On Nov 10, 1986, 17-year-old Kate Moir accepted a lift from a couple in Perth. Minutes later, she was chained to a bed inside 3 Moorhouse Street the home of David and Catherine Birnie. By dawn, she escaped, leading police to uncover a month-long killing spree hidden behind suburban walls.
The Night It All Began
On Monday, 10 November 1986, 17-year-old model Kate Moir left a concert in Perth and chose to walk the last stretch home. Around 9:00 p.m., a white Holden slowed beside her near Stirling Highway. A smiling couple in the front seats David and Catherine Birnie offered a lift. Kate accepted.
The ride started ordinary small talk, a radio turned low. Minutes later the car passed her street. When they stopped outside a small brick house in Willagee, Kate reached for the door there was no handle. The window crank was missing. Panic hit.
David slammed her head between the seats. Catherine pressed a butcher knife to her throat, ordered her quiet, and bound her hands. They wrapped her in a blanket, put her clothes in plastic bags labelled with her name and address, and drove away. The labeling was method Kate later realised it was to eliminate trace evidence.
They forced her into a living room to watch Rambo while Catherine watched and laughed. Kate was not only a captive she was being catalogued what they took, what they would destroy. Between assaults she noticed small, telltale things the hook where keys hung, the attic ladder, the pattern on the curtains and began hiding evidence she hoped would survive if she didn’t.
By the next morning she understood this couple had already taken other girls. She was not a random target she was in the house of two killers. That realization turned fear into resolve.
Inside the House of Horrors
By 3 a.m., November 10, 1986, Kate Moir was dragged into 3 Moorhouse Street, Willagee. The house smelled of stale smoke and damp carpet. Mirrors lined the bedroom walls Kate realized they allowed David to watch every angle of the bed.
She was stripped and chained to the bed left hand to left post, right hand to right post, left ankle to left post, right ankle to right post. David sat nearby, knife in hand, while Catherine observed, amused, as Kate cried. They forced her to call them “Master” and “Mistress.”
Over the next hours, Kate endured assault and psychological torment. David made her dance to Romeo and Juliet, forcing her to perform while crying. She was raped multiple times while Catherine sat in a chair, watching, taking notes.
Catherine mocked prior victims, laughing at Denise Brown’s missing person photo in the newspaper, saying, “You think a big girl like that could look after herself?” Kate realized the couple’s pattern select, control, and record each reaction. She began hiding evidence lipstick under a beanbag, cigarette packs in the attic, the sleeping pill David gave her hidden under the mattress small breadcrumbs for anyone investigating later.
Kate observed every detail door locks, window latches, room layout, daily routines. She noted when Catherine left for errands, when David went to work, and the habits that would allow her to escape. Despite being trapped in a nightmare, she formulated a plan not for immediate escape, but for survival and eventual justice, even if she died in the house.
The Escape
By Monday morning, November 10, 1986, Kate Moir had spent nearly ten hours chained to the bed. David left for work Catherine stayed behind, continuing her routine smoking, making tea, and laughing at past victims. Kate knew her only chance was when one of them left her alone.
She unfastened the handcuffs and chains while Catherine’s back was turned. Carefully, she tested the window lock in the bedroom, pushing and twisting until it gave way. Kate climbed through, landing violently on the ground and hitting her head, causing a concussion. She stumbled, dizzy, but pressed on.
Barefoot and nearly naked, she ran across Moorhouse Street, knocking on the first house. No one answered. The next, also empty. At the third, she attempted to scale a backyard fence attacked by a black dog but fought through.
Finally, she spotted a man smoking outside a store. Breathless and hysterical, she told him, “I’ve been raped. Please call the police.” He immediately alerted authorities, taking precautions to ensure her safety.
By late morning, Kate was at the Palmyra Police Station, where Constable Laura Hancock, on her first week as an officer, was tasked with taking her statement. Initially skeptical, Hancock quickly realized Kate’s focus wasn’t on herself it was on the killers and their prior victims. Kate named the couple Catherine and David Birnie, explaining why they were responsible for Mary Neilson, Susannah Candy, Noelene Patterson, and Denise Brown.
With Kate’s detailed information, detectives immediately moved. Warrants were issued, officers surrounded the house, and within hours, both David and Catherine Birnie were arrested bringing an end to their killing spree.
The Murders and Confession
Once arrested, David and Catherine Birnie were separated for questioning. David, frail and trembling, quickly confessed to the murders. He led detectives to four burial sites scattered in bushland between Perth and Fremantle.
- Mary Neilson, 22 – A university student last seen in early October. Lured under the pretense of car parts, she was abducted, sexually assaulted, and strangled.
- Susannah Candy, 15 – Taken from a Claremont bus stop mid-October. Kept alive briefly, then smothered by David at Catherine’s insistence.
- Noelene Patterson, 31 – A married woman tricked into the car on November 1. Catherine ordered her death David complied.
- Denise Brown, 21 – Abducted November 5 after leaving a friend’s house in Coolbellup. Buried in bushland near Fremantle.
Kate Moir had observed Catherine’s behavior during her captivity Catherine controlled the assaults, gave orders to David, and monitored victims’ reactions, effectively acting as the puppeteer while David followed. During interviews, Catherine initially denied involvement but, after learning of David’s confessions, admitted her role, pointing out bodies and burial sites. She laughed at Denise Brown’s missing person photo in the newspaper, noting her disbelief that the girl could defend herself.
Detectives, guided by Kate’s eyewitness testimony and the Birnies’ own admissions, recovered all physical evidence chains, locks, labeled plastic bags, photographs, the Rambo cassette tape, and hidden items Kate had planted.
The full scope of the Birnies’ crimes abduction, sexual assault, torture, and murder became clear. Kate’s testimony and attention to detail allowed police to piece together their modus operandi, securing confessions and confirming the identities of the first four victims.
Aftermath
With the confessions and evidence in hand, David and Catherine Birnie were charged with four counts of murder, multiple sexual assaults, and abductions. Their 1987 trial revealed the full extent of their spree, orchestrated by Catherine with David as her accomplice.
David pled guilty, refusing defense, Catherine initially denied culpability but later confessed. Both received life sentences, with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years. David’s fragile mental state led to multiple suicide attempts he was found dead in protective custody in 2005 at age 54.
Catherine remained incarcerated at Bandyup Women’s Prison, applying for parole multiple times. Public outcry and the severity of her crimes led to repeated denials, and in 2019, it was confirmed she would never be released.
Kate Moir, as the sole survivor, became a victims’ rights advocate. Her courage not only saved her life but likely prevented further murders. She authored “Dead Girl Walking”, sharing her story and lobbying for law reform. In 2018, thanks to her efforts, Western Australia introduced legislation preventing criminals convicted of three or more murders in a single trial from being eligible for parole.
Kate’s ordeal, bravery, and determination left an indelible mark on Australia’s criminal justice system. Police and public alike credit her with stopping the Birnies’ killing spree and saving countless potential victims.
