After years of remaining silent, Keli Lane’s daughter has finally spoken out to plead for her mum’s freedom and insists she’s “not a risk”.
The convicted killer’s adult daughter who has never been identified is Lane’s fourth child. As a child she spent nine years being raised by Lane before they were separated in 2011 when her mum was jailed.
The child was then raised by her father but remained in contact with Lane and believes her mum is innocent of the murder of her sister Tegan who disappeared at two days old.
“My mum is not a risk to anyone,” says Lane’s daughter, who has chosen to remain anonymous.
“She is loved, she is wanted by her friends and family, and I love her deeply.”
CLOSE RELATIONSHIP
It can now be revealed that Lane and her daughter are closer than ever.
In a special edition of A Current Affair, airing tonight, Lane’s daughter reads from an emotional letter detailing how she has been hugely affected by not being able to have her mum in her life.
Now 25, she remembers how her mother dropped her off at school, was taken into custody, and never came home.
She shares never-before-seen baby photos of her and Keli, and a powerful letter detailing her plea to authorities:
“I’m a forgotten victim in this situation,” she says.
SERVED HER TIME
The report also features Lane’s long term partner, Patrick Cogan, a Sydney teacher.
He has stood by Keli throughout her trial and almost 16 years of imprisonment, a commitment that he says ultimately cost him his career.
“Inherently Keli’s very kind. [She’s] a woman who’s primarily a mother – a dedicated and caring mother – and has done a fantastic job with her daughter.”
“Keli Lane wouldn’t hurt a flea,” he adds.
Patrick also believes Lane – who has been pictured enjoying days at the beach with Patrick when she is on weekend release – should be freed.
“She’s served her time,” he insists.
After having her weekend prison release rescinded, Lane has been once again allowed to have time away from prison as per the system’s transition rules even if her parole isn’t granted.
It’s been reported Lane is now living in the less restrictive Bolwara Transition Centre at Emu Plains prison complex, where inmates are allowed to go to nearby shopping centres while wearing a tracking device.
She was photographed recently enjoying a swim at Balmoral beach in Sydney’s north.
BOMBSHELL
Other bombshells revealed during the report include details on how Patrick and Lane believed they had tracked down Tegan, the missing daughter Lane was convicted of killing when she was just two days old.
Lane has always been adamant that she gave Tegan to her father, a man she believed to be called Andrew Norris.
Lane, now 51, was 21 and working as a sports teacher at a private school when Tegan was born in September 1996.
Lane had kept the pregnancy and birth secret.
This wasn’t Lane’s first pregnancy, nor the only one she concealed.
While Tegan was her second child, Lane had hidden her first and third pregnancies too, and subsequently put those babies up for adoption in 1995 and 1999.
REGRETFUL
Lane explained later that she had concealed the pregnancies because she feared the reaction of her parents and friends and also couldn’t be sure who the fathers of those babies were.
Earlier this year, a close friend told Woman’s Day that Lane regretted her past actions.
“Keli acknowledges some past choices may have caused pain and discomfort for others and she’s genuinely sorry for that,” says her family member.
“At the time, she was very young and making decisions while scared and on her own, but she was making decisions based on what she believed was best. With maturity and reflection, Keli would approach those situations very differently today.”
NAIVE & AFRAID
It was Lane’s decision to tell adoption services that her child born in 1999 was her first – a lie she blames on being naive and afraid – that led the authorities to investigate what happened to Tegan.
When they could find no trace of the child, police were called, eventually leading to Lane being found guilty of Tegan’s murder, 14 years after her birth.
Lane continues to insist she is innocent and others believe she is telling the truth.
“There’s no evidence of Tegan’s death,” said Professor Michele Ruyters earlier this year. She serves as an Associate Dean of Criminology and Justice at RMIT and directs the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, supporting Lane’s campaign to clear her name.
HEARTBREAKING
“One reason why Andrew hasn’t come forward would be to protect Tegan – many parents would do anything to ensure their children don’t suffer,” she added.
“Secondly, it’s very probable he has moved interstate or overseas and doesn’t know what’s happened.”
In 2024, Lane became eligible for parole, but her hopes of spending time with her adult daughter, her parents, long-time partner Patrick Cogan and his children were curtailed by the NSW “no body, no parole” laws that were introduced in 2022.
The laws mean Lane cannot be granted parole until she helps police find Tegan’s remains – something she says she cannot do because she never killed her.
Her day and weekend release was also reportedly revoked last year although they were recently restarted.
“Keli’s daughter was living in the UK and relocated back to Sydney, hoping to spend valuable time with Keli on the home leave program. But this was revoked and that decision caused unnecessary distress,” explained Professor Ruyters.
“Parenting her daughter and two stepchildren from a distance has been heartbreaking, but Keli and Patrick have kept a strong, positive family unit. Their three children are university-educated, full-time professionals but, most importantly, they are kind, resilient and beautiful adults,” she added.
RESILIENT AND INNOCENT
In 2024, the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative sent an open letter to the NSW government. Signed by leading academics, lawyers, criminal justice professionals and concerned members of the public, it stated that the “no body, no parole laws create a further injustice for people who have been wrongfully convicted of homicide”.
Professor Ruyters points to similar miscarriages of justice, including the cases of Kathleen Folbigg and Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, who were wrongly convicted of murdering their children.
“It seems that if you are a young mother charged with killing their infant – everyone’s thoughts immediately turn to guilt,” she said.
On December 12, 2028, Lane is set to finally walk free from a Sydney prison after serving an 18-year sentence.
“It would have been an easier way out for Keli to plead guilty, but she’s adamant that she is innocent. I admire her resilience.”
Watch A Current Affair tonight at 7pm on Channel 9 & 9NOW
