Phoebe Handsjuk (24) was found dead in the bin refuse room of her apartment building, on St Kilda Road, Melbourne on December the 2nd 2010.
She lived with her boyfriend, Antony Hampel (43) at the building, and they had been together for 20 months.
The coroner reported that Ms Handsjuk had been suffering depression and low self-esteem during her final months. She had also taken to drinking heavily at times.
He said while her relationship with Mr Hampel was “deeply troubled”, there was considerable evidence to show that he had been supportive of her and there was no evidence of physical violence.
Hampel is the son of former Supreme Court judge George Hampel and the stepson of County Court Judge Felicity Hampel.
The police initially ruled her death as suicide.
Ms Handsjuk managed to descend the 12 floors relatively unscathed before the garbage compactor caused a fatal injury.
A “catastrophic severance injury” to her lower right leg was the major contributing factor to her death. The coroner said the compactor ejected her into a garbage bin, which she managed to push over and climb out of.
However, she succumbed to her injuries and died at the bottom of the building, he said.
“Phoebe fought bravely but ultimately unsuccessfully, as she managed to get out of the rubbish bin and drag herself around the centrally located bin rotation device, towards the low-level illumination at the bottom of the refuse room door,” Coroner White said.
“It follows … that I find that Phoebe Handsjuk, a much-loved and vital young woman of 24 years, died at the Balencia Apartments ground floor, in Melbourne, from a) exsanguination (blood loss) and b) injuries sustained while attempting to climb from a height, in the setting of alcohol and zolpidem (sleeping pill) consumption.”
From http://www.phoebehandsjuk.com/
On the evening of the 2nd of December 2010, 24 year old Phoebe Handsjuk was found dead on the floor of the refuse compactor room at the bottom of ‘Balencea’, a luxury high rise apartment building, located on St Kilda Road Melbourne.
It was discovered that she had fallen feet first from the 12th floor refuse room, down the waste disposal shaft to the compactor below.
The Toxicology report revealed Phoebe to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.16% and high levels of prescription drugs.
There have been no known reported incidents of a cause of death such as this, in the history of Australia.
On the 7th of December, Homicide detectives said that no second party was involved in Phoebe’s death; she had entered the chute, feet first, voluntarily.
The police brief was passed to Detective Senior Constable Brendan Payne of the South Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit to be completed for the Coroner.
Phoebe’s Grandfather, retired Detective Sergeant Lorne Campbell had suspicions regarding the circumstances surrounding her death from the outset. He began to ask questions of the police and to make his own enquiries.
Senior Detective Brendan Payne and Lorne Campbell have worked for over two years, in an attempt to unravel the unexplained mysteries surrounding her violent and tragic death.
The coroners findings handed down in December 2014, found that no other party was involved. This finding positively eliminated not only Hampel, but any person, from any possible complicity in Phoebe’s death.
The findings found Ms Handsjuk was likely in a “sleep walking state” when she entered the chute due to a combination of alcohol and prescription medication Stilnox.
Therefore ruling out foul-play and suicide.
Her family and friends do not agree with the findings, saying that the evidence does not permit that finding.
Her parents, Natalie and Leonid Handsjuk said:
“It’s been a very long, hard four years and we just need time to look at this,”
“I’m not surprised … I’m not surprised. That’s all I can say at this stage.
“I feel a bit numb at the moment.”
Asked whether she was going to accept it was an accident, she said that she would “rather not comment”.
The coroner complied with a request from the lawyer representing Hampel, to make a positive finding exonerating his client from any involvement in her death. Hampel was not present for the finding but released a statement to the media welcoming the finding:
“It was hard enough to lose Phoebe Handsjuk, who was a vibrant and loving young woman in her mid-20s when she died four years ago,” Mr Hampel said.
“But it was even harder dealing with the false claims and totally unjustified allegations which followed.
“These wild allegations have now been put to rest by the robust coroner’s investigation and report handed down today.
“None of this will bring back Phoebe.
“My hope is now that we can allow Phoebe to rest in peace.”
However a story from the Age investigative team of Baker and McKenzie claims that the coroner had ignored his assisting counsel’s advice to make an open finding and not exclude the possibility of third-party involvement.
Court Reports:
Inquiry into the Death of Phoebe Handsjuk
Response from the Therapeutic Goods Administration
Hopefully, to be continued, as I read that the family are considering their legal options,
Counting Dead Women & Children | Australia 