Reviewed by Gayle Williams
If you’re an Australian true‑crime buff, you’ve almost certainly heard of Katherine Knight — the infamous “Butcher of Aberdeen.” In her book of the same name, Rojé Augustin recounts, with grisly precision, Knight’s violent assaults on her partners and, ultimately, the brutal murder of her final victim, John Price. Knight’s case remains a landmark in Australian criminal history: in 2001, she became the first woman in the country to receive a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
Augustin describes her work as “narrative non‑fiction.” In the foreword, she explains that she has “taken dramatic licence to reconstruct scenes, emotional beats and dialogue to underline the facts in the case.” Her research is extensive: drawing on court documents, sentencing reports, legal judgments, media coverage, and testimony from witnesses and authorities, she assembles a factual account of the case’s major events.
Augustin’s interest in the Katherine Knight case stems from her fascination with the psychology behind extreme violence. She identifies Knight as a psychopath — a diagnosis she notes is comparatively rare in women. To support this, Augustin delves into Knight’s brutal upbringing, illustrating how domestic violence and sex was not only familiar to her but foundational. Knight’s profound fear of abandonment emerges as a driving force behind her explosive outbursts, episodes of violence so severe they repeatedly left her partners hospitalised.
The book’s title is not merely metaphorical. Katherine Knight was, quite literally, a butcher, having worked at the Aberdeen Meatworks from the age of fifteen after leaving high school. Augustin recounts how Knight relished the slaughterhouse environment, often visiting the kill room during her breaks simply to watch animals being put down. It was work she not only excelled at but genuinely enjoyed. A chilling foreshadowing of what would later unfold in her life.
Augustin grips the reader from the outset: Chapter One opens with a stark, methodical set of instructions for skinning a beast. Its significance becomes immediately apparent in Chapter Two, which plunges readers into the crime scene itself. The book also includes chapters recounting Knight’s interviews with forensic psychologist Dr Martin at the Mulawa Women’s Correctional Centre psychiatric wing. These sections are speculative reconstructions, shaped by documented psychiatric reviews and used to illuminate Knight’s psychological profile. Several chapters are told in flashback, with Augustin tracing Knight’s earlier relationships and the pattern of aggression that caused each one to collapse. These retrospectives build a cumulative picture of a woman whose violence escalated over time, leaving a trail of partners unable to withstand her volatility.
I would readily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Australian true crime. It offers a stark, factual account of one of the most heinous crimes in the nation’s history. Rojé Augustin tells the story plainly, without sensationalism, and treats all victims — and their families — with respect.
Katherine Knight is now seventy years old and remains incarcerated at Silverwater Correctional Centre in New South Wales. Her 2006 appeal against her sentence was dismissed by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, ensuring that her life term without parole stands.
The Butcher of Aberdeen
by Rojé Augustin
[2026]
Post Hill Press / Simon & Schuster Australia
Paperback
ISBN: 979-8-89565-842-0
$34.99; 277pp