EXCLUSIVEKeli Lane comes clean on the chilling evidence that saw her locked up for murdering her baby - including the biggest unanswered question about the day little Tegan vanished without a trace By LIBBY-JANE CHARLESTON Published: 16:36 BST, 29 April 2025 | Updated: 16:47 BST, 29 April 2025 Last week, Daily Mail Australia published exclusive photos of convicted baby killer Keli Lane on day release in Sydney's northern beaches. The images offer a glimpse of Lane's future as a free woman as she approaches the end of her sentence for murdering her newborn daughter Tegan in 1996. Joined by her long-term partner Patrick Cogan, the 50-year-old ex-Olympian sported an ankle monitor - a condition of her temporary release for the Easter long weekend - as she went swimming at Fairlight Beach rockpool near Manly on Good Friday. The decision to grant Lane weekend day release will undoubtedly shock many who have followed her high-profile case after she was denied parole in a bombshell decision just last year. At the time of sentencing, she was made eligible for parole in 2024 but her application was denied under NSW's 'no body, no parole' laws that were introduced in 2022 while she was incarcerated. Little Tegan's body has never been found and Lane denies murdering her, insisting she handed her newborn to the girl's biological father, whose surname she cannot recall and who has never come forward to identify himself. In the absence of a body, Lane's full 18-year prison sentence won't finish until December 2028, but a Corrective Services NSW spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia last week they had an 'obligation' to start the release process. Following news she is being primed for release, we revisit a brilliant piece by crime writer Libby-Jane Charleston who spoke to Lane in prison and exchanged letters with her afterwards - and is convinced her case is a grave miscarriage of justice. Almost 15 years after she was convicted of murdering her newborn daughter, former Olympian Keli Lane was spotted in public for the first time on Good Friday while on day release Crime reporter Libby-Jane Charleston visited Keli Lane in prison and received letters from her, and believes she is innocent. (Lane is pictured outside court in August 2010) There's one case that still doesn't sit right with me: the conviction of Keli Lane. Unlike most murder cases, there was no body, no forensic evidence and no motive that made sense. Keli was found guilty of killing her newborn daughter, Tegan, based largely on circumstantial evidence and the fact she had concealed multiple pregnancies. The prosecution built its case on inconsistencies in her story and painted her as a self-absorbed athlete who saw motherhood as an inconvenience. But after years of investigating this case, speaking with those who knew her, and even visiting Keli multiple times in prison, I believe she is innocent. Keli secretly gave birth to three children. She legally placed the first and third for adoption, but the second child, Tegan, disappeared without a trace. Her friends and family had no idea she was pregnant. The fact she concealed her pregnancies and births, not just from her on-off partner at the time, but from those closest to her, adds an almost surreal element to the story. Keli's version of events changed multiple times, but the version she eventually stood by – that she had given Tegan to the baby's biological father (named Andrew Morris or Norris), with whom she'd had an affair – became her downfall. The 50-year-old was sporting a red bikini paired with a black electronic ankle monitor during an outing at Fairlight rockpool on Sydney's northern beaches on Good Friday Lane's full prison sentence won't finish until December 2028, but a Corrective Services NSW Spokesperson said they have a 'statutory obligation' to start the release process Lane and Patrick Cogan have known each other since they were teenagers and reconnected just before she was arrested in 2009 (together, pre-prison) Cogan is now Lane's sponsor for her weekend jaunts, signing her in and out of jail as well as taking full responsibility for her whereabouts during her time away Her face hidden behind sunglasses, Lane was clearly conscious of being recognised so close to her old stomping ground in Manly I've spoken to Australia's worst female killers. Most repulse me but one convinced me she's innocent As someone close to the case once told me, 'If she'd said that she only knew him as Andrew and not given police a name to disprove, then she might not be in prison.' It was 1996 when then-21-year-old Keli gave birth to Tegan at Auburn Hospital. Shortly after being discharged with her baby, she attended a friend's wedding. It wasn't until years later, when she arranged the adoption of her third child, that questions arose about what had happened to Tegan. Keli has always maintained her innocence. She claims she handed Tegan over to the child's biological father, a man named either Andrew Morris or Norris. The search for this man led to one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history, but he has never been found. I asked Keli directly if she killed her baby. She looked me right in the eye as she responded Keli Lane's timeline to arrest March 21, 1975: Keli Lane is born to surfer, rugby player and police officer Robert Lane and his wife Sandra. November 1992: Lane falls pregnant with her first child, aged 17, to her boyfriend, Aaron Tyack. She has a termination. Mid-1994: Lane falls pregnant for a second time. She was allegedly involved in an affair with a married man, and terminates the pregnancy. Early 1995: 19-year-old Lane gives birth to her first child at King George V Hospital at Camperdown. She had just played in the grand final of a water polo competition. The baby is quietly and lawfully adopted out, and her boyfriend at the time, Duncan Gillies, is named as the father without his knowledge. Early 1996: Lane begins her career as a teacher at a private school and continues her water polo career, representing Australia at the World Championships in Canada, where she receives a silver medal. September 21, 1996: Lane gives birth to her daughter, Tegan, at Auburn Hospital in western Sydney. September 14, 1996: Lane alleges she gave Tegan to her biological father, a man by the name of Andrew Norris (or Morris), with whom she had an affair while dating Mr Gillies. She was seen attending a wedding with the latter that afternoon. February 1999: Lane is 25 weeks pregnant when she attends an abortion clinic in Queensland. They refuse to terminate the pregnancy. Mid 1999: Lane gives birth a third time, after five pregnancies. She tells the social worker it's her first child. 1999: The Department of Community Services discovers Lane's previous pregnancies. A worker formally files a missing person report for baby Tegan. December 2000: Lane is pregnant again, this time to her new boyfriend. February 2001: An investigation begins into Tegan's disappearance. In her first interview with officers, they do not realise she is seven months pregnant. April 2001: Keli gives birth to a daughter whom she kept but cannot be named due to a court order. June 20 2005: An inquest into Tegan's disappearance and suspected death begins. February 2006: The Coroner concludes Tegan is most likely dead and the case is referred to the Unsolved Homicide Squad. December 2010: Keli Lane is found guilty of murdering her second-born daughter, Tegan. She is sentenced to 18 years in jail. Advertisement In 2010, Keli was found guilty by a NSW Supreme Court jury of murdering Tegan. She was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 13 years and five months. Like most people, I found Keli's case fascinating. It's highly unusual for a woman to be convicted of murder. And this case in particular is fascinating because there is no evidence Tegan is dead. I started researching her story for my true crime book Fatal Females, which unexpectedly brought even more information my way. In 2016, I began visiting Keli in prison alongside her then-fiancé. As prison visitors are not allowed to bring anything with them – this includes pen and paper – there is only so much you can memorise in a lengthy conversion. So I asked Keli if I could write a letter with a list of questions I believed people would like answers for. This led to her writing to me two times, with lengthy answers she wished she'd been able to give in court. The first time I met Keli I was so surprised. The Crown had painted her as being a 'cold, calculating ice queen'. Instead she was vibrant, bubbly, very articulate and very passionate about her innocence. When I asked her, 'Keli, did you kill your baby?' she looked me in the eyes and said, 'I did not kill my baby! Why on Earth would I go to the trouble of having her details on a Medicare card if I planned on killing her the next day?' Following that meeting, I wrote my first letter, asking her to elaborate on the topic of the Medicare card. This is what Keli said: I have always had the baby registered on my Medicare card. The evidence given by the Medicare office is I had the paperwork within 48 hours of her birth and a card was issued to me immediately. Why, if I'm trying to cover a murder, would I put her on my Medicare card for all to see? If I'd gone that far by hiding the pregnancy from my family, why would I link myself to a government agency and paperwork if I'd just killed her? It doesn't make any sense and the Judge really struggled with this point. Here are some other crucial insights from Keli from the Q&A in our letters. I asked Keli: Why do you believe the time frame of you leaving the hospital to appearing at your friend's wedding was manipulated? Keli responded: There isn't ANY police investigation from the time I left the hospital to the time I arrived home in Fairlight. The police never searched for CCTV footage, never trialled the drive themselves, talked to my neighbours, or asked taxi companies. There is no evidence at all for that time and therefore the Crown just speculated and made it up. I originally told police I left hospital 'about lunchtime' (this was seven years later and during a stressful police interview) The medical records, which I did not have any access to or any knowledge of before the trial, says I was discharged at 2pm. I was home by 3pm which was confirmed by Mum to police, before I had even talked to her about the police investigation. I was filmed at a wedding at 4pm. The police never investigated this period of time, nor did they drive the route to see how long it took (it takes approx. one hour). The police never questioned the timeline until they 'needed' extra time to give me the 'opportunity' to kill and dispose of my baby. If they went off the actual facts, it wouldn't sound as good to the jury if I didn't have 'enough time'. In all fact, I didn't! Even if I left a little earlier than 2pm, I still didn't have the 'opportunity' as I didn't have a car at the hospital. I had to get myself home, by taxi, after Andrew decided not to drop me home. Once I got to my house, I got a few things together and got my car, then I drove to Fairlight by 3pm. Suddenly, because the facts matched my account, the police/Crown witnesses started to alter their evidence around 'time!' Not one person came forward to say I left the hospital with the baby alone. Not one taxi driver said they took a woman from the hospital with a baby to Gladesville or any other venue – I couldn't have taken her in a taxi as I didn't have a car seat for her. (Taxis are not permitted to transport children under 12 months without an approved child restraint.) In her letters to me, Keli Lane says police 'manipulated' the timeline in her case Lane is pictured in 1996 while pregnant with her baby daughter Tegan, whom she was later convicted of murdering Another big question I had for Keli was: Why did you decide to give Tegan to Andrew when, previously, you'd gone though the official adoption channels? Keli wrote: After going through the first adoption alone and not including the father, I felt it was better to include Andrew in the decision-making. He wasn't from my area and he didn't know anyone from my life, so there wasn't any threat that he'd enter my life. When Andrew agreed to take the baby, I could still keep it from my family and friends but knew the baby was with her natural father. I felt better not to go through the process again alone and I felt like it was a situation I had better control of. If my family had found out I was pregnant then Andrew and I could have made choices together rather than me being forced to do what everyone else wanted. I also didn't want to involve my then-boyfriend, especially as I was on/off with him at this time. Perhaps my biggest question of all was this: 'If Andrew knew that Keli was in prison for the death of Tegan, why has he never come forward?' Keli responded: He may not know we're looking for him. He may not know I've been convicted and jailed; if he doesn't know, then he wouldn't see there's a problem as he's the baby's father. Family secrets are held for generations. It's not uncommon for a family to keep family dynamics a tightly held secret. Or maybe he doesn't care. Or the child hasn't been told I'm her mother, they've passed Mel [Andrew's girlfriend, according to Keli] off as her mum. Keli explained how upsetting it was that the Crown repeatedly accused of her not caring for her 'secret babies'. She wrote: It's offensive that the Crown kept telling the jury that my decisions were disgusting, questionable and weird. The choices available to me were safe and legal, but he used it against me to 'prove' I'm a murderer. His angle was, "If she can rid herself of children (by adoption) then she's a killer." So unfair and totally untrue. I have a lot of feelings and emotions around the babies and the decisions I made. I've just never had a chance to tell my side of the story.' Keli was eligible for parole from May 2024 but parole was refused in the 'no body, no parole' law test, because Tegan's body has not been found. Keli is also suing Corrective Services and the state government in a civil case claiming she has been bullied in jail after she complained about prison officers. In the coming years, I believe Keli's case will be re-examined with fresh eyes, and the cracks in her conviction will become impossible to ignore. Unlike Kathleen Folbigg, whose exoneration came after decades of tireless advocacy and groundbreaking scientific evidence proving her children may have died of natural causes, Keli does not have the luxury of DNA or genetic mutations to vindicate her. Her battle is far more complex; without a body, without forensic proof, and without the one person who could bring the truth to light: Tegan, now an adult, almost certainly living under a different name. I believe Keli's conviction was built on speculation, flawed timelines and the weight of public perception. But as time passes and wrongful convictions continue to be overturned, I can't help but wonder – when will we finally acknowledge that the absence of evidence is not evidence of guilt? In her final letter, Keli wrote to me: The Crown couldn't provide any evidence, nor did they provide any scenarios to the jury of how they supposed I'd murdered my baby. Therefore, I couldn't defend a particular accusation. They left it all very ambiguous so the jury couldn't get a proper answer. It obviously confused them – they didn't have a victim, no evidence, no forensics, no witnesses – just a story sold to them by prosecutors and the media. I couldn't argue directly against anything concrete! It put me in an impossible position. A version of this article was first published on March 10 Share or comment on this article: Keli Lane comes clean on the chilling evidence that saw her locked up for murdering her baby - including the biggest unanswered question about the day little Tegan vanished without a trace Add comment