Maria Korp

Maria Korp (b 1955?, d. August 5, 2005), 50, was an Australian woman reported missing for four days and later found, barely alive, in the boot of her car in Dallas Brooks Drive, Melbourne on February 13, 2005.

In the time after her attack she spent many months in a coma and became the centre of a euthanasia controversy in Australia during 2005 surrounding the removal of a feeding tube. Maria Korp died on August 5, 2005.

Her husband, Joe Korp, charged with her murder, committed suicide on the day of her funeral.

Missing person
Korp's husband, Joe Korp had earlier reported his wife missing to police on February 11, 2005, stating he last saw his wife at their suburban Mickleham home at approximately 6.30am two days earlier. Korp was found unconscious, brain damaged and in a coma. She was taken to nearby Alfred Hospital and placed on life support.

On February 16, 2005 police charged Joe Korp, 47, and his mistress Tania Herman, 38, with attempting to murder Maria Korp, conspiracy to murder, and intentionally causing serious injury. Both appeared the following day in Melbourne Magistrates Court and were remanded in custody.

On April 28, 2005, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal appointed Victoria's Public Advocate, Julian Gardner as Mrs Korp's legal guardian.

Herman pleaded guilty on June 8, 2005 to the attempted murder of Maria Korp and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years. Korp pleaded non-guilty on all charges and was later released on bail on June 9, and committed to stand trial.

On July 26, 2005, Gardner announced feeding systems to Maria Korp would be removed and that she was expected to die within weeks. Korp died at 2am on August 5, 2005. A further charge of murder had been expected to be laid against her husband.

Maria Korp's funeral mass was held on Friday, August 12, 2005 almost exactly six months to the day after she was found. In the hours following the service, Joe Korp was found dead, apparently having taken his own life at the Mickelham house they had once shared.

Mental health
Whilst being a devout catholic, she showed some behaviour illustrating an instability which could indicate degrading mental health. In the Korp residence at Greenvale, the first home that she shared with Joe, she built a shrine outside their bedroom in memory of her second husband, Manuel, who died of a heart attack in 1987.

Every night Maria Korp would walk around their Greenvale residence with an incense burner, praying in an attempt to ward off the evil spirits that haunted the place.

Maria asked Joe to be responsible for tending to her prior husband's grave, both Maria and Joe believing that her past husband haunted the family home and that his spirit would possess Joe Korp during the night unless Maria Korp threw her leg over his to 'transfer the spirit'.

When Maria Korp first found blonde hairs on Joe Korp's car seat, which she suspected belonged to his lover, Tania Herman, she drew hundreds of small crosses with her index finger in the dust on the vehicle in an attempt to 'change destiny'.

After her attempted murder it came to light that Maria Korp had been on a crusade to receive forgiveness from Joe Korp's first wife, her mother-in-law and other family members for breaking up the marriage of Joe and Leonie Korp. Claiming she had received forgiveness from God, she sought forgiveness from Leonie Korp's family directly on various occasions.

Psychics
Two psychics were paid approximately AUD$150,000 in cash by Maria Korp in a bid to solve her marital and life problems. Michael Fotios and a female associate of his were hired by her over a period of three years. Michael's role was to "pray for Mrs Korp ... light candles and bring her good luck, peace and harmony."

It is alleged Maria Korp made her last payment of $5,000 on February 7 this year, two days before she was attacked and left for dead.

Laura De Gois, Maria Korp's daughter, spoke to the media on the topic of Maria's obsession with the occult, stating "Mum was the type of person who was superstitious and believed in curses and things like that. Mum was buying a lot of candles, crosses and prayers from Michael. It progressed to the stage where he spoke with Mum on an almost daily basis."

Maria Korp asked her daughter Laura to obtain a loan in excess of $30,000 to fund her rising psychics' bills, she also paid the psychic to bless various properties owned by the Korp family to keep away the evil spirits that played quite an active role in the occult obsession that she illustrated.

Euthanasia controversy
Anti-euthanasia campaigners threatened legal action in an attempt to save the life of Maria Korp in August, 2005. They held peaceful protests outside Melbourne's Alfred Hospital to demonstrate against the "inhumane" decision by the Public Advocate, Julian Gardner, to stop artificially feeding her.

Maria Korp's feeding tube was removed on July 27, which began the slow death process, on the request of the state-appointed legal guardian, Mr Gardner, who stated that it was "in her best interests to die" as some doctors claimed she had no prospects of recovery.

An appeal against Mr Gardner's appointment — as a legal means of challenging his decision — as Maria Korp's guardian was not upheld. The protest group's spokesperson, Mrs Tighe, reported to the media that they would be willing to give anything a try in order to stop her from dying from starvation. Maria Korp's husband Joe and her daughter Laura De Gois indicated that they did not oppose Mr Gardner's decision.

According an ABC radio report at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1422997.htm, Julian Gardner, the public advocate who made the decision, explained that they talked over a period of months to people who knew her well, to find out what she believed, and took advice from "an expert Catholic ethicist". Many of her family members were against the cessation of life support as euthanasia is considered a sin in the Roman Catholic church, going as far as family members in Portugal making televised appeals to the Australian government not to cease treatment.

Occurring less than six months after the international Terri Schiavo controversy, where an American woman in a vegetative state (for a decade or more longer than Maria Korp) had her feeding tube removed and starved to death under State-based instruction also, the euthanasia of Maria Korp struck a raw nerve in some parts of Australian society.

Laura De Gois
Laura De Gois, the 26-year-old daughter of Maria Korp from a previous marriage approached the media on the August 30, 2005 with sudden recollections of her mother's attempted murder. Whilst the credibility of Ms De Gois is slim (based on the prior eclectic mix of stories and information she has gone public with), she claims she recalls hearing her mother scream as she was attacked by Tania Herman.

Laura claimed her stepfather Joe Korp appeared to be "very anxious" and "extremely nervous" on February 9, 2005, the day Mrs Korp disappeared from her suburban Mickleham home. Ms De Gois says she was woken by screaming at 6.30am on the day of her mother's disappearance, and that she went to check on her younger brother Damian but found him asleep.

Although unaware of where the screaming came from she spent most of the day at work, in a small hair dressing salon, confused and pondering over its origins, stating "But now I know they were coming from the garage where my mum was being brutally attacked."

Timeline of events

 * February 9, 2005 - Maria Korp was choked until unconscious by Tania Herman, her husband Joe Korp's mistress, in the garage of the Korp family home in Mickleham, in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. Her body was dumped into the boot of a vehicle.


 * February 11 - Joe Korp reported his wife missing, claiming he last saw her at their Mickleham residence at 6.30am two days prior.


 * February 13 - Mrs Korp was found unconscious in the boot of her car, police question Joe Korp at length in relation to the matter.


 * February 15 - It was revealed that the Korps were members of a swingers' website.


 * February 16 - Joe Korp and Herman arrested and charged with attempted murder of Mrs Korp.


 * February 18 - Doctors claimed that Mrs Korp suffered severe brain damage in her coma whilst on life support in hospital.


 * April 28 - The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal appointed the state public advocate as Mrs Korp's guardian.


 * June 8 - Herman pleaded guilty to attempted murder of Mrs Korp.


 * July 1 - Herman sentenced to 12 years' jail with a non-parole period of nine years.


 * July 19 - Lawyers acting for Mrs Korp's daughter and administrator Laura De Gois changed the title of the couple's $1.1 million house so Korp would not inherit Mrs Korp's half if she died.


 * July 26 - Victoria's Public Advocate Julian Gardner ruled that Mrs Korp's feeding tube should be removed, saying she had no hope of recovery.


 * July 27 - Magistrate changed bail conditions to allow Joe Korp to visit his dying wife.


 * August 1 - Judge agreed to Ms De Gois' application and cut Joe Korp out of his wife's will.


 * August 3 - Joe Korp formally pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and intentionally causing serious injury.


 * August 4 - Joe Korp committed to stand trial for attempted murder of his wife, formally pleaded not guilty.


 * August 5 - Maria Korp died in The Alfred Hospital about 2am EST.


 * August 12 - Maria Korp was cremated in a small ceremony. Joe Korp hanged himself the same night as cremation.