Tracey Wigginton

Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox criminal Tracey Avril Wigginton (born 4 August 1965), known as the "Lesbian Vampire Killer", is an Australian murderer who achieved notoriety for killing Edward Baldock in 1989, supposedly to drink his blood.<ref name="Sutton-2021" /> This was described as "one of the most brutal and bizarre crimes Australia has ever seen."<ref name="Murder and blood drinking">Template:Cite news</ref> Wigginton was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1991, and was paroled in 2012.<ref name="Sutton-2021" />

Early life

Wigginton grew up in the northern Australian city of Rockhampton. She was adopted at the age of three by her wealthy maternal grandparents, George and Avril Wigginton, after her mother could no longer care for her following a divorce.<ref name="Sutton-2021" /> Wigginton claims that her grandparents were controlling, and had physically and sexually abused her.<ref name="Sutton-2021" /><ref name="wwwstitchercom">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1981, Wigginton's grandparents died and left 15 year-old Wigginton $75,000 ($310,640 in 2022 dollars).<ref name="Sutton-2021" /> Wigginton briefly moved back in with her mother, who was not accepting of her lesbianism, and then moved in with a family friend who described her as "a loving girl, gifted artist and devout Catholic."<ref name="Sutton-2021" />

Following a miscarriage, Wigginton stopped attending Mass, and started communicating with a white witch in Adelaide. Following a move to Brisbane, Wigginton began to immerse herself in the occult: keeping black magic items on her person, and using blood from animals to draw occult symbols.<ref name="Sutton-2021" />

Murder

Wigginton, who allegedly killed and drank the blood of animals, had been planning for some time to escalate to murdering a man so that she could "feed" on him.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On the night of the murder, Wigginton (then aged 24), Lisa Ptaschinski (aged 24), Kim Jervis (aged 23) and Tracy Waugh (aged 23) had been out drinking and then drove around in Wigginton's Holden Commodore in search of a victim. At the time, Wigginton stood 183cm (6 feet) tall and weighed 95kg (209 pounds).Template:Citation needed

Edward Baldock (47), a council worker and father of four, was waiting for a taxi after drinking heavily and playing darts with friends.<ref name="wwwstitchercom" /> Jervis persuaded him to get into their car and they drove him to a park on the banks of the Brisbane River.Template:Clarify It is disputed whether Wigginton got Baldock in the car by offering him a lift or by pretending to be a sex worker.<ref name="Sutton-2021">Template:Cite news</ref> There, he undressed while Wigginton returned to the car to retrieve a knife.<ref name="wwwstitchercom" /> She then stabbed him 27 times, nearly severing his head before drinking his blood.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

When police arrived at the scene, they located Wigginton's bank card in one of Baldock's shoes among his neatly folded pile of clothes.<ref name="wwwstitchercom" /> The four women were then quickly arrested. A few days after the murder, Wigginton told police that she ‘felt nothing’ while stabbing Baldock and that she sat down to smoke a cigarette while she watched him die.<ref name="Murder and blood drinking"/>

Trial

Wigginton was the only one of the four co-accused who pleaded guilty to the charge of murder. Therefore, there was no trial for her and few details were disclosed to the court as to why this incident occurred by Wigginton; Ptaschinski, Jervis, and Waugh stated that Wigginton had claimed to have vampiric tendencies. They said that the reason for the murder was to enable the drinking of the man's blood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the trial, Wigginton said to the media "‘It's hard to be famous, isn't it? A legend in my own mind’."<ref name="Sutton-2021" />

In 1991, Wigginton was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Queensland with a minimum of 13 years. Ptaschinski was also convicted of murder, and Jervis of manslaughter. Waugh was acquitted.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Aftermath

In 2006, Wigginton assaulted a fellow inmate and a prison guard.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The case still commands strong media interest and public reaction. In April 2008, it was reported that Wigginton was being released.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, it was actually Ptaschinski who was being released under the resettlement leave program, given a maximum of 12 hours leave every two months for six months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Wigginton made four unsuccessful parole applications until 2011 when the parole board granted her application.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wigginton was released from prison on 11 January 2012 despite lying to the parole board.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, interest in Wigginton was revived when it was revealed that she was posting images on Facebook of vampires, witches, and a pile of skull and bones.<ref name="Sutton-2021" /> Following this, the officers who investigated the case said that Wigginton's parole should be revoked.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>