Last week, former water-polo champion Keli Lane was found guilty of murdering her two-day-old daughter. Candace Sutton and Katherine Chatfield untangle a twisted, terrible tale.
For 14 years, only one person has known the fate of tragic newborn Tegan Lane – her mother, Keli. The baby was last seen in 1996, when Keli walked out of Auburn Hospital in Sydney’s west with the two-day-old infant in her arms. Since then, Tegan’s fate has remained a mystery.
Keli Lane spun a fanciful tale that tiny Tegan had been taken by her father. But last week, more than a decade of lies unravelled when a Sydney jury found Lane guilty of murdering the innocent baby.
Fourteen years is a long time to carry the burden of a lie and conceal a murder. And when Lane, trembling and dressed in black, heard the word “Guilty” whispered across a hushed Sydney courtroom, years of buried emotion surged forth in unrelenting hysteria.
The sickening scream, the guttural sobs and shouting, “Oh no,” were more than many in the courtroom could bear. Lane crumbled to the floor in convulsions, a loud crack echoing around the courtroom as she slammed her head on the way down.
Jurors wept, medics were called and a prison van waited. Lane wouldn’t be home for Christmas as many had firmly believed. Instead, handcuffed and hysterical, she began a terrified walk to what the prosecution hopes will be a long stint behind bars.
