A man convicted of the murder of his 12-year-old foster child has been found ‘unresponsive’ in his cell.
Rick Thorburn, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer in 2018, was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane after he was found unconscious in his cell around 8:30 am on Tuesday morning.
Queensland Corrective Services said in a statement that Thorburn, 62, was in a single cell at Wolston Correctional Center at the time of his discovery.
Rick Thorburn, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer in 2018, was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane after he was found unconscious in his cell at about 8:30 am on Tuesday morning.
“The first advice is that the 62-year-old man looked fine earlier in the morning, but stopped responding in his cell about 8.30 am,” said a spokesperson.
“Responding officers started with first aid and worked with Queensland Health staff to stabilize the prisoner until paramedics arrived.”
The current condition of Thorburn is unknown.
It is believed that the convicted child killer tried to commit suicide.
He was jailed after confessing to killing schoolgirl Tiahleigh to cover up the fact that his son Trent had sex with the underage girl.
Thorburn later dumped Tiahleigh’s body — naked except for underpants — on the banks of the Pimpama River on Queensland’s northern Gold Coast.
Thorburn was jailed after confessing to murdering schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer to cover up the fact that his son Trent had sex with the underage girl, and later found her body on the banks of the Pimpama River on the northern Gold Coast, Queensland had dumped.
After his arrest, Thorburn was on suicide watch and it is believed Tuesday was his second suicide attempt.
Although her foster father pleaded guilty to her murder, he claims he accidentally choked her.
In the hours before Tiahleigh died, she’d been to a hip-hop dance class complaining of a stomachache.
That day, Trent confessed to his mother that he had had sex with the schoolgirl and feared that the abdominal pain was a sign that she was pregnant.
Trent was sentenced to four years in prison for incest, perjury and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Much of his sentence was served in solitary confinement after being subjected to vicious attacks by other inmates.
Trent was allowed to walk free in 2018 after just 16 months behind bars.
More to come
Trent Thorburn was sentenced to four years in prison for incest, perjury and attempt to pervert justice
