Elizabeth Struhs diedat the hands of the fringe cult-like group known as The Saints more than three years ago after her father, Jason Richard Struhs, 53, withdrew her insulin medication on January 3, 2022 as a test of his new-found faith in God.
The 8-year-old’s condition rapidly declined over the week, marked by vomiting, incontinence and lethargy, until she eventually entered a state of altered consciousness.
Members of the group – who include Jason Struhs and Elizabeth’s mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49 – refused to phone emergency services or give her insulin in line with their belief in shunning modern medicine.
Instead, they spent the week praying for the child to be “healed” by God.
Elizabeth’s condition continued to decline despite their actions until she died from diabetic ketoacidosis between January 6-7 that year.
Elizabeth Struhs died in her family’s Rangeville home after members of her home ‘church’ group allegedly withdrew her insulin.
After a mammoth judge-only Supreme Court trial in 2024, Justice Martin Burns found Struhs and Brendan Luke Stevens, 63 – the leader of The Saints – not guilty of Elizabeth’s murder but guilty of her manslaughter.
Kerrie Struhs, Elizabeth’s elder brother Zachary Alan Struhs, 22, Loretta Mary Stevens, 67 – the wife of Brendan Stevens – and the couple’s adult children Acacia Naree Stevens, 32, Therese Maria Stevens, 37, Sebastian James Stevens, 24, Andrea Louise Stevens, 35, Camellia Claire Stevens, 29, and Alexander Francis Stevens, 26, Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34, and his wife Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26, and a third woman, Keita Courtney Martin, 24, were all found guilty of manslaughter.
Prosecutors have asked for 15-year sentences for Jason and Kerrie Struhs and a 12-year sentence for Brendan Stevens.
Terms of seven to eight years have been sought for the other 12 offenders.
Jayde Struhs, Elizabeth’s elder sister and the estranged eldest daughter of Jason and Kerrie Struhs, is in attendance to see Wednesday’s proceedings.
Members of the media and public have packed out an overflow courtroom to watch proceedings, due to the accommodations needed in court for all 14 defendants.
Elizabeth’s death was ‘inevitable’
During the trial, the court was told Jason had resisted the beliefs of The Saints for 17 years until he eventually succumbed when his wife was jailed for five months in 2021.
Both parents had been charged with failing to supply Elizabeth with the necessities of life after she almost died from the condition in 2019.
Jason pleaded guilty to the charge and escaped with a suspended jail term, but Kerrie was found guilty following a trial at Toowoomba District Court.
Fearing he would lose his family and confronted after Zachary broke down over their relationship, Jason joined The Saints in August 2021.
In the following months, he succumbed to the group’s pressure surrounding their faith-healing beliefs – leading to Elizabeth’s withdrawal of insulin in January 2022 as a test of his faith.
By this time, Kerrie had only been out of prison for a few weeks.
Brendan Luke Stevens, the leader of The Saints, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of Elizabeth’s manslaughter. Photo / Supplied
In his lengthy judgment, Justice Burns said he could only be satisfied Jason was guilty of murder if he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that at some point between Jason’s decision to cease insulin and the time when Elizabeth died, he “knew his failure … would probably cause her death”.
“In this respect, it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt Mr Struhs knew of the probability, as opposed to the possibility, of death,” the judgment states.
Justice Burns said Jason was “so consumed” by the group’s particular belief in God’s healing power in the “cloistered atmosphere of the church” that he “never came to the full realisation Elizabeth would probably die, believing instead that God would not allow that to happen”.
In finding Jason and Kerrie both guilty of manslaughter, he said their conduct involved “grave moral guilt and disregard for human life”.
“[Elizabeth’s] death was inevitable once the administration of [insulin] was abandoned and when, encouraged and supported by the other accused, her parents refused to seek any medical assistance in the days and nights which followed until her death.”
Justice Burns said similar considerations applied in the case of Brendan Stevens, who was also charged with murder alongside Jason.
“I could not be satisfied after a consideration of the whole of the evidence admissible against him that Mr Stevens was possessed of the requisite state of mind at any point between the time when the decision was made by Jason Struhs to cease the administration of insulin to Elizabeth and the time when she died,” the judgment states.
The others were found guilty of manslaughter because they “counselled and aided the unlawful killing of Elizabeth by intentionally encouraging Jason Struhs to cease providing insulin as well as medical care and treatment to Elizabeth”.
Justice Burns lashed the other defendants for advancing the “fiction” that they claimed they did nothing more than encourage Jason to believe in God.
“The other frequent claim was that they were the subject of a religious persecution despite the whole case being concerned with the refusal on the part of Jason and Kerrie Struhs to fulfil a duty cast on every person in this state who has the care of a child under the age of 16 years,” he said in the judgment.
Defiant cult’s smirks, shrugs
From the moment of their arrests to their convictions, all 14 defendants have refused to seek legal representation despite multiple requests from the court.
The Saints repeatedly giggled, laughed and scoffed during the first few days of the trial as evidence against them was presented.
Upon verdicts being reached in January, they simply shrugged and said nothing in response.
During their submissions, they denied having intent to kill Elizabeth and relied on rambling submissions that they regarded the trial as “religious persecution”.
Others argued the child was not actually dead and she was instead “sleeping”.
Elizabeth Struhs (right) pictured with her sister, Jayde, who testified against The Saints.
During a sentencing hearing on February 14, Jayde Struhs stared down her parents as she said she was “not afraid” to speak up.
“From a young age I was told there were severe consequences to speak up or have opinions,” Jayde told the congregation.
“I say this, I see you, and I see what you are, what you have done and what you have caused.”
Jayde went on to say there was “no great plan” or “destiny” for her younger sister to die – only that the people supposed to take care of her failed.
“These people only wanted to control my family and myself and everything that we did, feeding off the power it made them feel and eventually pushing my father to his most vulnerable moments to put his trust in them so they could play God,” she said.
“Your religious narrative cannot hide the unforgivable and irreversible impact you have made on my family.
“You took Elizabeth’s life. You had no right, and on judgment day, God will see you for what you truly are.”
