Coroner's Finding: Kupsch, Jessica Ann
Deceased
Jessica Ann Kupsch
Demographics
29y, female
Date of death
2012-08-09
Finding date
2016-07-25
Cause of death
Multiple severe blunt traumatic injuries to the face, neck and head
AI-generated summary
Jessica Ann Kupsch, aged 29, was murdered by her partner Matthew Tunks at the Penny Royal Hotel in Launceston on 9 August 2012 after years of severe family violence. Despite a non-contact family violence order preventing contact, Tunks breached it and fatally assaulted her with multiple blunt force injuries to her head and face. The coroner identified two critical failures by Tasmania Police. First, in April 2012, police agreed to a plea bargain that deleted evidence of Tunks' assaults on Kupsch and abuse of their infant child, making him eligible for a drug treatment order instead of imprisonment—had he been imprisoned, he would not have been free to commit the murder. Second, when police received notice on 2 August 2012 that Tunks was breaching the family violence order, they delayed responding for several days. The coroner recommended statutory amendment to impose a duty on organisations to report domestic violence.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Failure to respond timely to report of breach of family violence order on 2 August 2012
- Plea bargain that deleted evidence of assaults and resulted in drug treatment order instead of imprisonment
- Breach of non-contact family violence order
- Lack of electronic recording of breach report in Police Information Data Management System
- Victim's reluctance to participate in prosecution despite history of violence
Coroner's recommendations
- Amendment to the Family Violence Act 2004 to impose a positive statutory obligation on persons and entities aware of domestic violence to report it to police
- Officers in charge of police prosecution sections and divisional inspectors must be made aware of all instances involving high-risk family violence victims and amendments to statements of facts or plea bargain negotiations
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