The serial paedophile who kidnapped, drugged and murdered schoolgirl Samantha Knight has died in custody.
A NSW Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed Michael Guider, 73, died at Prince of Wales Hospital about 7.25am on Saturday morning.
“As a matter of protocol, NSW Correctional Services and NSW Police investigate all deaths in custody, regardless of the circumstances,” the spokesperson said.
In 1986, Guider kidnapped Sydney schoolgirl Samantha Knight from her home in Bondi and drugged her, earning him a subsequent conviction for manslaughter.
He also preyed on other children for two decades and showed no remorse for Samantha’s manslaughter, which he once claimed was accidental and recently said he did not commit.
Guider was released from prison in 2019, but was re-arrested in 2022 for breaching conditions of his five-year extended supervision order.
He never said where he left the schoolgirl’s body – and its location is unlikely to be revealed after her death.
Michael Guider (pictured in 2022) died in hospital while in custody at Long Bay Prison
In 1986, Michael Guider kidnapped, drugged and killed nine-year-old schoolgirl Samantha Knight. She was taken from near her home in Bondi and her remains have never been found.
For the first six months of his freedom in 2019, Guider was locked up in a secure facility attached to the Long Bay prison complex with other offenders too problematic to reintegrate into society.
But in March 2020, the hated paedophile was quietly transferred out of the Nunyara Community Offender Support Programme centre in Malabar and placed in new permanent accommodation.
This angered and frustrated some of Guider’s surviving victims, who said that at the time, authorities refused to reveal where their tormentor now lived.
Guider’s younger brother, Tim, had previously warned that his brother had used his time in Nunyara to prepare to commit sex crimes against prepubescent girls again.
After his initial release, Guider refused to receive letters, phone calls or visits from anyone, including Tim.
“His guardians told me he didn’t want any contact with anyone from the outside world,” Tim said in 2019.
Guider served 17 years in prison for the manslaughter of schoolgirl Samantha Knight
“He tries to keep his secrets. He doesn’t want anyone to know where he is or what he’s doing.”
Tim predicted that Guider would have altered his appearance before leaving Nunyara, including removing the long gray beard he grew in 2019.
Samantha’s body was never found, and Guider has shown no remorse for his manslaughter, which he once claimed was accidental and recently said he didn’t commit.
Guider had previously been jailed for sexually assaulting 13 children between 1980 and 1996. Police are aware of other victims who are still too traumatised to come forward.
His brother believed Michael would find a way to return to his old ways once he returned to the community.
In September 2022, Guider was arrested again for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material on his cell phone, violating the terms of his extended supervision order.
The Daily Telegraph reported that during a routine check at an address in Fairfield Heights, in Sydney’s southwest, police discovered he had allegedly searched for information on his phone in breach of those conditions.
The alleged offences took place over a seven-month period, between February 23 and September 25.
After a brief appearance in Fairfield Local Court, the child killer was remanded in custody.
He was later sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison.
More to follow.