Australia - Baillee Schneider, 25, found deceased at home, Melbourne, 24 June 2018

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SouthAussie

SouthAussie

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The death of a young Australian model in bizarre circumstances has been referred to murder squad detectives by the coroner after a long battle by her heartbroken family.

Baillee Schneider, 25, was found dead by her parents on the kitchen floor of the family home in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne on June 24 last year.

A gold cord was wound tightly around her neck but no hanging point could be found. Despite that glaring inconsistency and her 178cm height, local police treated Ms Schneider’s death as suicide.

Her parents Cameron and Sabine Schneider and Baillee’s sister Lilli never believed she had taken her own life and began a campaign to raise funds for an inquest into her death.

At the time of her death, Ms Schneider had been dating 52-year-old Melbourne promoter Ant Hampel who is the son of a former Supreme Court justice and stepson of a serving County Court judge.

upload_2019-12-13_18-12-34.png

Australian model’s mysterious death now a murder investigation
 
The night before she died she had attended a barbecue with Mr Hampel, where they got into an argument.

He is believed to have been one of the final people Ms Schneider spoke to before her death.

Mr Hampel - whose father George is a retired Victorian Supreme Court judge - began dating Ms Schneider after his marriage to Emily Williams ended.

That relationship with Ms Williams had begun following the death of his last girlfriend Pheobe Handsjuk.

Much like Ms Schneider, Ms Handsjuk was much younger than Mr Hampel.

Baillee Schneider death continues to be investigated by police | Daily Mail Online
 
musicaljoke said:
Antony Hampel seems to have unusually bad luck with young women.
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Makes me wonder what his wife Emily Williams, who was with him between deceased girlfriends Phoebe and Baillee, had to say at Bailee's inquest.

I have looked for the inquest report on Baillee's death, but it hasn't been put online yet. Perhaps due to the murder investigation and the required privacy around that, or perhaps because someone's presumably-influential parents have been influencing.
 
SouthAussie said:
Makes me wonder what his wife Emily Williams, who was with him between deceased girlfriends Phoebe and Baillee, had to say at Bailee's inquest.

I have looked for the inquest report on Baillee's death, but it hasn't been put online yet. Perhaps due to the murder investigation and the required privacy around that, or perhaps because someone's presumably-influential parents have been influencing.
Click to expand...

Well, I sincerely hope that any "influencing" I have to do on behalf of my kids ends before they hit 52, and excludes homicide investigations.

I'm glad that this is finally being looked into properly. This case has seemed dodgy since Day 1 (as with Phoebe). This guy seems to have zoned in on young, attractive and vulnerable women.
 
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp...ous-death-of-young-model-20191212-p53j6z.html

Article from the age gives a few more snippets.

Ms Schneider, a 25-year-old dental assistant and part-time model, was found unconscious by her parents in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne in June last year with a gold-coloured curtain cord tied tightly around her neck. She could not be revived.

She had been working at various Melbourne strip clubs and had become immersed in a hard-partying scene where older men hung out with much younger women.

She and Mr Hampel had several completed or attempted telephone or messaging conversations with Ms Schneider in the hours before she died.

On Friday evening June 23 last year, Ms Schneider told her parents she was going to a backyard barbecue with Mr Hampel. However, it appears she had something else in mind. Ms Schneider turned up at King Street strip club Spearmint Rhino for work.

According to her family and friends, she hated stripping. But with her life spiralling out of control, Ms Schneider needed the money. She did not stay until the end of her shift and headed out to a party in Toorak, Melbourne’s most exclusive suburb.
 
1968 said:
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp...ous-death-of-young-model-20191212-p53j6z.html

Article from the age gives a few more snippets.

Ms Schneider, a 25-year-old dental assistant and part-time model, was found unconscious by her parents in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne in June last year with a gold-coloured curtain cord tied tightly around her neck. She could not be revived.

She had been working at various Melbourne strip clubs and had become immersed in a hard-partying scene where older men hung out with much younger women.

She and Mr Hampel had several completed or attempted telephone or messaging conversations with Ms Schneider in the hours before she died.

On Friday evening June 23 last year, Ms Schneider told her parents she was going to a backyard barbecue with Mr Hampel. However, it appears she had something else in mind. Ms Schneider turned up at King Street strip club Spearmint Rhino for work.

According to her family and friends, she hated stripping. But with her life spiralling out of control, Ms Schneider needed the money. She did not stay until the end of her shift and headed out to a party in Toorak, Melbourne’s most exclusive suburb.
Click to expand...

Interesting article. Poor Baillee seems to have been fodder for these older guys.

Seems that a previous 'boyfriend' had invited Baillee to the party that she attended on the night before she died. As well, she had been sexually assaulted - by someone else - in the lead up to her death.

And the multiple communications with Antony Hampel on the morning that Baillee died ... what were those about? Seems Baillee's parents think 'someone' may have come to see her that morning.


"Ms Schneider kept her relationship with Mr Hampel so low profile that her parents never met him. He once took her on a holiday to Tasmania and the couple were seen at various Melbourne nightspots."
 
So that is why I couldn't find an inquest report about Baillee's death.

"The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have confirmed that deputy state coroner Caitlin English recently referred Ms Schneider’s case to respected cold-case homicide investigator Detective Sergeant Paul Rowe for review and further investigation. Ms Schneider’s death has not yet been the subject of any coronial inquest. A decision on whether one will be held will be made after Detective Rowe completes his inquiry."

https://www.theage.com.au/national/...ous-death-of-young-model-20191212-p53j6z.html
 
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp...ned-to-baillee-schneider-20190620-p51zgl.html

On a winter’s Saturday morning one year ago, Cameron and Sabine Schneider went to the local shops, telling their daughter they would be back in an hour or two.

She was curled up on the couch in the lounge-room next to the family dog, Edna, talking intently into her phone. She had attended a backyard barbeque with Mr Hampel the night before and was upset after rowing with him. But by the time her parents left, she had recovered her composure.

When the Schneiders returned, they found their eldest girl lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, her head uncomfortably placed into the skirting boards near a corner cupboard. Around her neck was a cord from her bedroom.

It was apparent that she had poured a glass of wine and had smoked a cigarette while her parents were out. Her portable blue-tooth speaker also appeared to have been used.
 
Peralta said:
Here is the Coroner’s findings - note it was not an inquest:

www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/COR%202018%203002%20Finding.pdf
Click to expand...

I wonder if the family will challenge the finding, or accept it. It sounds as if they are accepting it, at the moment.


In 2018 the Andrews government changed the law to make it easier for families to appeal what they believe to be a wrong coronial finding.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...inflicted-after-break-up-20200616-p552y1.html
 
Last edited:
I don't think this case ever had an inquest.

From what I understand in Victoria, all 'unexpected' deaths are sent to one of the coroners to investigate. They determine the identity of the deceased and the circumstances surrounding the death. All this is done 'in chambers' meaning it's done at the coroner's office. It's not public nor is it a hearing. Police assist with the investigation and there are usually people interviewed such as family and witnesses. Many times, this is sufficient, the case is closed and a 'finding without inquest' is published.

Only a very small percentage of cases progress to an inquest and court room. I think these are when a death might be part of a bigger issue, relating to matters of public safety. An inquest has the same elements of the initial investigation - to determine the circumstances of the death, but they also bring in experts and include discussion on whether the death was preventable, and the coroner might add recommendations in the findings intended to improve the safety of the community.

I guess the main thing to remember is that coroners don't ever find people guilty. It's not their purpose. I don't think they can actually say, "this person is responsible for the death'.

I don't know that a case like Baillee's would ever have made it to inquest. You know how in an earlier article you posted, it said the case was forwarded to homicide? Well, if homicide found proof of suspicious circumstances or Ant's involvement, then the coroner would probably place their investigation on hold, Ant would have been charged, and a new case would begin at one of the criminal courts (coroner's court isn't criminal, jut inquisitorial, hence the term inquest). Once that is complete, the coroner would finalise their finding, and they may or may not agree with the criminal court outcome.

I've heard of a few cases where the criminal court let someone off the hook but the coroner made a point to include in their findings that the circumstances showed possible involvement from so and so. Lol.

Having said all that, I do believe the family can appeal the findings. And they can do this by first asking to see the file.

Podcasters and media can also ask for the file. I hope someone does because I'd like to know what Ant's alibi was as well as some of their texts. Is Ant bullying these girls to death?

Hope that makes sense.
 
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