Bondi Beast rapist Keith Simms’ victims reveal the bizarre words he told them after sexual assault

Immediately after holding a knife to the throat of helpless women and brutally sexually assaulting them, serial predator Keith Simms would utter the words ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you’, his victims have revealed.

Simms, who was dubbed the ‘Bondi Beast’, has been linked to 31 sexual assaults in Sydney’s eastern suburbs between 1985 to 2001. 

Police had used DNA technology to identify him this month but the positive identification came nine months too late as Simms died of kidney failure in February, aged 66. 

Two of his victims, Jennifer, 69, and Linda, 52, recalled the horrific moment they came face-to-face with one of Australia’s worst rapists in an interview with Nine’s 60 Minutes.

Keith Simms (pictured), who was dubbed the ‘Bondi Beast’, was a serial rapist who preyed on women in Sydney’s eastern suburbs from 1985 to 2001

Jennifer was a community liaison nurse and was sleeping in her staff accommodation at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick when she was attacked in 1987. 

Simms, wearing a baclava, entered her room from a window and threatened her with a knife before raping her.

Jennifer remembers Simms saying ‘I love you’, as he left, calling the words ‘filthy, dirty and disgusting’.

Linda, who was sexually assaulted in 1994, was at the Coogee Bay Hotel and walked home along a coastal track when Simms ran up behind her wearing a balaclava and holding a knife.

After the clifftop attack he said, ‘Thank you’, which was really disturbing,’ Linda said.

‘I think it just demonstrates his level of depravity to say that to somebody.’ 

She deduced that Simms had seen her at the Coogee Bay Hotel and followed her from the venue once she left.

Jennifer (pictured) was sexually assaulted by Simms in 1987 when he entered her room. He told her that he 'loved her' after the assault

Jennifer (pictured) was sexually assaulted by Simms in 1987 when he entered her room. He told her that he ‘loved her’ after the assault

Linda (pictured) was followed home by Simms in 1994 after leaving the Coogee Bay Hotel and was raped along a coastal track. Simms said 'thank you' her after the assault

Linda (pictured) was followed home by Simms in 1994 after leaving the Coogee Bay Hotel and was raped along a coastal track. Simms said ‘thank you’ her after the assault 

Simms was identified by DNA technology as being responsible for a dozen sex attacks committed across Sydney’s east. He was also linked to at least 19 others.

Armed with a knife and disguised in a balaclava, Simms attacked vulnerable girls as young as 13 and women as old as 55.

A 16-year-old he raped at Bondi in 1986 fell pregnant and had an abortion.  

Simms ambushed some of his victims in their homes in the middle of the night or early in the morning. 

He put his hand across their mouths, made threats to kill and sexually assaulted them. At other times he would target women in isolated areas walking alone.

For decades police worked to uncover who was behind this reign of terror but in the search for the predator also known as the the ‘Centennial Park Rapist’ and the ‘Tracksuit Rapist’, Simms was never investigated. 

Keith Simms attacked vulnerable girls as young as 13 and women as old as 55

Keith Simms attacked vulnerable girls as young as 13 and women as old as 55

For decades police worked to identify the predator also known as the 'The Centennial Park Rapist' and 'The Tracksuit Rapist'. Pictured are two artists' impressions used by police before Simms was finally identified

For decades police worked to identify the predator also known as the ‘The Centennial Park Rapist’ and ‘The Tracksuit Rapist’. Pictured are two artists’ impressions used by police before Simms was finally identified

A breakthrough finally came in 2016 when DNA samples taken from crime scenes were matched to one of his male relatives but narrowing that down to Simms happened too late to bring him to justice. 

The father-of-three and grandfather of five died of kidney failure aged 66 in February. 

When detectives informed Simms’s wife she had been married to a serial rapist for almost 44 years she could not believe what she was being told about her soulmate. 

Commander of the sex crime squad, Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty, said Simms had never been in trouble with the law for any serious offences and did not suffer from mental illness, drug or alcohol problems. 

‘As far as we know, through all the investigations, he was never on the radar and so he didn’t have all those normal triggers, so by not having those, probably helped stay so anonymous,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

For confidential information, counselling and support service contact: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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