to give up playing golf despite winning several competitions because it was seen as a distraction from learning about God.
Higher education was ruled out, as were most relationships.
“You were not allowed to marry unless your partner was completely in the faith,” Jayde said.
“It was assumed that I would marry one of Brendan’s sons because we were the same age and we were the best of friends.”
The group’s teachings also worked their way into Jayde’s school life and that of her brothers and sisters.
“We used school as a way to reach out, that is what we were taught to do, that it was our obligation,” she said.
“If there was an opportunity to slide our beliefs into an assignment we would. If there was a chance to talk about it with our classmates we would.”
The group has been based out of a small timber home in Bridge Street where they lived and held religious services for about 11 years.
The Chronicle understands that they left that home in March and moved into the Homestead Ave home that is owned by their co-accused Lachlan Schoenfisch.
The accused faced the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Wednesday where the charges were formally read.
They are yet to enter pleas. Jason and Kerrie Struhs remain in police custody and have not entered pleas.