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Members of an Australian religious group have gone on trial accused of killing an eight-year-old diabetic girl by denying her medical care.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Struhs was found dead at a home in Toowoomba – about 125km (78 miles) west of Brisbane – in January 2022, after she had allegedly gone without insulin for almost a week.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say members of a sect, known as The Saints, prayed that God would cure the child, rather than seeking help as her health deteriorated.<\/p>\n
The girl’s parents are among 14 defendants, all of whom have elected to represent themselves in the highly publicised and highly unusual case.<\/p>\n
Two men – Elizabeth\u2019s father Jason Struhs, 52, and the religious group\u2019s leader Brendan Stevens, 62 – have been charged with murder, with prosecutors saying they encouraged or instructed the other members of the group. <\/p>\n
The girl’s mother, Kerrie Struhs, 49, brother Zachary Struhs, 21, and ten others – aged 22 to 67 – are accused of manslaughter.<\/p>\n
As the trial began at the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, the group filed in one by one, to take their allocated positions in a courtroom specifically modified to fit them all.<\/p>\n
The dock, where defendants usually sit in a criminal trial, was too small. So the men, dressed in prison khakis, and the women, in blue uniforms, sat at two long tables. <\/p>\n
The group have refused lawyers, and all have refused to enter pleas on the charges. Formally, the court considers that a plea of not guilty.<\/p>\n
Due to the complexity and notoriety of the case, the trial will be heard by a judge only – no jury – and is expected to last for around three months.<\/p>\n
When opening her case, prosecutor Caroline Marco said Elizabeth had been an “intelligent, spiritual child”.<\/p>\n
“But [she was] too young to understand the dire consequences of her parents’ decision to withdraw insulin for her… which she ultimately paid for with her own life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n