❤️HER NAME IS: VICKI CLEARY!❤️
Elizabeth Cleary was just 14 when her adored big sister Vicki Cleary was murdered.
Vicki was killed by her former partner Peter Keogh in Coburg, Victoria, on August 26, 1987. She was only 25.
Keogh waited for Vicki to arrive at her workplace that day. Armed with a knife, he ended her life in the gutter as children and teachers arrived for kindergarten classes to start.
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Armed with a knife, he ended her life in the gutter as children and teachers arrived for kindergarten classes to start.
Despite evidence he planned Vicki’s murder, he was convicted on a charge of manslaughter and spent under four years in jail.
His defence – that Vicki provoked him.
Vicki’s story may have ended there had it not been for her brother Phil – a champion footballer who went on to become an Independent member of the Australian parliament.
He used his voice and status to have the Victorian Government remove the provocation defence, changing conviction outcomes in many murder cases in that state.
Phil has been at the forefront of advocacy against male violence since Vicki was killed.
From Phil’s shadow a new voice for Vicki and other women lost to violence is emerging – their little sister Liz.
The Cleary family had an incredible bond and when their adored fun-loving and creative Vicki was taken their lives were shattered.
“The last time I saw her was about a week before she died,” Liz says.
“She came because she wanted to take her records back to where she was living in Melbourne.
“I must admit I was a little bit upset with her because I’m like: ‘I was listening to those albums and I really enjoyed them’.
“I was 14 and I didn’t grasp that this might be the last time that I would see her.
“I was at school that day – the sun was shining and it was my lunch break. We were sitting on the oval when someone said ‘Liz you’re wanted in the principal’s office’.
“My brother was there and the teachers had their head down.
“As we walked outside he said: ‘Lizzie, Vicki’s died. She’s dead.”
Liz attended all of Keogh’s court hearings and she watched as the impact of Vicki’s death slowly destroyed the health of their parents.
“It tore them apart, but they, they had so much love for each other, my mum and dad, that they stuck through it,” she recalls.
“My mum hurt deep down inside and she wrote about her pain in diaries.
“After my mum passed away I managed to read the diaries and what was written there was heartbreaking – things like: “Vicki, it’s your birthday today and I miss you so much’.”
Finding her voice has not been easy for Liz, especially as she battled her own physical and mental health struggles in the wake of Vicki’s death.
“I’ve had PTSD and also weight problems,” she says.
“I’ve always thought: ‘My goodness. You know, do I want to get in front of a camera? Do I want to hear them say ‘Oh, look at her?’.
“But you know, I don’t care about this anymore because I’m going to fight for my sister.”
Liz wants everyone to know Vicki ‘wasn’t just a headline’.
“She might have been a statistic back then, but she was a beautiful person,” Liz says.
“Vicki had only lived short 25 years – she had so much to go for in her life.
“She Loved children, she was always happy, outgoing and very tough at the same time.
“She loved her family and she protected us from knowing what he was doing to her.
“She’s with me every day.
I know she’s guarding me – that she’s there with me.”
VICKI CLEARY MATTERS! ❤️
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