Abduction and investigation
Sian Kingi was riding home from school in Noosa on November 27, 1987, when she was lured into contact with Barrie Watts and Valmae Beck. She was abducted and taken to an isolated area near Tinbeerwah, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered.
Her body was found days later. Queensland police launched a major investigation and national search. Watts and Beck had already come to police attention in connection with an attempted abduction of another woman, and investigators traced the couple as they moved interstate. They were arrested in December 1987.
Separate prosecutions
Beck and Watts were tried separately. Beck was convicted in 1988 of Sian's murder and related offences and received a life sentence. Watts was convicted in 1990 of Sian's murder and other offences and also received life imprisonment.
Later reporting has examined other suspected crimes involving the pair, but this page does not add those allegations to the Sian Kingi conviction record. In particular, Watts was later tried and acquitted in the separate disappearance and suspected murder of Helen Feeney. That acquittal is not treated as part of Sian's case.
Later custody and parole decisions
Beck remained imprisoned until her death in 2008. Watts later became eligible to seek parole. The Queensland Parole Board rejected an application in 2021 after finding that he continued to present an unacceptable risk to the community.
In February 2024, the board used Queensland legislation allowing long blocks on repeat parole applications by certain child murderers and serial killers. Watts was prevented from applying again until February 2034. The decision did not change his conviction; it concerned whether he could seek release while serving the life sentence.
Timeline
November 27, 1987: Sian Kingi is abducted and murdered in the Noosa/Tinbeerwah area.
December 1987: police arrest Barrie Watts and Valmae Beck after an interstate manhunt.
1988: Beck is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
1990: Watts is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2008: Beck dies while still in custody.
2021: Queensland's Parole Board rejects Watts's parole application.
February 2024: the board bars Watts from applying again until February 2034.
Current status
The case is classified as solved / adjudicated. Both offenders were convicted of Sian Kingi's murder. Beck died in custody, while Watts remains imprisoned under a life sentence and, under the 2024 parole decision, cannot make another parole application until 2034.