Inquest into the Death of Kevin John KEATH

Inquest into the Death of Kevin John KEATH

Delivered on : 10 July 2024

Delivered at : Perth

Finding of : Coroner Jenkin

Recommendations : No

Orders/Rules : No

Suppression Order : N/A

Summary : Kevin John Keath (Mr Keath) died on 20 August 2023 at Bethesda Health Care (Bethesda) from metastatic prostate cancer. He was 76-years of age.

On 8 March 2018, Mr Keath murdered his wife by slashing her throat, in what was reportedly a murder/suicide pact. On 5 October 2018 in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Mr Keath was sentenced to life imprisonment (with a minimum term of 10 years) for his wife’s murder. Mr Keath’s earliest release date was 7 March 2028, and at the time of his death, he was a sentenced prisoner at Casuarina Prison.

In February 2022, Mr Keath underwent a transurethral resection of the prostate after a mass was identified, and he was subsequently diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to the neck of his bladder. Subsequent scans identified widespread “osteoblastic metastasis” typical for metastatic cancer, and Mr Keath commenced a course of chemotherapy in March 2022. In October 2022, underwent a course of radiotherapy. When repeat scans found a lesion in Mr Keath’s brain, he underwent a craniotomy on 28 February 2023, during which the brain lesion was successfully removed.

Mr Keath was treated palliatively at Casuarina Prison until 20 August 2023, when he was transferred to Bethesda, where he died at 5.39 pm.

The coroner was satisfied that the supervision Mr Keath received whilst incarcerated was of an acceptable standard, and that his medical care and treatment was of a very good standard. The coroner commended the clinical staff who provided palliative care to Mr Keath in the infirmary at Casuarina, prior to his transfer to Bethesda.

Catch Words : Death in Custody : Palliative care : Metastatic prostate cancer

Last updated: 12-Oct-2024

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