Before she became Australia’s most infamous female killer, Katherine Knight was a child shaped by chaos, violence, and neglect. Part one of this 3 part series dives deep into her early years — from a brutal and scandalous family history to a childhood marked by trauma and cruelty. We explore the people, places, and patterns that molded her: the violent home she grew up in, her disturbing fascination with death and dominance, and how those early cracks in her psyche began to widen into something far more dangerous.
It’s a story that forces us to ask — was Katherine born violent, or did her environment create her? And how do cycles of abuse, secrecy, and shame forge someone capable of such horror?