A SERIAL rapist terrorized a community, targeting over 30 women spanning three decades. The trail went cold, not because police closed in on him, but because he either satisfied his desires or he realized he was one mistake from getting nabbed and chose to lay low.
The victims, women from the ages of 14 to 55, consistently described their attacker as 160-180 cm tall with a dark complexion, wide nose and brown eyes. He kept his face covered and wore casual clothes like hoodies and sweatpants. Police sketches drawn at different times by different artists all looked remarkably the same, yet the criminal got away with it all those times and for all those years.
Investigators believed several different men were behind the attacks and treated them as separate cases until a breakthrough in DNA testing allowed them to connect the crimes. In 2019, police whittled down the suspect pool to 324 suspects based on genetic evidence that narrowed the search, and a perfect match was made in September of this year.
Finally, almost forty years after his first attack, the person known as the Bondi Beast has been identified as Keith Simms, a middle-class man with children and grandchildren. Understandably, the family was dumbstruck upon hearing the news. Some described him as a “much-loved father, grandfather and community member.” Detective Sergeant Shelley Johns said they “met with his wife and she was absolutely shocked. She couldn’t believe the man she knew could have done these things.”
One of the most heinous crime sprees in the Pacific has been solved. There is just one hitch: Keith Simms died in February at the age of 66. Police informed as many victims as were still around that their attacker had been identified, but there is no recourse because the man had died.
So, the revelation of Simms’ identity is bittersweet. On the one hand, the police finally got their man, and the community can sleep in peace. But on the other hand, he got away with it. He destroyed the lives of dozens of people and carried on as if nothing happened. He raised his family and lived to an old age having never been held accountable for his crimes.
It does not seem right, yet there is nothing to be done. We cannot hold anyone else responsible for what he did, and he is no longer able to face justice. I can imagine the last thought that passed through his mind as he lay dying was, “I got away with it. They never caught me!” And he is right.
The truth is, there are very few unsolved serial crimes. Every time a person breaks the law, especially a repeat such as raping multiple women or robbing multiple banks, they increase the chances of being caught exponentially. That is because investigators have access to much more evidence, and they can see patterns. The person acts a certain way, wears certain clothes, targets certain women, attacks during a certain time of day. Patterns emerge and people are caught. Simms was certainly unusual in that he outlasted the authorities.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
