A notorious child killer has been found dead in his jail cell after taking his own life.
Rick Thorburn, 64, was found guilty of murdering 12-year-old schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer and was sentenced to life behind bars in 2018.
It’s understood Thorburn was found dead in his jail cell at Woodford Correctional Centre, in regional Queensland on Friday.
Queensland Corrective Services confirmed the death in a statement.
‘The 64-year-old man was accommodated in a single cell and was found unresponsive at approximately 10pm,’ a spokeswoman said.
‘Responding officers called QAS and attempted to revive the man however their efforts were unsuccessful.’
His death on Friday comes after at least three suicide attempts since he was convicted with Tiahleigh’s murder. Thorburn was found unresponsive while behind bars in February 2024, August 2022, and September 2020.
Thorburn was eligible for parole in September 2036.
Rick Thorburn, 64, murdered 12-year-old schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, who was his foster child, in 2015 and was sentenced to life in prison (he is pictured in 2015)
Tiahleigh was only 12-years-old when she was murdered by her foster dad
Her body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River on the northern Gold Coast
Thorburn was found to have been motivated to kill Tiahleigh after learning his youngest son Trent, then 19, had an incestuous sexual relationship with her and believed he may have gotten her pregnant.
He reported Tiahleigh missing on October 30, 2015, claiming he dropped her off at school in the morning but she never made it inside the gates. Her body was found six days later by fishermen on the bank of Pimpama River.
Queensland’s Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley found in her inquest report that Thorburn had showed no remorse for the 12-year-old’s killing.
He pleaded guilty to murder but claimed he had accidentally suffocated Tiahleigh.
Despite his family’s concerns, Tiahleigh was not pregnant at the time of her death.
Thorburn was later convicted of 13 child sex offences in unrelated incidents involving two young girls.
His son, Trent, was sentenced to four years in prison for incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice, but spent just 16 months behind bars.
His older brother, Joshua, was sentenced to three months after pleading guilty to perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice in 2017.
Rick’s wife, Jolene, served six months after pleading guilty to the same charges.
Thorburn reported Tiahleigh (pictured) missing on October 30, 2015, claiming he dropped her off at school in the morning but she never made it inside the gates
Rick’s biological son Trent (pictured) was sentenced to four years in prison for incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice, but spent just 16 months behind bars
Julene Thorburn, the foster mother of murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, is pictured
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