Jan Kilmartin. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN
RISDON Prison guard Keith Kilmartin was a fit and healthy man who had represented Tasmania and Australia in bike riding.
But that all changed when he was attacked by a state sanctioned “dangerous criminal” who is now fighting for his release.
Mr Kilmartin’s wife Jan has decided to speak out, saying the man who she ultimately blames for her husband’s death is just too dangerous.
Jamie Gregory McCrossen, 44, has spent more than half his life behind the walls of Risdon Prison. Although his original sentence has long expired, McCrossen is subject to a dangerous criminal declaration meaning his prison term is indefinite.
Next week McCrossen will appear in court for what could be his last chance to be a free man.
Mr Kilmartin, a guard with 16 years’ experience, was on duty in Risdon Prison’s old F division on February 6, 1994.
At the time he was alone in the yard with 36 prisoners.
McCrossen launched his attack as Mr Kilmartin turned his back and began walking up the stairs.
“He shoved Keith and got him around the neck and pulled him back and shoved the boot into him,” Mrs Kilmartin said.
McCrossen continued punching and kicking Mr Kilmartin about the head, neck and back until he lost consciousness.
He was treated for concussion, bruising and cuts once guards were able to pull McCrossen off him.
McCrossen was given six months but Mrs Kilmartin said it was a life sentence for her husband.
Mr Kilmartin, once considered Australia’s best hillclimber on a bike, slowly descended into dementia.
“It ruined Keith’s life ... he never recovered. It was cruel,” Mrs Kilmartin said.
Poor health forced him to retire two years after the attack aged 55.
Six years later he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Plus which his doctors attributed to the bashing, Mrs Kilmartin said.
In 2013 he died a shadow of his former self in the Royal Hobart Hospital.
A “quiet man”, Mr Kilmartin never liked talking about the incident.
But a diary he left behind details the terrible toll it took on his life.
McCrossen was jailed in 1990 for 18 months over a wounding and assault.
He had entered an antique store in Sandy Bay, produced a gun and hit the female owner on the head.
One month before his release he committed a chilling crime which saw him declared a dangerous criminal.
The 19-year-old had written to the same woman threatening to chop her hands off before shooting her in the head.
The letter was signed and stained with drops of McCrossen’s blood.
He told police he had meant it.
“They can’t keep me here forever – I’m out in January,” he said in an interview.
In a second letter to the victim, this time intercepted by authorities, he told the woman he would kill her.
“You know how it feels to have blood coming out of your head,” the letter read.
In January this year the court knocked back an application for McCrossen’s release, citing his unwillingness to engage in prison programs and institutionalised nature as reasons why he was a risk to the community.
McCrossen has appealed against the decision and will head to court on Tuesday to argue why he should be freed after more than a quarter of a century behind bars.
But Mrs Kilmartin said despite the passage of time he was still a danger to society.
“I just feel if someone doesn’t speak up you’re going to get nowhere,” she said.
“Personally speaking I think he’d do it again, he’s a bad egg.”
Diary of Keith Kilmartin after attack
February 6, 1994:
I yelled for help with a grunting sound and must have passed out. I don’t remember his hands around my throat. Pain and discomfort level on a scale of one to 10 is 10.
February 13: It’s a week since the attack and I am still shocked Jamie McCrossen attacked me after I had got on well with him for many years. I have lost 2kg in a week.
February 23: I know when I go back to work working in the yard we are in a life-threatening situation. It could happen again. Jamie McCrossen … is unpredictable.
February 28: I had a sleepless night after 2.30am. I spent a lot time thinking ... how lucky I was to survive it.
March 18: Jane is stressed and her doctor asked her to take time off work.
March 22: I am still jumping when the phone rings or a dog barks.
August 4: Neck still sore and have trouble sleeping.
October 21: Phone call from prison officer regarding an assault on him by Jamie McCrossen.
March 16, 1995: No improvement in neck pain. Told doctor I did not want to retire and was prepared to try other jobs.
April 18: No change to my neck pain. Report to me from prison that Jamie McCrossen threw a hot coffee over a male nurse.
May 19 1997: I saw Dr Lewis reported my neck and shoulder no change (his last entry.)
Originally published as Call for criminal to stay in jail
