It was an otherwise ordinary Friday morning on July 18, 1997, when a woman traversing Queensland’s beachside cliffs spotted something that piqued her curiosity.
There, on the grassy slopes of Point Cartwright on the Sunshine Coast — an area renowned for its family picnics, scenic views and landmark lighthouse — lay a wine cask on a seat and a glass on the ground.
Instinctively, she peered over the cliffs’ edge only to make a grim discovery — the body of a young woman 40 meters below.
Within hours, police formally identified her as 25-year-old Meaghan Louise Rose, an assistant disability and aged care nurse who had moved from regional Victoria to the sunshine state.
Her cause of death was listed as multiple injuries from the fall and her high blood alcohol concentration led officers to determine she had taken her own life.
But for nearly 27 years, Meaghan’s family has been trying to prove she was murdered.
Now, the ABC can reveal fresh details about his suspected killer, Keith Lees, including the possibility that he is using religious groups to avoid police.
Detective Sergeant Anthony Johns from the Queensland Cold Case Investigation Team (CCIT) is appealing for help from the public to find him.
“He is from Victoria originally, and that would be somewhere where he knows,” he says.
“But we have nothing to indicate that he’s definitely in the state of Victoria.”
A crucial piece of evidence
In 2022, Queensland cold case detectives launched a fresh investigation into the circumstances surrounding Meaghan’s death.
Police allege Lees — Meaghan’s then-partner — had taken out a life insurance policy in her name before her suspected murder.
There was a 13-month waiting period on payouts for deaths by suicide. Meaghan died shortly after that set term ended, and Lees claimed a $203,000 benefit.
In June last year, detectives announced a $500,000 appeal for information, focused on that crucial piece of evidence.
They traveled to Victoria to speak with Lees, now 71, who was also the last person to see Meaghan alive.
In an unexpected twist, he vanished without a trace two days later.
An arrest warrant for Lees for murder remains current, and police have given the ABC a “comfit” image in the hope it will spark new leads.
Detective Sergeant Johns says Lees “may be using religious groups to avoid police.”
“At this stage, his whereabouts are unknown but we have inquiries being conducted and we’re seeking information from the public to try and locate him so he can be arrested on that warrant and face the court in Queensland,” Detective Sergeant Johns says.
“We’re not sure of what employment he’s seeking but it could be anywhere in Australia.”
‘Her demeanor had changed’
One of four children, Meaghan Rose was born and raised in Morwell in eastern Victoria, and was “fun-loving, bright and always smiling,” her sister Fiona Ratcliffe recalls.
From a young age, she had a passion for helping others, volunteering at local nursing homes and becoming a girl guide — something that would score her a nomination for the prestigious Australian young achiever award.
After graduating high school, she worked two jobs to buy her first home and a new car, and by mid-1995, Meaghan, then 23, started dating Keith Lees, who was nearly 20 years her senior.
It was her “first serious relationship”, Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell from the CCIT says.
About a year after the relationship began, Meaghan moved north to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with Lees and her young child in search of a fresh start, renting a unit on Keith Royal Drive in Marcoola.
But things soon soured, Fiona says.
“I saw the difference in Meaghan in the 10 months she had been up here [in Queensland].
“Her demeanour had changed … she was such a bubbly person, happy go-lucky. Then, those conversations weren’t as bubbly.
“Phone calls [were] not going through, conversations were very basic and it was like she couldn’t talk sometimes.”
In the days before she died, Meaghan had been looking forward to the arrival of her sister, who planned to also make the move to Queensland.
Fiona says Meaghan had told her family she was planning to leave Lees.
“She was basically waiting for me to get there,” her sister says.
The day Meaghan died
At 10:30am on July 17, Meaghan and Lees went to the Maroochydore RSL Club, where she was reported to have had two or three drinks.
The couple returned home to Marcoola, where Lees told detectives Meaghan had a glass of wine with her dinner.
“Meaghan’s de facto advised police he last saw her at 7:15pm when he asked if she’d like a hot beverage,” Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell says.
“She declined and he went to another room in the flat. This is the last confirmed sighting of Meaghan.”
Lees said he remained at the unit for the rest of the night.
The next day at 11:30am, police informed him his partner had been found dead, 19 kilometers away.
Meaghan’s car with some personal items inside was found parked at the cliffs, but Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell says “extensive examinations… weren’t conducted” given there had been no suspicious circumstances.
No inquiry was held for the same reason.
Lees could be ‘hiding out’ on farms
After Meaghan’s death, Lees and her child returned home to Victoria and in 2000, the pair moved in with recently-separated father-of-two Barry Waters.
Mr Waters, 42, was reported missing in 2001 and his headless body was discovered dumped in bushland near the Yarra Ranges the following year.
Lees was convicted of killing Mr Waters in 2004 following a secret affair with his wife, according to court documents.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 16 years.
Fast forward to June 25, 2023, when Queensland detectives went to a property in Victoria to speak to him about the case.
The next day, his vehicle was found abandoned in the town of Portland and an arrest warrant was issued, as Victorian authorities launched a search and rescue operation.
Officers ran into Lees at Port Fairy later that day, but he provided a false name and was not apprehended.
On June 27, he was captured on CCTV purchasing clothes at Waurn Ponds shopping center in Geelong.
He was last seen leaving Shepparton train station later that day wearing a black and white jacket.
Lees has now been missing for nine months, but police believe he is still alive and may be “hiding out” on farms or fruit picking in rural and regional Australia, Detective Sergeant Johns says.
“We’re currently liaising with our colleagues in Victorian Police and the Australian Federal Police to try and locate Keith.
“We do receive information [tip offs] from various people at various times but it is always followed up. However, to date the inquiries haven’t resulted in him being located.”
‘Closure would mean the world’
Lees’s child, Wren Dawsong, made an extraordinary plea for their father to surrender to police last year, saying “Meaghan’s family deserves justice.”
Dawsong was living with the pair at the time Meaghan died.
“He’s not doing himself any favors by running and hiding so it’s time. He’s got to man up and turn himself in,” Dawsong said.
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“It really is all about Meaghan’s family and my heart breaks for them daily.
“Justice needs to be done. The best thing anyone can do is to immediately contact the police if they see him, straight away.”
Meaghan’s father Frederick died in 2014 without answers or closure. Her mother, Audrey, suffers from dementia.
“I will keep fighting for Meaghan. If the shoe was on the other foot, she would be doing the same,” Fiona said.
“Closure would mean the world. But we are very grateful that… Meaghan hasn’t been forgotten.”
Police are appealing to anyone who knew Meaghan at the time of her death, or anyone with information about her relationship with Lees and the life insurance policy, to come forward.
They are also seeking anyone who may have seen Meaghan’s white 1996 Suzuki Chino hatchback, with registration 415DNN, or anyone who was in the vicinity of Point Cartwright on the evening of July 17 to the morning of July 18.
Anyone who sees Lees is asked not to approach him and to immediately call triple-0.
Posted 13h Aug13 hours agoFri 26 Apr 2024 at 8:54pm, updated 10h ago10 hours agoFri 26 Apr 2024 at 11:46pm
