# 243: Sophie Collombet

An episode of [Morbidology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1463979546), 12 Feb 2024, 46 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/s.gum.fm/s-610c47a4222ada0024acb2d8/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/2IMk17EdnEqyRhJTIpIU/claritaspod.com/measure/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/58531137/morbidology_243_sophie_collombet.mp3

In the early morning hours of March 28, 2014, Brisbane, Australia experienced stormy weather. As the rain subsided, the homeless community of Kurilpa Park emerged from their shelters. On a nearby bench, some of them noticed what appeared to be a homeless woman. She lay on the bench, clad only in damp newspapers to shield her from the elements. SPONSORS - Truvaga: Are you still grappling with stress and struggling to maintain focus despite making it a New Year's resolution? Truvaga offers a solution. It's a handheld device that stimulates tthe vagus nerve. Get 15% off with the promo code MORBIDOLOGY at: https://www.truvaga.com/ 4Patriots: Did you know that two thirds of Americans are at rick of experiecing a blackout? That's where 4Patriot's Solar Generator 2000X comes in. Pick it up now for peace of mind, and get receive a free solar panel at: https://4patriots.com/morbidology Hemp My Pet: We all love our pets, right? That's why their health is our top priority. Hemp my Pet is the first CBD company for pets, and their trials have shown a reduction in pain and anxiety. Get 20% off with the code "MORBIDOLOGY" at: https://www.hempmypet.com/ SHOW NOTES - https://morbidology.com/morbidology-the-podcast-243-sophie-collombet PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/morbidology Audio Credit: Epidemic Sound Evening of Chaos - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Empty Reflections - ErikMMusic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgq4SPKHlyI A Mothers Sacrifice - OurMusicBox - https://ourmusicbox.com/ Dark Tranquility - Anno Domini Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6mBav72Ak Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.

## Transcript

[0:00] On February fourth, The Minds of Madness is set to release an investigate,
[0:04] a four part series centered on a cold case from nearly four decades ago.
[0:11] At first it was just my mom's gone, and then it became you know,
[0:15] your mom was taken by a bad man. They found video of him
[0:19] killing women. If you'd never watched any episodes of Breaking bad Or, that's
[0:23] exactly what you would see. You buried these eleven women and kept going out
[0:27] there. He made a road point out there. You've got this dude saying,
[0:32] hey, I'm going to show your family these pictures, and like he's
[0:36] secretly taping her. The cops don't care. We're nothing to them, don't
[0:40] there like a piece of garbage. General, I don't see anything that screams
[0:44] there's two people doing this. I never thought anything was going to come by
[0:48] this case ever. Listen to the Minds of Madness series Who Killed Jennifer starting
[0:54] February fourth, wherever you get your podcasts. I was raining heavily during that
[1:34] night. Yes, she in fact was seen walking from the bus with an
[1:38] umbrella a shoulder bag. You would think there's a lot of people around all,
[1:42] but it was raining heavily. So yeah, no it is. It's
[1:45] a shocking Bastled along the Brisbane River in Australia, Grillpa Park emerges as a
[1:59] hidden jam in the Australian urban landscape. This small oasis boasts winding footpaths and
[2:06] cycle trails beneath the William Jolly and Carylpa bridges, creating a tranquil retreat for
[2:12] those seeking respite from the city. Buzz mere stroll from the park leads to
[2:16] the Gallery of Modern Art and the heart of the city central business district,
[2:23] making Carylpa Park a convenient gateway to cultural and urban adventures. The green haven
[2:30] features a lone gas barbecue, a sprinkling of point sierras and a picnic shelter,
[2:36] providing a modest yet charming spot for relaxation. Since it's surrounded by several
[2:40] bridges, the park shares its space with diverse homeless communities in close proximity.
[2:49] A Catholic os Care hostel caters to homeless men and individuals recently parolled from prison
[2:54] for various crimes, even including murder and rape. The three level brick building
[3:01] offers a refuge for men with nowhere else to go and is set back from
[3:07] a busy, pale street corner just next to Saint Mary's Catholic Church. In
[3:13] addition to being a hostel, the building houses a busy parole program and serves
[3:17] as a temporary home for some of society's most damaged and dangerous men. As
[3:24] one officer commented, murderers, rapists, and pedophiles get paroled to Ozcare,
[3:30] and not many people know about it. While the park, which is adorned
[3:36] with CCTV surveillance, welcomes the public during daylight, it undergoes a subtle transformation
[3:44] as nightfalls. Since Ozcare has a nine pm curfew on most nights, there
[3:49] are a handful of men that miss that curfew and are forced to sleep outside
[3:55] at night. The benches in Carillpa Park become restrons for the drunk and homeless,
[4:02] casting an air of unease for women navigating its paths after dark. Around
[4:23] ten thousand miles away from Brisbane is the quin village of Saint Julian Mondonee in
[4:28] the French Alps. The village is embraced by alpine scenery and both stunning views
[4:33] of snow capped peaks, valleys and meadows. The small village was where Sophie
[4:39] Columbay was born to parents Koreine and Guy in the year of nineteen ninety three.
[4:45] Sophie was the youngest of three siblings with two older brothers, Lionel and
[4:48] Guillam, and their familial bonds were strong. Sophie was driven to explore the
[4:55] world and learn languages on the go, which prompted her to embark on her
[4:59] t ernie early on. After visiting Denmark and Germany, in February of two
[5:04] thousand and thirteen, Sophie and her boyfriend Boris Foster set their sides on Brisbane,
[5:11] Australia. Their intention was not merely to travel, but to live and
[5:15] study in a country boasting a fourteen billion plus overseas education industry with around five
[5:21] hundred thousand international students, choosing Brisbane the third most popular destination for international students
[5:30] after Sydney and Melbourne. The couple settled into an apartment close to Griffith University.
[5:36] Sophie was enthusiastic about her educational pursuit and she enrolled in a master's degree
[5:43] in international business, quickly making friends. Among them was Nahad Hussein from Iraq,
[5:49] who described her as a very smart woman who was always at the top
[5:54] of the class. Sophie was known for her vibrant and friendly personality and she
[6:00] always made sure to chat with the strangers at the bus stop as she traveled
[6:03] to and from school. It always remembered her for her French accent. Adjusting
[6:11] to her new life in Australia, Sophie insured regular contact with her family through
[6:15] Skype every Sunday, and she always expressed her love for Australia. However,
[6:21] in May of two thousand and fourteen, Boris's visa expired and he had to
[6:27] return to France alone. While Sophie initially hesitated to stay in Australia by herself,
[6:33] the limited time left in her final year at university prompted her to continue
[6:39] her studies. To support herself, she took on various odd jobs such as
[6:45] private French shooting, cleaning, and waitressing in local cafes. With Boris back
[6:51] in France, Sophie moved into view apartments on the CBD fringe, sharing this
[6:57] space with other young individuals and fluting to Keshi Furukawa, who came from Brisbane
[7:02] from Japan. Sophie and Takashi formed an instant connection. Navigating the cultural nuances
[7:10] with an effortless friendship that transcended borders. On the night of the twenty seventh
[7:20] of March two thousand and fourteen, a storm swept through the city of Brisbane,
[7:26] prompting its residents to seek refuge from the relentless downpour. The city was
[7:31] unnaturally quiet, but in the early morning ours, the heavy rain began to
[7:35] dissipate and Carillpa Park returned to its normal hum of life. The homeless population
[7:44] emerged from their makeshift shelters underneath bridges and various high routes and made their way
[7:48] to the familiar park. Some of them noticed a homeless woman lying on a
[7:55] bench within the band rotunda in a state of vulnerability. She was cloaked from
[8:01] chest to thigh with pieces of newspaper, seemingly braving the elements in an effort
[8:07] to stay warm and sheltered. Such sights were unfortunately not uncommon in the park
[8:13] that often served as a refuge for those facing the harsh realities of life.
[8:18] At about six a m. A homeless man approached the rotunda, hoping to
[8:22] claim a spot on the bench. However, the stillness of the woman asleep
[8:28] on the bench caught his attention. Upon closer inspection, he could see that
[8:33] she was completely motionless. Concerned, the man made a futile attempt to awaken
[8:39] her, but the woman wouldn't rouse. It was in this moment that he
[8:46] noticed that there was blood matted in her hair. The man then frantically shook
[8:52] the woman and felt for a pulse, only to discover that the woman was
[8:56] dead. The man immediately made contact with police, who arrived in a matter
[9:01] of minutes and cordoned off the area. The young woman was officially pronounced dead
[9:07] at the scene, and her body was then transported to the medical examiner's office.
[9:15] The pathologist found that a single devastating blow to her head had fractured her
[9:20] skull, eventually causing her death. However, this wasn't the only horror that
[9:26] the young woman had sustained. She had been brutally assaulted, leaving her with
[9:33] black eyes, bruises across her hands, feet, and elbows. Before being
[9:39] killed, The young woman had also been raped. The medical examiner reconstructed the
[9:45] sequence of events, surmising that the woman had been attacked, dragged across the
[9:50] ground, repeatedly struck on the head, and then raped. Following this,
[9:56] she was carefully arranged on the bench and covered with newspapers in an effort to
[10:01] conceal the crime. The pathologist determined that the young woman had remained alive for
[10:07] several hours after the assault. Her vulnerable state had been dismissed by passer by,
[10:15] who mistook her for a sleeping homeless person. Naked except for some jewelry,
[10:20] the victim carried no form of identification. Fingerprints yielded no matches in the
[10:28] national database, leading detectives in a quest to identify her. Turning to social
[10:33] media, detectives posted a photograph of the distinctive jewelry that she was wearing.
[10:41] Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in France, Boris grew increasingly uneasy about the
[10:46] unexplained silence from his girlfriend, Sophie Colombay. As he signed into social media
[10:54] that evening, he saw the Brisbane police appeal online and recognized the juelry immediately
[11:01] as belonging to Sophie. After hearing from Boris, who provided detectives with a
[11:13] photograph of Sophie, the woman on the bench in the park was formally identified
[11:18] as Sophie Columbay. The inquiry into Your Murder swiftly commenced with detectives eager to
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[12:48] out promo code Morbidology. Her roommate to Cashi told detectives he had last seen
[12:56] her on Thursday morning, the day before her body was discovered in the park.
[13:03] Takashi had been returning home from the night shift when he encountered Sophie smoking
[13:07] on the balcony. They exchanged morning greetings before he retired to bed while Sophie
[13:15] got ready for a busy dayhead for University. Detectives initiated a thorough examination of
[13:22] local CCTV footage, revealing Sophie leaving her apartment to around it at thirty a
[13:28] m. On the twenty seventh of March. She traversed to go Between Bridge,
[13:33] a multi use toll bridge connecting South Brisbane to the Milton area, en
[13:39] route to Griffith University for a full day of classes. Sophie safely reached the
[13:46] university and attended classes that extended until eight thirty p m. Leaving the campus
[13:52] with a friend, they found themselves caught in a downpour, prompting them to
[13:58] share an umbrella. Despite her friend's offer of a lift, Sophie declined,
[14:05] opting to catch the bus in the heavy rain. The streets were emptier than
[14:11] usual that night due to people seeking refuge from the downpour. The bus dropped
[14:16] Sophie off at south Bank Cultural Forecourt on Melbourne Street. From here she walked
[14:24] towards Carylpa Bridge through Carylpa Park, passing landmarks such as Queensland Art Gallery,
[14:30] the State Library of Queensland and the Gallery of Modern Art. By around nine
[14:37] pm, Sophie would have reached the Riverside boardwalk, typically vibrant, but that
[14:41] night unusually hushed amid the rain soaked city. Her route would have continued across
[14:48] Carylpa Bridge, leading her to her an apartment. Her route would have continued
[14:52] across Carilpa Bridge, leading her to her apartment on Quay Street, just on
[14:58] the edge of the CBD, a journey that was familiar to Sophie. The
[15:05] boardwalk was considered open and secure, at least compared to the alternative routes through
[15:11] industrial backstreets or isolated paths, so it was a preferred choice for her.
[15:18] Typically. However, somewhere along this well trodden path, Sophie crossed paths with
[15:24] her killer. Unfortunately, there was no CCTV coverage along this particular route,
[15:31] leaving detectives with a challenging gap in surveillance. Captured on CCTV, Sophie appeared
[15:37] in long, dark pants, black ankle boots, a sleeveless knitted beige shirt,
[15:43] and carried a white shoulder bag containing essentials such as her iPad, a
[15:48] BlackBerry phone, and her purse. An umbrella shielded her from the elements.
[15:56] However, when Sophie's body was discovered, these personal items were noticeably absent.
[16:03] Detectives appealed to the public to be vigilant, urging anyone who may have seen
[16:07] Sophie on the night of her murder to come forward or if they saw her
[16:11] belongings anywhere. In an effort to on earth close police divers navigated through the
[16:17] nearby river, discovering a black umbrella roughly one kilometer away from the crime scene.
[16:23] However, they weren't exactly sure whether it belonged to Sophie or not.
[16:29] The search expanded, with detectives meticulously combing through the park, inspecting bins and
[16:36] bushes. Yet Sophie's possessions remained elusive. As days passed without a breakthrough,
[16:42] detectives grew increasingly concerned that the killer could strike again. It was apparent of
[16:48] detectives that Sophie was attacked as she walked home alone in the night, raising
[16:53] the possibility that the killer was an opportunistic one. The heavy rain that night
[16:59] had made the area more desolate than usual, meaning that there was likely no
[17:03] witnesses humbered visibility, and it was possible that the sound of heavy rain had
[17:07] drowned out Sophie screaming for help. Because of the seemingly random and brutal nature
[17:14] of the murder, it seemed likely to detectives that the killer could be on
[17:18] the search for another victim. As Detective Inspector Rod Kemp said, anyone who
[17:25] could do this kind of thing is obviously an extreme threat. I was raining
[17:30] heavily during that night. Yes, she in fact was seen walking from the
[17:33] bus with an umbrella a shoulder bag. You would think there was a lot
[17:38] of people run. Oh, but it was raining heavily, so yeah,
[17:41] you know it is. It's a shocking I don't think there's anything to suggest
[17:45] you could put a tag of a foreign student on it. I think she
[17:48] was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some rumors began circulating
[17:52] that Sophie was targeted because she was a foreign student. The detective said that
[17:57] there was no evidence to suggest They noted that Sophie spoke good English and she
[18:03] dressed like a local. The murder weabon and Sophie's clothing still hadn't been found,
[18:11] so detectives set up a post at the Riverside Park where she was found.
[18:17] Over the course of the next twelve hours, they interviewed every single person
[18:19] who came into the park and asked whether they had seen anybody were anything suspicious.
[18:26] That night, as detectives continued in their investigation, Detective Kemp stressed that
[18:33] while the murder was horrific, he still believed that Brisbane was a safe place.
[18:40] This was echoed by state Premier Campbell Newman, who stated, I believe
[18:45] it is safe not only for students, but safe for Brisbane residents. Did
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[20:10] for peace of mind and uninterrupted power supply today. Sophie was actually the fourth
[20:19] international student to be murdered in Brisbane in recent months, but detective stress that
[20:25] there was no link between them. Round a month earlier, Singapore student Mentachi
[20:32] Narayanan was stabbed to death in a hotel room on Brisbane's South Side. Her
[20:37] thirty one year old boyfriend was charged with her murder. Then the November of
[20:42] the year before, Korean Youth Exchange participant Anjie Bam was dragged into the city
[20:48] Central Parklands while walking to her cleaning job and killed. A nineteen year old
[20:53] man named Alex mcgun had been charged with her murder. Then into South Korean
[21:00] student Mintake Kim was discovered dead in a shallow grave. He had been killed
[21:06] by a man named Sang Yong Wang after posting on gum trees seeking somebody who
[21:11] could give him a good exchange rate to send money back home. Sophie's family
[21:17] opted out of flying over from France, saying that their grief was still too
[21:21] raw to see where their daughter had been killed. However, her brother Guillam
[21:27] posted a tribute on social media, writing, in every corner of the sky,
[21:33] in every drop of water, in each iceberg, in each lake or
[21:37] river, in each floor, the blue of your eyes will still be with
[21:41] us. Detectives continued scarring through CCTV footage from various buildings in the area to
[21:57] see if they could identify a person of interest. Thus far, not a
[22:03] single piece of evidence was found that could point them in the direction of Sophie's
[22:07] killer. As they searched through the hours of footage. They found grainy images
[22:14] of a man near the murder scene, both before and after it took place.
[22:21] He was around one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, with fair hair and
[22:25] hazel eyes, and he was dressed in a black singlet with long dark pants.
[22:30] He was seen in the park where Sophie was killed, yet he hadn't
[22:34] come forward despite numerous appeals. Intrigued by the possibility that he might have witnessed
[22:41] something crucial that night, detectives embarked on a mission to identify and locate this
[22:47] man. As they searched for the unidentified man, they attempted to retrace his
[22:52] movements that night. Further CCTV footage captured the man taking a train from South
[23:00] Brisbane Station to Bowen Hills Station at eleven twenty three pm after Sophie was killed.
[23:07] From here, he was last seen heading towards Abbotsford Road. Detectives turned
[23:14] their attention once more to Carillpa Park, specifically the transient men who often hung
[23:18] out there. They spoke to one man who said he had been drinking at
[23:23] the rotunda where Sophie's body was found earlier in the night before she was killed.
[23:30] He said that he was in the company of a man named Ben who
[23:33] lived in the Oscare hostel, just a stone throw away from the park.
[23:38] Detectives made their way over to the hostel, armed with the information they had
[23:42] gathered thus far. According to staff, the man in the footage looked exactly
[23:48] like twenty five year old Benjamin James Millwort. They said that he had been
[23:55] staying with them for the past couple of weeks, but had since seemingly disappeared.
[24:00] The last time that he was seeing was the night that Sophie was killed.
[24:06] It apparently laughed in a hurry, leaving behind all of his clothing possessions
[24:18] did actives know how to name, But despite their best efforts to track Millward
[24:23] dawn, they couldn't find him. On the fourth of April, detactive's annoyance
[24:29] to the public that they were searching for Millward that we don't know he's involvement
[24:36] in the matter at this stage, as I say, whether he's a witness
[24:38] or has some further involvement, when we're not sure at this point in time
[24:42] what he's actually involvement. Is you just the requick that spelling came out for
[24:45] him, Yes, it's Benjamin, the normal spelling of Benjamin James Millwood m
[24:52] I l wid as I said, he's twenty five years of age. His
[24:57] is known to frequent the South Bank Karupa area and he's currently whereabout unknown took
[25:06] place as he us personal or whoever he described his thats met I understand he
[25:11] isn't a homeless person. I wouldn't say at the stage, certainly itinerant and
[25:17] as I said, at the moment, we don't know of a fixed place
[25:18] of abode for this person. It released a photograph of him along with the
[25:22] description, mentioning a dragon tattoo that he had across the left side of his
[25:27] chest. At the time of Sophie's murder, Millward was homeless and was known
[25:33] to frequent Kilruper Park. He had worked for nine years in hospitaliday and as
[25:40] a laborer, but for the past year or so he had struggled with drug
[25:44] addiction and alcohol dependency. In the weeks leading up to Sophie's murder, Milward
[25:51] had been living in Ozcare hostel and he was already well known to police,
[25:57] having been released from prison in December of two thousand and twelve after serving time
[26:02] for a severe assault, He found himself back behind Barr's judy of parole violation.
[26:08] He was released once more in July of two thousand and thirteen. Millward's
[26:14] criminal record included convictions for various offenses such as theft and causing public disturbances,
[26:22] reflecting a pattern of involvement in drugs and robbery. As the search for Millward
[26:27] continued, detectives made contact with other people living in the men's hostel. They
[26:33] spoke with a man named Lane Smith, who had crossed paths with Millward while
[26:37] living at the hostel. He told detectives that in the ours before Sophie was
[26:44] killed, Millward was high and drunk. He said that in the morning,
[26:49] he and Millward went to the apartment of David Nelson, a mutual acquaintance,
[26:55] where Millward injected a shod of crystal meth amphetamine. After injecting the drug,
[27:02] Milward told Lane that he hadn't taken it in a long time, but when
[27:06] he had used it in the past, it had caused him a problem.
[27:11] However, Millward didn't elaborate on what this problem was. Some time later,
[27:15] the two men left and went to a nearby hotel, where Milward drank beer
[27:21] and played table tennis. From here, the two men returned to David's home,
[27:26] where the three of them shared a seven hundred and fifty mili liter bottle
[27:30] of Jim Baim and two bottles of wine. Then, some time after five
[27:36] p m, Millward made his way to Killpa Park, where he bumped into
[27:40] another hostile resident, Justin Christopher Wood. According to Justin, they sat on
[27:47] the rotunda for a while where Millward injected some more crystal meth amphetamine. Justin
[27:53] said that he returned to the hostel, leaving Millward at the park alone.
[28:00] According to Lene, he didn't see Millward again until a round eleven p m,
[28:04] when he appeared outside the hostel in an energetic demeanor. It was pouring
[28:11] with rain, but Millward was only wearing a singlet in cargo pants. He
[28:17] couldn't get into the hostel for the night because it had a nine p m
[28:19] lockout. Lyne told Millward that he would go to another hostel to get him
[28:25] some warm clothing, but when he returned, Millward was gone. Despite Millward's
[28:32] trouble past and potential involvement in Sophie's murder, once he was identified in the
[28:37] media, several people who knew him came to his defense. Garri, a
[28:41] goodsell who had known him for years, commented, coming from someone who has
[28:47] spent time with him and had sleepovers, he just wouldn't come across as a
[28:51] guy who had hurt any one. I've seen him in fights. He was
[28:55] always the one to walk away. Detectives arge the public to reach out immediately
[29:00] if they had seen Millward, and told them not to approach him if he
[29:03] was spotted. Detective camp anounced he was believed to have been at the scene
[29:10] around the time we believe Sophie was killed. We ask people if they know
[29:14] this person, not to approach him. However, Detective Kemp stressed that Millward
[29:19] wasn't a suspect in Sophie's murder, just a person of interest, possibly even
[29:26] a witness to the murder. But the days continued to pass and Millward failed
[29:30] to surface, adding to the cloud of suspicion he was already under Detectives thought
[29:36] that if he were innocent, he would have handed himself in. They spoke
[29:41] with Millward's family, who said that they hadn't seen or heard from him since
[29:45] the night Sophie was killed. In an effort to trace him, his family
[29:49] made pleas across social media for him to hand himself in so that he could
[29:53] be ruled out of the investigation if he were indeed innocent. His cousin mel
[30:00] Millward Tyrrell posted on Facebook, if anyone has seen my beloved cousin Benny,
[30:07] please contact the police. Love you, Benny. Everything's going to be okay.
[30:12] His aunt ter Douglas, also appealed to him on Network ten, stating
[30:18] we're not going to let you be out there by yourself, but you haven't
[30:21] been found guilty of anything yet, Ben, and we need to sort that
[30:25] out. His mother, Diane, also begged him to hand himself in and
[30:30] asked him to call and sort it out for the sake of Sophie's family.
[30:34] She said what most of the community was already thinking. The longer it goes
[30:40] on, the more people are starting to believe he must have done it.
[30:52] As the search for Millward continued, a makeshift memorial began to take shape at
[30:56] the rotunda where Sophie's body was discovered. People from all across the city left
[31:03] behind flowers and cards of condolences. One particularly poignant one read, I'm sorry
[31:11] your life was lost in our city. I hope you're at peace now.
[31:17] Meanwhile, women in the area began to speak publicly about the dangers along the
[31:21] riverside boardwalk where Sophie was attacked. A woman who lived in the same apartment
[31:26] complex as Sophie wrote to the Career Mail about how the area was often swarming
[31:30] with drunk men and homeless people. She wrote, this happens day and night
[31:37] where Sophie was. I have never seen any police or security of any kind
[31:42] in that area. According to the woman, she had been accosted and yelled
[31:48] at by men as she walked home during the day. She spoke about one
[31:52] particularly frightening experience as she walked along the route at night, writing I constantly
[31:59] check to say if I was being followed and actually ran over the bridge home.
[32:05] Griffith University Women's Association announced that they were planning a vigil in Sophie's honor.
[32:12] Spokeswoman Stephanie Camerck stated it was something important to organize to stand together to
[32:19] mourn her life and stand up against violence against women. We all love our
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[33:30] As the search for Millward pressed on, detectives Lindsay Schubert and Stephen Vout
[33:36] were heading along Harbor Drive at Kauf's Harbor, around four hundred kilometers away from
[33:40] Brisbane. It was around three pm on the eighth of April when they spotted
[33:46] a man in the distance that looked eerily familiar. As they drew closer,
[33:52] they could see that it was Benjamin Millworth. They approached the man and asked
[33:58] are you ben, Expecting the man to deny that he was, They were
[34:02] surprised when he responded, yeah, yeah, you got me. Was it
[34:07] the Internet? Millwood was arrested and transported to jail while Queensland Police supplied to
[34:14] have him extradited, an application that was immediately approved. Milward's DNA and fingerprints
[34:22] were taken, and his DNA came back as a match to the DNA that
[34:25] was found underneath Sophie's fingernails. It was found to be one point one million
[34:30] times more likely to have come from Millward than anybody else. The next day,
[34:37] Milward appeared in a packed Brisbane courtroom where he was charged with murder,
[34:42] rape, deprivation of liberty and robbery. Magistrate arm Thacker adjourned his case until
[34:49] the nineteenth of May. Outside of court, his defense attorney, Michael Boucher
[34:53] spoke on behalf of his family, telling the community he's distressed given the circums
[35:00] stance as he finds himself in, but otherwise in relatively good health and spirits.
[35:06] The day after Millward was charged, a gathering of hundreds assembled to march
[35:09] through Brisbane towards the park where Sophie was killed. The haunting melody of bagpipes
[35:15] wafted over the Brisbane River, resonating from the impromptu memorial, which was now
[35:21] graced with a French flag and photographs of Sophie. At the memorial site,
[35:28] Rosalind Trout, a family friend, delivered a eulogy crafted by Sophie's family,
[35:36] with a visible struggle to contain our emotions. Rosalind expressed, Oh little one,
[35:40] you feared nothing. Be you our daughter, our sister, our love,
[35:45] or our friend. You exist in every blink of the eye, in
[35:50] every floor, in every break of dawn. Renee Harper, a local resident,
[35:55] shared that she had traversed the same path as Sophie that same time night.
[36:01] Addressing the crowd, she urged the community to stand united against violence,
[36:06] asserting we don't want the animals to win. On the seventeenth of April,
[36:12] Sophie was led to rest in her hometown. Over twelve hundred villagers turned out
[36:17] to bid her one final farewell. It was the most substantial funeral possession since
[36:22] the passing of a reverend mayor seven years prior. In the tranquil village of
[36:29] Saint Julian Montoney, Meanwhile, back in Brisbane, community concern manifested in the
[36:36] form of a petition directed at the Brisbane City Council urging various alterations to the
[36:42] park where Sophie was killed. A focal point of the proposed changes in vault
[36:47] relocating the rotunda, now transformed into a shrine for Sophie, closer to the
[36:52] main pathway. The rationale behind this play was rooted in the fact that the
[36:58] current position was obscured from the cyclist pathway, prompting safety concerns within the community.
[37:07] Responding to these collective voices, the decision was reached to establish a lasting
[37:10] memorial for Sophie beneath the sheltering branches of a fig tree within the park.
[37:17] Crafted by her family, the memorial stone featured a scenic representation of the French
[37:22] mountain town she healed from, accompanied by the image of a butterfly. In
[37:29] a touching anecdote, Sophie's brother Gileam shared that a few days after her murder,
[37:34] he encountered a butterfly seeking sol as he extended his hand, and to
[37:39] his amazement, the butterfly landed and remained there for several minutes. This moment
[37:45] inspired the design of the memorial, creating a lasting tribute to Sophie's memory in
[37:52] the heart of the park she once frequented. Then, in July of two
[37:55] thousand and fifteen, Milward appeared in court for his middle hearing. His too
[38:01] old friends Leyne and Justin testified about him drinking and injecting crystal methamphetamine the day
[38:07] that Sophie was killed. According to the prosecution, when Millward appeared outside the
[38:15] hostel later that night in an energetic mood, it was because he had just
[38:19] brutally raped and attacked Sophie. As the hearing winded down, Milward rose from
[38:25] his seat and addressed Laine and Justin, telling them I'm sorry for putting you
[38:30] in this situation. The judge ultimately ruled that there was enough evidence against Millward
[38:37] to have him stand trial for Sophie's murder. On the eleventh of October twenty
[38:44] and sixteen, Milward appeared in court where he pleaded guilty to the rape and
[38:47] murder of Sophie. Sophie's brother was sitting in the public gallery to face Millward
[38:53] for the very first time. Following the corpor sedings. Her brother shared that
[38:59] the rest of the family would be flying in from France to witness the sentencing,
[39:04] which was scheduled for later in the month. Amidst this emotional context,
[39:09] Milward's mother, Diane, offered her perspective, Expressing a complex mix of emotions.
[39:17] She conveyed her son's remorse while adding a surprising note of pride in his
[39:22] acknowledgment of guilt, steering I'm actually quite proud that he has owned up to
[39:27] it and he's not trying to fight it or deny it. Dane went on
[39:31] to attribute her son's actions that night to the influence of drugs, asserting her
[39:37] belief that they were to blame for his behavior. Milward returned to court on
[39:43] the twenty sixth of October, where more details of the case were presented.
[39:49] After brutally attacking and raping Sophie, Milward had told her that he was going
[39:53] to get her help. He left on the bench and covered her with newspapers.
[40:00] Instead, however, he threw her possessions into the river and then fled
[40:05] from this state, leaving her to slowly die alone. Milbart accepted what he
[40:12] had done, but he couldn't say exactly why he had done it, other
[40:15] than to blame the crystal math amphetamine. During his interview with the detectives,
[40:21] he had said what I've done is just fucking horrible. I didn't intend for
[40:27] nothing to happen, before admitting that he was a bit of a sex addict.
[40:32] Sophie's family had flown over from France to provide victim impact statements. Her
[40:39] two brothers read a coal active statement describing their endless grief. We have lost
[40:45] sleep, the enjoyment of life, and the desire to move forward. We
[40:50] are in a state of physical and moral exhaustion. They said that the entire
[40:54] family felt constant pain because there was always something that reminded them of Sophie.
[41:00] Her mother, Kareem, said that she had no motivation to make any plans
[41:04] for the future, while her father Guy said that nothing could fill the void
[41:07] his daughter's murder had created. Sophie's boyfriend Boris tearfully said, all my nights
[41:15] are haunted by memory and nightmares. Sophie and I had plans for the future.
[41:20] We set dreams. Justice on Lyon's condemned Millward's cowardly attack, telling him
[41:28] nothing can ever diminish the enormity of your appalling actions on that night. She
[41:34] continued telling him. To your credit, you admitted when you were arrested that
[41:39] you had been in the park consuming ice on the night. You admitted to
[41:45] police that what you had done was horrible. You admitted to using ice and
[41:51] speed for the previous three years. You had been staying in a nearby homeless
[41:54] person's hostel. You had consumed both alcohol and drugs on the day, and
[42:00] had obtained about three points of ice during the day. You recalled shooting up
[42:05] a couple of points around lunch time and then having some more after you purchased
[42:09] it later in the day. You told police you could recall sexually assaulting a
[42:15] young woman around nine o'clock. You had covered her with a jumper and when
[42:20] you left she was alive. You admitted you threw her possessions in the river
[42:24] and left her for dead. You also disposed of your phone and clothing.
[42:30] Your fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene. You abandoned a severely injured
[42:37] woman. Your actions simply defy belief. She then santenced Millword to life in
[42:45] prison with a minimum of twenty years for her murder. For the rep he
[42:50] was given a fifteen year santance that was to be served concurrently in Huntingdon the
[42:55] Santins. The judge sad you allowed your sex rule desires to overwhelm you.
[43:01] You focused solely on your interests. You had no regard for Miss Columbay.
[43:09] Your actions were cowardly. You attacked a woman alone in a park. You
[43:15] were affected by ice and you had been drinking. That is no excuse you
[43:22] chose to take those substances. As Millward was escorted out of the courtroom to
[43:27] begin serving his sentence, he glanced over towards Sophie's family and quietly said,
[43:34] I'm so sorry. Sophie Columbay had traveled from her hometown in France to Brisbane
[43:40] in Australia with the purpose of battering her future. She was just one month
[43:46] shy of completing her master's degree and had ambitions to return to France to be
[43:51] with her boyfriend and family. In her eyes, Brisbane was manned to be
[43:55] a sety of opportunity and safety. On the last night of her life,
[44:01] her path intersected with that of Benjamin Millward, a transient man spiraling down a
[44:07] dark trajectory. Well, Bestie's that is it for this episode of Morbidology.
[44:35] Z always thank you so much for listening, and I'd like to say a
[44:37] massive thank you to my newest supporter up on Patreon, Kathy. You can
[44:42] join mor Bidology on Patreon for as little as one dollar a month. I
[44:47] upload Adfrey in early release episodes, bonus episodes behind the scenes, and I
[44:52] also send out a thank you note along with some exclusive merch. Petrion really
[44:59] helps independent shows continue, and as a one woman's show, I genuinely do
[45:02] appreciate the support. I've just finished up writing my next true crime book and
[45:07] I'll give you guys more details when that's available to pre order. If you
[45:13] haven't had the chance to pick up a copy of my latest true crime book,
[45:15] Killer's cod that came out last year, then please do check it out.
[45:21] It's available on Amazon and in all good bookstores, as well as some
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[45:30] way, please consider leaving me a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Readings
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[45:38] and I genuinely do appreciate the feedback. Remember to check us out at morbidology
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[45:50] Until next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have
[45:52] an amazing week.

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