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4 months ago
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A father accused of murdering his eight-year-old daughter after a religious circle withheld the child's medication for days initially wanted to 'protect' his child from the group's beliefs, a court has been told.
Jayde Struhs told the court her father, Jason, attempted to help monitor and administer his daughter Elizabeth's medication after she almost died from diabetic ketoacidosis back in 2019.
They last spoke in October 2021 - around the time her mother Kerrie Struhs was serving a jail term for failing to supply Elizabeth with the necessaries of life.
Elizabeth, a diabetic, died between January 6 and 7 in 2022 at her family's Rangeville home.
The Crown contends members of a cult-like religious group known as The Saints - which include Jason Kerrie and older brother Zachary Struhs - withheld the girl's insulin for several days until she became unresponsive and died.
The group professes to believe in the healing power of God and shun medical intervention or treatment.
In 2019, Elizabeth was rushed to hospital by Jason Struhs when she became unwell as a result of her then-undiagnosed Type-1 diabetes.
Jayde Struhs, who is the older sister of Elizabeth, told Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday she visited the child 'every day' while she was recovering in Brisbane Children's Hospital.
Elizabeth Struhs (pictured) was allegedly killed after members of a faith-healing church group withheld her insulin for days in early 2022
Kerrie did not visit Elizabeth at all, she said.
In her evidence, Jayde said Jason learned caring for Elizabeth's diabetes would be a 'full time' job which he had to monitor 'every day, all day'.
The court was told Jason knew this would be difficult due to his wife and The Saints' views about medical treatment.
Jayde said her father said he would take 'full responsibility' of providing insulin to Elizabeth 'knowing he would get no help'.
'He wanted to change a lot of things when he got home... because we nearly lost her,' Jayde said of her father.
'He wanted to protect Elizabeth from this.'
Jayde said her father described how he wanted to 'be around more' and part of the family while moving away from Kerrie and The Saints' beliefs.
In her opening, crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said Jason was eventually baptised into the group after he found caring for Elizabeth difficult.
The Crown alleges Jason made the decision to stop administering insulin to Elizabeth while the other members of The Saints 'manipulated' him into joining their congregation and adopting their beliefs.
In 2019, Elizabeth was rushed to hospital by Jason Struhs (pictured) when she became unwell as a result of her then-undiagnosed Type-1 diabetes
Jayde she left the faith-healing circle in 2014 over conflicts about her sexuality.
She said her father never told her he had joined them.
Jason Richard Struhs, 57, and 62-year-old Brendan Luke Stevens - the leader of the religious group known as The Saints - are both charged with her murder.
Her mother Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, and elder brother Zachary Alan Struhs, 21, are facing charges of manslaughter.
Loretta Mary Stevens, 67 - the wife of Brendan Stevens - and their adult children Acacia Naree Stevens, 31, Therese Maria Stevens, 37, Sebastian James Stevens, 23, Andrea Louise Stevens, 34, Camellia Claire Stevens, 28, and Alexander Francis Stevens, 26, Lachlan Stuart Schoenfisch, 34 and his wife Samantha Emily Schoenfisch, 26, and a third woman, Keita Courtney Martin, 22, are also charged with manslaughter.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial continues.
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