The brother of murdered York backpacker Caroline Stuttle wants to look her killer in the eye and ask him: ‘Why?’
Caroline was 19 when she was killed while travelling around Australia in 2002.
High on drugs, Ian Previte pushed Caroline to her death from a bridge in Bundaberg, Queensland, after mugging her for the few pence she had in her bag.
Previte spent 15 years in prison, and was released in May 2020. Now her brother Richard, 44, says he wants to come face to face with his sister’s killer.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “Nothing he can say will change what’s happened but I’d be interested to know what he feels now.
“I’d sit down with Previte if the opportunity came up and have a conversation. I’m the type of person who needs to know everything. I wouldn’t shy away.
“I’m sure he didn’t wake up that morning planning to do it. The way we didn’t wake up thinking it was going to happen. In a way, I feel sorry for him.”
‘I pity him’
Richard was speaking ahead of a TV documentary about the crime. The Real Death In Paradise goes out on Quest Red on Saturday (5 February) at 10pm.
“I don’t hate Previte, I just pity him,” Caroline’s father Alan Stuttle tells the documentary. “For god’s sake, give up drugs.
“But I would have loved to have seen Caroline with her future life going forward to be a criminal psychologist to help people who actually need help.”
April marks the 20th anniversary of her death – and another poignant milestone is in September, when Caroline would have turned 40.
The family set up Caroline’s Rainbow Foundation in her memory – a charity educating young people on safe travel.
Richard told the Sunday Mirror that they will be rolling out a new virtual reality education programme in time for the 20th anniversary.
[tptn_list limit=3 daily=1 hour_range=1]