Rick Thorburn, the Queensland man who was serving life in jail for the murder of 12-year-old foster child Tiahleigh Palmer, has been found dead in his cell.
Queensland Corrective Services confirmed he had died in his Woodford Correctional Centre cell on Saturday.
“The 64-year-old man was accommodated in a single cell and was found unresponsive at approximately 10pm,” a spokesperson said.
“Responding officers called [Queensland ambulance service] and attempted to revive the man. However, their efforts were unsuccessful.”
The incident has been reported to police and all deaths in custody in Queensland are referred to the coroner. The spokesperson said responding officers were being supported by management and were thanked for their attempts to revive the man.
Thorburn was convicted and jailed for life in 2018 after admitting to killing the 12-year-old schoolgirl in 2015 after his son Trent confessed to sexually assaulting her and feared she was pregnant.
Tiahleigh was placed into care in January 2010 and the Thorburn family became her full-time carers in January 2015. Trent told his mother he had sexually assaulted Tiahleigh and was concerned she was pregnant. His mother then told Rick Thorburn, who then murdered her on 29 October, the court heard.
Thorburn said his plan was to dispose of the body, which was found six days later on the banks of the Pimpama River near the Gold Coast, decomposing and naked except for underpants.
A Queensland coroner found in 2021 that Tiahleigh had likely died as a result of choking or asphyxiation in a deliberate act by Thorburn, and rejected Thorburn’s claim it was accidental.
Thorburn was a pall bearer at Tiahleigh’s funeral on 14 November, and was charged almost a year later with her murder.
Rick Thorburn was one of four of the Thorburn family to be convicted over Tiahleigh’s murder. His two sons and his wife were also jailed prior to his conviction. However, all sentences have since passed.
Thorburn was eligible for parole in 2038.
