Arthur Freeman launched his daughter (pictured together) off Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge in full view of rush-hour traffic in 2009
A driver has told of the harrowing moment he saw a ‘monster’ father murder his four-year-old daughter by throwing her off a 58-metre high road bridge.
Michael Piacentin saw Arthur Freeman launch his daughter Darcey off Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge in full view of rush-hour traffic in 2009.
Freeman, who is serving life behind bars, was driving Darcey and her two brothers, aged two and six, when he telephoned his former wife and told her to say goodbye to her children.
He then parked his car in the emergency lane of the bridge, coaxed his daughter out of the car and picked her up.
Darcey’s brothers watched as Freeman carried her to the edge and threw her over.
The youngster was rescued and resuscitated but died later in hospital in her mother’s arms.
Security guard Mr Piacentini – a key witness in securing Freeman’s 2011 conviction – was driving across the bridge at the time.
Reliving his nightmare for SBS show Insight, he said: ‘I noticed he got out of the car, and I noticed a very large sweat patch on the rear of his shirt, which kind of rang a bit of an alarm bell, I thought: “Ah, what’s going on there? He must be a little bit flustered or something”.’
Mr Piacentini continued creeping through the slow-moving traffic: ‘I still didn’t think anything sinister was happening,’ he said.
Darcey’s brothers watched as Freeman carried her to the edge and threw her over. Pictured: The moment it happened
Security guard Mr Piacentini – a key witness in securing Freeman’s 2011 conviction – was driving across the bridge at the time
But then he changed lanes and that’s when he saw ‘that monster throw his child over the hand rail.’
He said: ‘It’s something that I’ll never forget, the way he did it, the way he held the child under the arm.
‘If you’re going to lift a child up under the arms, the child will tend to try and put a foot on the rail or grab a foot hold.
‘She actually went to do that, as if he was going to show her the view and he actually just tossed her right over the top rail.’
Mr Piacentini said he was furious. ‘My initial reaction was to throw that man over the bridge,’ he said.
Freeman, who is serving life behind bars, was driving Darcey and her two brothers, aged two and six, when he telephoned his former wife and told her to say goodbye to her children. Pictured: Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge
But instead he rang the police and recorded what he had seen in a diary which was used as key evidence in Freeman’s trial.
Talking about his initial disbelief in what he had seen, he said: ‘A father’s duty is to protect his children with his whole being and if necessary his life.
‘For me to think a monster could throw his own child off the top of the West Gate Bridge, it doesn’t compute.’
Now Mr Piacentini suffers heart palpitations whenever he thinks about what he saw.
His partner Terezia Kalkbrenner said he is still affected to this day.
‘It has impacted how he sees life,’ she said. ‘He’s not looking for things to go wrong necessarily, but he’s watchful and on the lookout.’
Mr Piacentini said: ‘Life changed for me forever that day … it showed that evil exists.’
- Insight airs on SBS at 8.30pm on Tuesday.
Darcey’s mother, Peta Barnes, leaves court. Her former husband Arthur Freeman was in a custody battle with her before he killed their daughter