Lloyd Maurice Crosbie was born on April 16, 1982, in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, the youngest of five children in a deeply troubled and violent household. His early years were marked by instability and trauma — frequent domestic violence between his parents led to their separation when Crosbie was only five years old. He was intermittently placed into foster care and spent significant portions of his youth in an environment of dysfunction and neglect.

From a young age, Crosbie displayed disturbing behaviors that foreshadowed his violent future. He often joined his older brothers in killing animals such as cats and dogs for amusement, a classic early warning sign of psychopathy. Exposure to violent films and a desensitization to brutality shaped his worldview. As an adolescent, he became increasingly angry and isolated, harboring resentment toward society and those he felt had wronged him. His fixation on violence grew more intense over time, and he frequently spoke of killing someone as a means of reuniting with his brothers — one of whom was committed to a psychiatric hospital after a murder verdict due to mental impairment, while another was serving a long sentence for attempted murder.

In August 2000, police were called to Crosbie’s home after neighbors reported him smashing property and exhibiting violent behavior. Officers noted his hostility, paranoia, and fixation on killing, warning that he posed a serious threat to public safety. Despite these red flags, Crosbie was not detained beyond a psychiatric evaluation. Later that year, he met Melissa Joy Maahs, and the two began a romantic relationship. Initially, their relationship appeared to stabilize Crosbie, and by November 2000, they were living together in Morwell. In April 2001, the couple moved in with Melissa’s mother, Kaye Lucy Maahs, at her home on Dayble Street. Outwardly, Crosbie’s life seemed to have improved — but beneath the surface, his obsession with violence and his fear of emotional closeness were intensifying.

In the early hours of August 18, 2001, Lloyd Crosbie carried out one of the most brutal domestic murders in Australian criminal history. At approximately 3:00 a.m., while watching a movie, Crosbie retrieved a skinning knife from a scabbard and, without warning, attacked his sleeping girlfriend Melissa Maahs, stabbing her three times in the head. Melissa awoke and attempted to fight for her life, but Crosbie continued his frenzied assault.

Hearing the commotion, Kaye Maahs rushed to her daughter’s aid. Crosbie turned his rage on her, stabbing and bludgeoning her in the hallway. When she survived the initial assault, he escalated his violence, attacking her with household items — two porcelain ornaments, a frying pan, and an iron — until she succumbed to her injuries. In a horrifying escalation of depravity, Crosbie repeatedly alternated between attacking Melissa and Kaye, ultimately killing both women.

The crimes did not end with their deaths. Crosbie engaged in acts of necrophilia, sexually violating Melissa’s body and placing pornographic magazines on her back during the assault. He then staged the scene to resemble a burglary, ransacking the house before fleeing in a taxi to Morwell railway station, where he purchased a ticket to Wangaratta. He disposed of the murder weapon in a creek in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The victims’ bodies were discovered two days later by a male relative who had grown concerned after being unable to contact them. Police traced Crosbie’s movements and arrested him at his father’s home on August 20, 2001. During interrogation, Crosbie confessed to the murders but offered no coherent explanation, appearing confused by his own motives. He expressed bewilderment that he had killed “the only girl who ever loved” him, reflecting both detachment and remorse.

Crosbie pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, and his sentencing took place in the Supreme Court of Victoria on March 11, 2003. Psychiatric evaluations presented during the trial painted a disturbing psychological profile. Professor Paul Mullen, a leading forensic psychiatrist, described the killings as acts of sexual sadism, fueled by a fear of intimacy and abandonment. Crosbie’s violence, Mullen explained, was not motivated by anger or jealousy but by a pathological need to destroy the relationships he valued most before they could end on their own terms.

The court sentenced Crosbie to two consecutive life terms with a non-parole period of 30 years. He is eligible for parole on August 20, 2031, when he will be 49 years old. Due to the brutality of his crimes and the nature of his offenses, Crosbie resides in protective custody, as fellow inmates have made threats against his life. He later attempted to suppress court records detailing his acts of necrophilia, but the request was denied, ensuring that the full extent of his crimes would remain part of the public record.