Addresses are very useful – for mail, deliveries, and visits of all kinds. Some addresses, however, are haunting. And there is no address more chilling than 3 Moorhouse Street, Willagee, Western Australia.
David John Birnie was born on February 16th, 1951 in Wattle Grove, Western Australia – a suburb of Perth. His family was known to be dysfunctional, and his mother severely abusive. The oldest of five children, much of the housekeeping and child care fell on David’s shoulders. David’s father worked two jobs, and often didn’t have the temperament to stand up to his wife’s abuse and alcoholism. The Birnie children were left to live squalor.
When he was 14, his parents divorced. Neither wanted custody of David – who was showing signs of troublemaking and juvenile criminality. He became a ward of the state. He got a job at 15 as an apprentice jockey for a famous Australian jockey. As a result, he left school and did rather well for himself for a spell.
But he was often caught harming the horses, and exposing himself. He lost his job, which provided boarding, when he broke into his landlady’s apartment, naked, and attempted to rape her.
Catherine Margaret Harrison was born on May 23rd, 1951 in Western Australia. She was just a few months younger and lived a few doors down from David Birnie. When she was a toddler, her mother died giving birth to her younger brother, who also died shortly thereafter. Her father, who had been living in South Africa, didn’t want custody of her for long. Catherine was passed from relative to relative, often ending up with her cold and neglectful grandparents, before her father finally settled in a suburb of Perth and took her in permanently.
It was while under her father’s guardianship that Catherine met David when they were 12. They hit it off right away, Catherine falling in love almost immediately. By the time the children were 14, they were already engaged in a sexual relationship. Catherine’s father did not like this at all, as David often managed to get Catherine in trouble with the authorities.
They were charged for the first time on June 11th, 1969, when they were 18, with 11 counts of theft and breaking and entering. David received a 9 month prison sentence. Catherine, who was pregnant with another man’s child at the time, received probation.
A month later, they appeared before the Supreme Court where they faced another 9 charges of theft. David had three years added to his sentence for the new convictions, and Catherine received an additional four years on her probation.
In 1970, David escaped prison and rekindled his relationship with Catherine. They couple went on another crime spree.
They were arrested on July 10th, 1970 and charged with 53 counts of theft, breaking and entering, trespassing, and illegal operation of a motor vehicle. David was sentenced to another two and a half years in prison. For the first time, Catherine received a prison sentence. She was sentenced to six months. She claimed that she knew her actions were wrong, but she loved David so much that she would do anything for him.
She gave birth to her child while in prison. The child was immediately seized by welfare services.
Catherine’s father thought that this forced separation from David was a good thing. With the encouragement of her parole officer, her father urged her to move on, and to be a better person.
Upon her release, she gained employment as a housekeeper for the McLaughlin family. She caught the attention of their son, Donald. On Catherine’s 21st birthday, Catherine and Donald married. The couple had 7 children together.
By all accounts, it seemed as though Catherine had gotten over her adolescent obsession with David Birnie. And it seemed as though David had moved on as well.
David married his first wife in his early 20s, and the couple had a child together. While at work, he suffered a head injury. It’s said that after this injury, David became a completely different person. His behaviour and personality changed drastically.
David began having affair after affair – his wife let him be; at least he wasn’t harming her or the child.
Ten years into the marriage, David’s wife had had enough. The final straw was their child’s 16-year-old babysitter. David began an affair with her, and moved her into their home. He kicked his child out of their bedroom, giving it to his teenage lover, and forcing his wife and child to sleep together. David’s wife quickly moved out, taking the child with her, and filed for divorce.
In the mid-1980s Catherine and Donald were living in poverty with Catherine’s father. After the birth of their last child, Catherine had decided that that was enough of that. She opted to have a hysterectomy. Somehow – and it’s unclear how – David found Catherine at the hospital. He would go and visit her as she recovered from her procedure.
There are rumours that claim that Catherine and David had carried on an affair for a couple of years prior to this, but those rumours are unsubstantiated.
When Catherine was released from hospital, she decided to pay David a visit at his home. After that, she simply never left. She called her husband, Donald, and told him she was leaving him and all their children to be with David. She officially moved into David’s house at 3 Moorhouse Street, Willagee, Western Australia – a suburb of Perth.
In 1985, Catherine legally changed her name to Catherine Birnie, though she and David never married. In a statement later made to police, this is when she and David began planning and ‘practicing’ how to make their sexual fantasies of rape and murder a reality. For over a year, the couple plotted and planned. They even did some research – where best to leave a vehicle undetected, for instance.
On Monday October 6th, 1986, 22-year-old Mary Neilson, a psychology student at the University of Western Australia, went to work at a delicatessen. She had time to spare between the end of her shift and her classes, so she decided to take her car in to get the tires changed.
Mary went to a spare parts yard and asked for a quote. David Birnie was working at the yard that day. He told Mary that he could get her a good deal on a set of tires, but they were at his house. He suggested she stop by and pick them up.
Mary went to the house after her classes, and she was greeted by a friendly-seeming Catherine. Before she even managed to enter the house, Mary was attacked by the Birnies. She was “gagged, chained to the bed, and raped by David while Catherine observed.” Catherine also took pictures.
The Birnies then dragged Mary to their car, and took her to Gleneagles National Park. They raped her again, and David strangled her with a nylon cord. He then stabbed her in the heart and buried her n a shallow grave.
Afterwards, David drove Mary’s car to a carpark located opposite the Western Australia Police headquarters. He’d done his research. No one would look for her car there.
Mary was reported missing, but there wasn’t much of an investigation. Her car was located at the carpark six days after her murder.
Two weeks after Mary’s murder, on October 20th, 1986, the Birnies hopped in their car and went out cruising. They were looking for a new victim. They’d even come up with a code. If Catherine found a potential victim that she liked the look of, she would turn to David and say: “I’ve got the munchies”. If David liked the look of Catherine’s pick, he’d reply: “I’ve got the munchies too, darlin’”. They did not have a specific victimology in mind. They were simply looking for anyone who was female, alone, and vulnerable.
The night of October 20th, they found their next victim, 15-year-old Susannah Candy. Susannah lived at home with her family in Nedlands, and had a part-time job that her over-protective father often asked her to quit.
That night, he wasn’t able to meet her outside of work and give her a ride home, as usual, so she decided to walk. David and Catherine Birnie pulled alongside her and offered her a ride home. Susannah accepted.
Immediately upon entering the car, Susannah was held at knifepoint, and her hands were tied together. When they got to 3 Moorhouse Street, Susannah was gagged, chained to the bed, and raped – just like Mary.
The Birnies also forced Susannah to write letters to her family. She was forced to write that she was okay, and that she just needed some time to herself. They figured the letters would satisfy the family – but they had the opposite effect.
After being repeatedly attacked and raped, David tried to strangle Susannah with a nylon cord, but she fought. And she fought hard. Catherine forced sleeping pills down her throat in order to put her to sleep. It would have been easy to strangler her. But David had other ideas.
David wrapped the cord around Susannah’s neck and told Catherine to kill her. It was a test. He wanted Catherine to prove her love. Catherine did as she was told.
The Birnies went back to the State Forest, and buried Susannah near Mary’s grave. After that, they sent the letters they’d forced her to write two weeks apart from each other. Susannah’s family reported her missing, concern for her skyrocketing after received the letters.
But the police didn’t take the matter seriously. They dismissed the claims that Susannah was in danger – she’d sent letters, after all. The Candy family was told that Susannah probably ‘got mixed up with the wrong crowd’ and had likely run away.
They didn’t know how wrong they were.
Eleven days after Susannah’s murder, on Saturday, November 1st, 1986, The Birnies went out cruising again. They happened upon 31-year-old Noelene Patterson. She was standing beside her stranded car on the Canning Highway. She’d run out of gas on her way home from work as the bar manager for the Nedlands Golf Club.
The Birnies offered to take her to a nearby petrol station in order to refill her car. Noelene accepted the ride.
Like Susannah, Noelene was held at knifepoint. She was tied, and instructed not to move. Just like Mary and Susannah, she was chained to the bed at 3 Moorhouse Street, repeatedly raped, and gagged.
But Noelene didn’t fight. She tried to save her own life another way. She attempted to charm and seduce David. She figured that he would let his guard down around her, especially when Catherine was out of the room.
Noelene was held for three days.
On Tuesday, November 4th, 1986, Catherine had had enough of her. She grew enraged and horrendously jealous of the emotional connection David had developed for Noelene. Catherine gave him an ultimatum – either kill Noelene, or Catherine would kill herself.
David forced an overdose of sleeping pills down Noelene’s throat. He strangled her when she fell asleep. They took her to the State Forest, but buried her far away from Susannah and Mary. Catherine “reportedly got great pleasure from throwing sand” on Noelene’s face.
The very next day, Wednesday, November 5th, 1986, the Birnies kidnapped and abducted 21-year-old Denise Brown. She worked part-time as a computer operator. They offered her a ride as she was waiting for the bus on the Sterling Highway.
The pattern repeated itself. She was held at knifepoint, tied, taken to the house, gagged, chained to the bed, and repeatedly raped. As with Susannah’s letters, the Birnies forced Denise to make calls to her friends and assure them that she was okay.
Here’s where the pattern changes a little.
The following day, November 6th, Denise was forced tot ake sleeping pills. While she slept, she was dragged to the car and taken to the Wanneroo Pine Plantation. David raped Denise over and over in the car as he and Catherine waited for dark.
As darkness fell, Denise was dragged from the car, and while David raped her again, he stabbed her in the neck. The threw her in a shallow grave. But they received quite the shock when she sat up. The Birnies had to act fast. David took an axe, and struck her twice in the head. She fell back in her grave.
Four women had been reported missing, but nothing was coming of it – no one was aware that a serial killer couple was stalking the streets of Perth. But soon enough, everything was blown wide open.
On November 9th, 1986, the Birnies abducted Kate Moir. They told her they’d take her home. As they got closer and closer to her house, Kate noticed that the backseat of the car had no doorhandles on the inside. David then held a knife to her throat and tied her up as they drove to 3 Moorhouse Street.
At the house, Catherine and David forced her to undress and dance for them around the living room. They put on a cassette of Dire Straits, playing the song Romeo and Juliet over and over again. Then, they made her watch a film with them.
She asked them if they were going to kill her. Someone replied: “We’ll only rape you if you’re good”.
Kate was forced to call her mother and tell her she was fine. She told her mother that she’d had too much to drink and was staying the night at a friend’s house. She hoped her mother saw through the lie – Kate was not a known drinker.
Kate was then forced to sleep in the couples’ bed, her ankle handcuffed to David’s. She was given sleeping pills, but didn’t take them. She hid them under her tongue, and then hid them in the mattress while Catherine and David slept.
Kate knew she’d never see her clothes again, and that Catherine and David would destroy any evidence that she’d been at the house. She was determined to leave her mark – she wanted others to know she’d been there.
Kate stashed small drawings she’d done in the mattress as well. She also hid a lipstick and a piece of paper in an odd spot. The piece of paper had her name, address, and phone number on it. She was determined – someone was going to know that she’d been inside that house.
In the morning, November 10th, Kate was unchained so that David could rape her again before he went to work. She was never re-chained to the bed.
Catherine had heard a knock at the door, and went to conduct a drug deal. Some say she simply forgot to tie Kate back up. Others believe that the murder of Denise Brown affected her so much, she wasn’t in her right mind.
Either way, Kate saw her opportunity. She went to the bathroom, broke the lock on the window, and jumped out. She hit her head on the concrete on the way down, but knew she had to make a run for it.
She knocked on unanswered doors, and was even attacked by a dog, but Kate never gave up. She ran into a vacuum cleaner store, and surprised the owner. She told him that she’d been raped and begged him to call the police. She went so far as to tell him that if a woman came around claiming that Kate was her daughter and they’d simply had a fight, not to believe her. Kate had been raped by this woman and her husband.
When the police arrived, she told them her story. But they didn’t believe her.
Instead, the officers handed her off to 22-year-old Constable Laura Hancock. It was her first day on the job – and this was the first statement she’d ever taken. She believed Kate when no one else did. Kate made too much sense, and she geve too many details. While the other officers wanted Kate written up for making a false report, Constable Hancock decided to do her due diligence.
The more Kate talked, the more Constable Hancock was convinced that this girl had survived a horrendous ordeal.
Kate explained everything to them – the dancing, the song, even the fact that Catherine and David had forced her to watch Rocky with them. She told them about the lipstick, the pills, and the drawings. But what finally convinced the other officers was when she told them what she found in the bathroom.
The Birnies had initially given Kate false names. But Kate had seen the name David Birnie on a pill bottle in the bathroom medicine cabinet, and committed it to memory. The other officers knew that name – David Birnie had an extensive criminal record.
Officers were then sent to 3 Moorhouse Street. They found everything, exactly where Kate had told them it was. The Dire Straits cassette and Rocky VHS tape were still in the players. The mattress produced the drawings and the sleeping pills Kate had stashed.
David and Catherine Birnie were immediately arrested.
While being interrogated, Catherine denied knowing Kate. David claimed she’d come over for a consensual sexual encounter. But soon David cracked.
Detective Sergeant Vince Katich looked David in the eye, told him it was getting dark, and asked him to tell him where the graves were. David told him.
Once Catherine was told that David had confessed, she was quick to start talking.
David led investigators to the four bodies. When they got to Noelene’s body, Catherine cackled, grinned, and spat near the grave.
On November 12th, 1986, David and Catherine Birnie appeared before Freemantle Magistrates Court. They were each charged with four counts of murder.
At the time, neither had legal representation, and neither entered a plea. Bail was refused.
They next appeared in court on February 10th, 1987. David didn’t want a long, drawn out process. He plead guilty to four counts of murder, one count of abduction, and one count of rape. Catherine held his hand the whole way through.
Catherine didn’t enter a plea. Her legal representation was waiting on a test result. Due to her behaviour at Noelene’s grave, it was suggested that Catherine undergo a psychiatric examination in order to determine whether or not she was competent to stand trial.
She was declared fit, with a caveat. The psychiatrist stated that Catherine had the “worst case of personality dependence I’ve seen in my career”.
On March 9th, 1987, Catherine confessed to the parts she played in the murders.
David Birnie was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment. Catherine Birnie was also sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment. Both were required, under law, to serve 20 years before being eligible for parole.
The judge who oversaw the sentencing was of the opinion that neither Catherine nor David should ever be released, nor should they ever be allowed to see each other again.
While incarcerated, the Birnies exchanged over 2500 letters. Sometime in the 1990s, Catherine cut off all contact with David. But David kept writing her letter after letter.
On Friday, October 7th, 2005, at 4:30AM, David Birnie was found dead in his cell. He was 54 years old. He’d “hanged himself from an air vent using a length of cord”.
In 2007, Catherine Birnie’s application for parole was denied. As per the laws of Western Australia, every 3 years, Catherine’s case goes up for review. These are laws that Kate Moir petitioned to have changed.
Though her case was supposed to go up for review in 2010, Christian Porther, the new Western Australian Attorney-General, put a stop to that. On March 14th, 2009, he declared that she should be jailed for life.
Catherine Birnie is the third Australian woman to have her case marked ‘never to be released’. She appealed the decision, and was denied that appeal in 2010 by Porter.
Her fourth bid for parole in 2016 was denied. In 2018, new laws were put in place, making it even more difficult for Catherine to apply for parole. These changes mean that “persons convicted of three or more murders on the one day or two or more murders on different days could be banned for parole consideration for up to six years.
And yet, there’s a chance that we haven’t heard the last of the Birnies. Investigators suspect that David and Catherine Birnie are responsible for the disappearances of Cheryl Renwick in May of 1986, as well as Barbara Western in June of 1986. They also suspect that David Birnie may be responsible for the disappearance of Lisa Marie Mott in 1980.
Whatever purpose an address serves, there is only one thing to be said about 3 Moorhouse Street – it was truly a house of horrors.
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Sources:
David & Catherine Birnie: The Moorhouse Murders – The Serialholic podcast
Case 31: The Killer Couple – Casefile True Crime podcast
94 – Go Get Your Thing – My Favorite Murder podcast
David and Catherine Birnie: The macabre and sadistic Moorhouse murders – Candace Sutton – news.com.au
David and Catherine Birnie Wikipedia page