2 months ago
27
Michael Anthony Guider
, a
convicted pedophile
notorious for the murder of Australian schoolgirl
Samantha Knight
and the
sexual abuse
of more than a dozen children, passed away in
custody
on Saturday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Guider's criminal record involves the kidnapping, drugging, and killing of nine-year-old Samantha Knight in 1986. Although he was
arrested
in February 2001, justice was delayed for several years.
In 2002, Guider admitted to manslaughter but never revealed the whereabouts of Samantha's remains.The death of the 73-year-old inmate was confirmed by
Corrective Services New South Wales
(NSW). Guider died at Prince of Wales Hospital at around 7.25am.
Guider was initially given a 17-year
prison
sentence and was
released
from Sydney's Long Bay Prison in 2019 under a five-year extended supervision order. This order required monitoring and limited his internet access. In 2022, he was re-arrested for violating these conditions when police discovered he had been searching for child-related content on his mobile phone.
Despite the NSW government's efforts to keep him in custody after his sentence ended, Guider was released. Samantha's mother, Tess Knight, expressed her anger at this decision, saying, "I am not disappointed, I am angry. I see the effect that this has had on the people he abused as children, who are now young adults. They have to live with the thought of him walking around having the freedom they don't have."
Prior to his arrest for the murder of Samantha Knight, Guider had already served time in prison for sexual offenses committed against 13 young boys and girls between 1980 and 1996.
