The Director of Public Prosecutions has entered a plea bargain with Dante Wyndham Arthurs in order to convict without trial – this story from The West Australian newspaper :
A 22-year-old man is facing life in jail after pleading guilty to downgraded charges of murdering eight-year-old Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia-Shu in a Perth shopping centre toilet.
Dante Wyndham Arthurs, 22, admitted in Western Australia’s Supreme Court that he murdered and unlawfully detained the girl in June last year.
Sofia’s naked body was found in a disabled toilet at Livingston Market Shopping Centre in suburban Canning Vale just minutes after she died.
Arthurs had initially pleaded not guilty to charges of wilful murder, sexual penetration and unlawful detention and was due to face trial next month.
But in court, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of murder and unlawful detention following a plea deal with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Arthurs had admitted sexually interfering with Sofia, but the sexual penetration charge was dropped because the forensic evidence could not rule out she was raped after her death, the court was told.
Under West Australian law, sexual assault charges can only be laid if the victim was alive during the attack so it can be asserted no consent was given.
Outside the court, DPP Robert Cock said the wilful murder charge was downgraded because it would have been impossible to prove Arthurs intended to kill Sofia.
“We have to establish with wilful murder beyond all reasonable doubt that the intention when he had his hand against her throat was to kill her,” Mr Cock said.
“Faced with the evidence that he committed a sexual assault upon her, it’s open that he restrained her while he sexually assaulted her. If that’s open, no judge is entitled to convict for wilful murder, it’s as clear as that.”
Mr Cock said the plea agreement was the best possible result.
“We took the view that was a very realistic outcome. We felt that if we went to trial we weren’t really going to get anything better than that.”
Arthurs now faces a life sentence with a minimum non parole period between seven and 14 years when he is sentenced next month.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Jeff Byleveld said Arthurs crime had horrified parents everywhere but he was satisfied with the plea deal.
He said Sofia’s family had been fully briefed on the latest developments.
“I think they are happy now that they have had some closure on this incident,” Mr Byleveld said.
Mr Cock said the decision to accept the plea had nothing to do with a judge’s ruling in August that the bulk of Arthurs record of interview with police was inadmissible because some of his admissions were involuntarily made.
He has asked police to review a 2003 incident where Arthurs was charged with indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl.
The DPP dropped the charges because it decided the police questioning of Arthurs was too aggressive and no judge would have let it stand.
AAP
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=40708
Isnt this all very suspect, it doesnt even rate a mention on any news here in Brisbane or on nine msn. I dont know if I feel that hoax email was really a hoax! Do I feel like the aussie public were treat like mushrooms ? YES . There was a huge media response when this happened and then it just faded away , and everything else as been as low key as a car being stolen! I dont think this is right I smell a rat here let me tell you. Everything that Bradley Murdoch did and still does rates a big mention yet this crime was by far worse in my eyes and we hear zip……….
Am I a minority over this? What can be done to make all the public aware?
This is from another poster on another website
There can be no excuse for a grown man violently attacking the first eight year old girl.For some months following that attack until the case was eventually dropped he was made to wear a security ankle bracelet and confined to his parents house. Then the case is dropped and he is free to go out and kill another child. Don’t tell me that his actions are those of a ‘normal’ person. Arguing with his mother and being angry is not a reason to physically attack and sexually assault a defenceless child. So whether the way in which the police interview was carried out affected the chances of a successful conviction or not he should have been referred to a mental health facility for dtermination of his mental state. There are too many unanswered questions regarding Dante Arthurs. Where are his Australian and English teachers and schoolfriends to tell us what his behaviour was like when thay knew him while he was growing up. I find it hard to accept that this behaviour manifested itself only after he was a man and he had been ‘normal’ for the first eighteen years of his life. Where are the people he worked with and for, who can support him? Where are his family? Surely they can tell us more about him? So little actual evidence to support his identity. Although we have heard that there is a photo on his mother’s wall. In these days of photoshop that proves exactly nothing. Now Sofia has died at the hands of this man. Her family have the real life sentence it seems. Don’t ever release him into the community again whether here or in the U.K. Oh by the way. . .allegedly having been born in W.A. he went away to the U.K. at the age of 10 to live there with his family for eight years before coming back to W.A. again. Why was that exactly? Seems a very strange thing to have happened? Can sombody please explain?
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Please Explain
Thanks for that Jordan. It’s good to know that somone else thinks like me. As for letting the public know, I think they are not really interested. They don’t smell a rat, whereas you and I know that there is one.
jordan i am totally agreeing with you this man is robert thompson look at a pitchure of the boy at ten and then dante authurs and you have the answer.
i too, believe that he is one of the James Bulger murderers. I was looking at the photograph of Dante Arthurs and it looks like he has a squint or lazy eye. Is this correct as I believe one of those boys (monsters) also had a lazy eye. And I have also noticed that the website Justice for James which was posted by his mother Denise Fergus is no longer available. Apparently she wants anyone who has any recent photographs of “them”to be forwarded to her so that she always knows where “they”are. We have a right to try and help her. But if this monster is one of those boys, the departments will do their utmost to deny it and keep on protecting them. As far as I am concerned, they are aiding and abetting murderers and if this Dante Arthurs is one of them, then they have blood on their hands also.
After this guy attacked the first girl in Australia and she identified him – 9 months passed before the D.P.P. decided not to prosecute him.
During that time he had to wear electronic security and was under virtual house arrest.
I wonder why those measures were taken? And why despite this he was not prosecuted?
Also, as it’s now known that he attacked two girls in the UK and Australia and killed Sofia – all over a few years I can’t believe that this behaviour suddenly manifested itself in a normal person after they ‘grew up’. Isn’t it strange that none of his family and friends have been heard or seen to support him? We know nothing at all about him or his family or friends. In fact his past life is almost non existent. Just a bare few ‘facts’ that have been found by the media. Who is he? Will the real Dante Wyndham Arthurs please stand up?
I wonder why so little has been reported? Seems like we are the only ones who see the resemblance including his left eye in both the earlier and later photos. Robert Thompson and Dante Arthurs also have the same shaped distinctive chin. Including the cleft at the bottom.
Two attacks on little girls in 2 countries and there were no suspicions that he needed to be locked up? A policeman sacked in the U.K. after the first attack, doesn’t that make people think?
Sorry, we don’t swallow the stories we have been fed by ‘whoever’.
Justice for Sofia and her family. . .Justice for the two girls who survived his attacks but must live with the memories for the rest of their lives.
All the denials by the powers that be do not provide a past or identity for ‘Dante Wyndham Arthurs’. Is there anybody out there that can?
I have been following this story from the very beginning like many of the people who have left posts on this site. I also have read the newspaper articles (and emails) that have circulated since Sofia was tragically killed. Among the most memorable have been the Newspaper heading “My son is not a Killer” referring to Dante Arthurs mother Suzanne’s statement following the now, published record of his previous alleged assault. How these words must now haunt her!
An unanswered question remains for me involving an article from a local newspaper (Community News July 2006)in which a couple of “School friends” of Dante’s wanted to share their memories of him when he attended a local school. The paper advised that it was not able to print the story at that time due to legal issues. Where is it now? Dante has pleaded guilty; there is to be no jury to influence one way or the other and the ability to be able to “put to bed” the vast amount of rumor would, one should suppose, be a positive move by all concerned.
Through a work colleague, I have learnt that the Arthurs family is completely devastated (no shock here!) and Dante’s brother particularly is struggling to comprehend what has occurred. I believe he has had no contact since the crime.
As an amateur psychologist I ask what transpired in his formative years to “create” the person that today faces judgement for this horrendous crime. As to the link to James Bulger there are many questions… the very least being;
If Dante Wyndham Arthurs is either Thompson or Venebles would the entire family immigrate?
Thompson and Venebles were 21 when released (I believe) so it is possible they would have made their own way forward without family moving also.
Where are the neighbours/friends of the Veneble/Thompson families? They would know if the parents remained in contact and/or relocated.
and finally,
if YOU knew that your child had committed such a horrifyingly brutal crime such as James Bulger would you, in clear conscience be able to state emphatically “My son is not a Killer!”
I believe there is much, much more to this story than has been printed and will take interest in what comes out following the sentencing.
Well he is now due to be sentenced in 2 days and its still all very low key as far as I am concerned! I dont think its his parents that came with him more like Minders and they appear to have distanced themselves from the whole ordeal where are they now? Are they still in Australia? Its not Thompsons Mum Anne as she was a huge obese woman with a tribe of kids , but theres no saying some bleeding heart civil liberatarian public servant didnt take on the role of Thompsons Minder. If people did come forward to share memories how come we are not seeing this in any of the ABC programs ? I have about other infamous murderers . You always hear about Brad Murdoch yet Peter Falconio was a grown man, no body has been found yet the whole case was VERY newsworthy same with Milat, The Cobby murderers , the Janine Balding Killers ( and they were kids) I tell you this case has been a real worry from the sensational email that did the rounds to today!
I am totally with you. I don’t believe anything that comes from the government, courts or police. Just read today’s Courier Mail to see why you shouldn’t believe anything a copper tells you (”Police felled by vampire,” p.18-19). Drug squad officers who were also drug dealers, a cop paying a hitman to kill off the whistleblower! They’re all in it together, and that’s why you can’t find any other photos of Arthurs other than that one where he looks ‘evil’ (my impression of him). And, to throw us off the scent, they report that Thompson is living in the north of England with his gay partner. Wouldn’t this violate their right to anonymity? Not if it isn’t true. My gut feeling is that it is him. We just need a way to prove it and let people know. This is just ridiculous, and for Sofia and James, something needs to be done. Let’s take a stand.
what I have discovered in the reading and learning about the 2 boys Jonathan (Jon) Venables and Robert (bobbie) Thompson is that they both had very similar backgrounds – Robert was from a family where phyiscal abuse was the norm where as Jon had abuse as well from his alcoholic mother – the reason I got interested in this case was because of the age these boys were when they commited the crime. Another thing I have found that has what I believe is the reason this dante Wyndham Arturs is to be Jon Venables is that the name of his parents When he was a Venables his mothers name was Susan (new mothers name is suzanne) his fathers name was Neil Ronald ( his new name is Ronald) – there isn’t that much difference between their old names and their new names – and the governmant can and legally if you under complete anon give you new birth certificates – they will have your fingerprints scaned and placed under your new name – your whole entire background will be told to you – photos of so called holidays and albums that you have will have been made up for you to fit in with your new life – photo’s are digitally remastered so any flaws that may have been there are completely removed – Now I know this is going to sound wrong but Australia and New Zealand were both approched by the UK government at the time of the boys released the reason they never came to New Zealand is because our primeminister at the time Helen Clark refused to accept them into our country – she had also informed the public that the british govt had considered NZ as their “dumping ground” as she delicately put it there was an uproar in Nz and they were denied – Austrailia tho did accept one which I remember at the time was Jon – not sure where tho he and his family were to be going, Robert on the other hand spent sometime in canada ( the other dumping ground) he came back to not far from where he use to live while there he got an ex gf pregnant and she had a baby to him he was excited at the time of the birth stating he was happy to be a father and was looking forward to raising his child – his ex gf Knows nothing of his past at all.
He currently resides in London he has a boyfriend that he lives with and he knows nothing of his past either One of the conditions of leaving the prison when they were 18 was that they told no one about their past and that means partners etc… Jon also got married in Sept 2007 – he was later divorced about 1 year later but has a baby to his ex wife – she has moved and changed her name – she found out about his past through a relative of her husbands. He has nothing to do with his baby or his ex wife!
Hi Jordan,
Are you still concerned about the real Dante Arthurs? I am hoping to mount a campaign to stop all paedophiles or child murderers being given new identities on their release. Anyone anywhere. Are you interested?
Why should the offenders be released back into the community under an assumed name EVER? Where is the justice for the victims and their families? Where is the justice for the community, who could be living next door to the released child murderer and not be aware. Where is the justice for any future victims? There is talk in the UK that the same new identity process could apply to the three adults responsible for the death of Baby P in the UK on their eventual release. This must not be allowed to happen.
As to what ‘came out’ following his sentencing there was nothing in the way of validation that Dante Arthurs is who he says he is. Just information on two previous cases where he was questioned and investigations ‘botched’ so that there was no case to answer.
I can’t believe that he was questioned over the 2003 Canning Vale attack and placed under house arrest for some months, wearing a security anklet, with police accused of being too robust with their interviews and yet they didn’t test his shorts for D.N.A.
I’ve been following this case with interest from the moment I received the ‘hoax’ email regarding Dante Arthurs being Robert Thompson.
At the time I was sucked into the conspiracy theory basically because I am a ‘well, why can’t it be true’ type of person. Yes, maybe I’ve watched too much crime television but I have a personality that questions much of what I’m told to believe or follow.
From the outset this case riveted me; I remember watching the news about Jamie Bulger with horror – I was in my teens at the time; I grew up in Perth in a suburb with close proximity to Canning Vale so the news about Sofia was very close to home; I am very interested in psychology and the connections between this crime and the Jamie Bulger crime.
Like many other people on this blog, I too am extremely surprised at the lack of comment on Dante by relatives, colleagues, friends, neighbours, etc – they’re usually the ones the media hound to gather their ‘dirt’ on the accused. There has been a lack of information of this type from both Australia and England. Yes, this could be a result of a media blackout, but the question has to be asked: the trial is done and dusted, so why do we still know nothing more about Dante from his ‘network’ of people?
I recall reading ‘The West’ at the height of the Dante Arthurs/Robert Thompson hysteria. There was a cryptic article, much like a ‘we know something but we can’t tell you’ attitude that stated ‘The West’ had sent an investigate reporter to interview Dante when he was arrested for a sexual attack on a girl a year prior to the murder of Sofia, but they couldn’t reveal the reasoning behind it; they were bound legally from publishing any information about it. Then, within the following week we learnt that it was in regard to Dante’s identity. So one year before the public were alerted to this by means of a prison guard’s email, ‘The West’ were investigation Dante for the same reason.
Many questions are asked also regarding his previous offences and the manner in which the charges were dismissed. Of course there is also the question of how he was caught so quickly after Sofia’s murder when the only witnesses were the brother and uncle. This is another point that has been raised so I won’t go into it again.
Through a friend, I knew of an ambulance officer who was well aware of the details of this crime. From what I recall, he did not attend the scene but he did take the call from the 000 operators. By all accounts the crime was incredibly horrific – more horrific than what has been released to the public. This was another sticking point for me – the brutality of this crime and the brutality of the Jamie Bulger crime. Coincidence? Yes, maybe.
There is so much information (or lack thereof) that could be discussed here, but as four years have now passed since the crime and we are still none the wiser to much more than what we knew back then, my presumption is that we will never really find out much more about Dante than what we know now.
So am I still sucked into this conspiracy theory? Absolutely! As I am also a believer that we are not being told the truth – and let’s face it, we never will be – and that Dante Arthurs, by all accounts, is Robert Thompson.