The brother of a British backpacker thrown from a bridge in Australia wants to meet his sister’s killer, look him in the eye and ask one question: “Why?”
Drifter Ian Previte pushed Caroline Stuttle, 19, to her death in Bundaberg, Queensland, after mugging her for drug money – though her bag contained just 75p.
He spent 15 years in prison and Caroline’s brother Richard, 44, says he wants to sit down with Previte – who, he says, “ripped out a piece of my heart”. And speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror, Richard says he believes Caroline will be haunting her killer.
He says: “Nothing he can say will change what’s happened but I’d be interested to know what he feels now. I’d sit down with Previte if the opportunity came up and have a conversation.
“I’m the type of person who needs to know everything. I wouldn’t shy away. I’m sure he didn’t wake up that morning planning to do it. The way we didn’t wake up thinking it was going to happen. In a way, I feel sorry for him.”
Richard was speaking ahead of a TV documentary about the 2002 crime. Episode four of The Real Death In Paradise, going out on Quest Red next Saturday, includes new interviews with detectives, Caroline’s parents Alan and Marjorie, and her friend Ben Fogarty, who was in Australia at the time.
Richard says: “It is a fitting tribute to Caroline, to tell her story again. We need to refresh it for the next generation. She was just an ordinary girl going off and travelling, following her dreams.”
Previte, who never revealed why he killed Caroline, was released on parole in May 2020.
He killed Caroline, from York, in April 2002. She was four months into a gap year trip ahead of starting a criminal psychology degree. She saved her wages from Pizza Hut for three years to pay for the adventure.
But as funds ran dry, Caroline and companion Sarah Holiday detoured to farming hub Bundaberg to earn extra money picking tomatoes.
They stayed in a caravan park and Caroline was returning there after calling her English boyfriend on a payphone when she encountered Previte on Burnett River Bridge. He was high on drugs.
In the struggle over her bag she was pushed over 5ft railings, falling 33ft to the ground, fatally damaging her skull and spine on impact. Richard will never forget the devastating call breaking the news.
He says: “It was 4.30am and I was asleep in a French ski resort when my phone rang. It was a policeman who was with my mother and he told me my sister was dead. I felt numb and in complete disbelief.
“Nothing felt real. In those few moments, my whole world shattered and our lives changed forever. A piece of my heart had been ripped out and I knew it could never be replaced.”
Richard and his father flew to Bundaberg to appeal for help finding Caroline’s killer.
Months passed, then two convicts said Previte had confessed to them in jail. After a three-week trial, Previte was convicted in 2004 of murder and robbery, and given a life sentence. He was freed on parole as the UK – and much of the world – was in the first Covid lockdown.
Richard says of that day: “It was horrific but also there was a big realisation that we had served a life sentence as well. I was sat in the garden, looking up at the blue sky, and felt a release. That was unexpected. I didn’t feel pity or anger or anything. I just thought, ‘He’s had to live with that as well’.
“Caroline has haunted him as much as she has haunted us, but in a completely different way. Haunted us with love and loss, but haunted him with what he has actually done. I believe in life after death – I know she won’t leave him alone.”
Richard, an artist, was 24 when his sister’s life was taken so brutally. It meant he had to grow up quickly – a burden that has affected him since.
He adds: “It’s a lot of pressure. In later years, it has manifested itself as times when you are an emotional wreck, or you have overloaded yourself and you are burned out. But it certainly made me the person I am.
“I’m a great believer that you are not given anything you can’t handle. I did shy away from a lot stuff though – I escaped. I went off and did snowboard seasons, a lot of enjoying myself travelling, because I thought I was living for Caroline. And I was. I was seeing the places she never got to see. It was positive, but it was partly detrimental to my health and wellbeing too.”
Time hasn’t lessened the gap his only sibling has left, says Richard, who looks after his 82-year-old father in Scarborough, North Yorks.
He continues: “My parents are getting older and there is only me to deal with that. They are broken people and have been for 20 years. My role has been to be a pillar for them.
“Caroline’s friends have stayed in touch and it has been a joy to see how her death has inspired them to live better lives. But it’s hard, especially for my mother, when we have her friends’ weddings and children are born.
“All those milestones she will never have. It brings that emotion back. It’s a moment away, that love for her is ever present. For me, it’s cost me relationships because I shy away from becoming too connected. There’s the worry that things will be taken away.”
Instead, Richard has devoted himself to the charity they founded to educate young people on travel safety, Caroline’s Rainbow Foundation.
For the 20th anniversary, they will be rolling out a new virtual reality education programme. He says: “The idea is that young people can encounter dangers in a safe space so that they won’t make the same mistake next time.
“We didn’t think we would still have a charity 20 years later but she’s given us a lifetime’s work and a driving force to help people. Caroline has saved many lives, even though she is not here.”
The Stuttles have remained close to the people of Bundaberg, where a memorial service will be held in April.
There will be another significant date in September, when Caroline would have turned 40. Her brother believes she would have become a criminal psychologist.
He says: “We had a vision of her in a beautiful apartment in New York, living the dream.
“She was very driven and clever. Unfortunately, that wasn’t for this lifetime. But we still dream for her and there are things we still laugh about. The memories and joy are left, the bad stuff fades over time.”
Despite his loss, Richard remains a passionate advocate of backpacking, adding: “I’d always encourage people to travel and follow their dreams.
“All I want them to do is understand the risks out there. We are thankful every day that Caroline died doing what she wanted to do – having an amazing trip.”
The Real Death in Paradise is on Quest Red on Saturdays at 10pm. On Freeview 39, Freesat 169, Sky 149, Virgin 170, BT TV 38 & discovery+ UK
