A former animal shelter worker who attempted to sell human toes coughed up by the dog of a dead man has defended her outrageous behavior.
Lilydale mum-of-five Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, from Melbourne’s north-east, was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order – with a 150-hour work order – on Monday, after pleading guilty to one count of offensive conduct involving human remains.
Magistrate Andrew Sim told Ringwood Magistrates’ Court he accepted Kinman had shown remorse for her ‘entirely shocking’ actions.
But Daily Mail can now reveal Kinman expressed little sympathy when she contacted a reporter in September after being exposed for the sickening crime.
‘I don’t know who I can trust but there is a lot more behind the scenes regarding council rangers and their disregard for human remains and protocols – there is so much more to this story,’ she wrote then.
On Monday, the court heard Kinman admitted planning to sell two human toes stored in a jar of formaldehyde for $400 in an online black market.
The jar was later found by police in her home in a wall unit containing a ‘pig trotter, alligator claw, bird skull and baby teeth belonging to her children’.
The former ranger was arrested on February 24 last year where she admitted to being member of the Facebook page ‘Bone Buddies ‘ – an oddities site catering to ‘skull and bone enthusiasts’.
In September, Kinman maintained she had not tried to sell the dead man’s toes.
‘I never sold it or tried to sell it. I only had it for a few hours,’ she told Daily Mail at the time.
‘I’m a busy lady with kids, school runs, football practice, work, so it wasn’t a priority.
‘I put it in a safe place, did nothing with it until the police turned up, took it and then explained how serious it was!’
In delivering his sentence, Magistrate Sim said Kinman took the toes for her own commercial gain and dismissed any notion she was unaware it was a crime.
He told the court Kinman had held onto the toes for almost a full day, with time to sleep on her actions before police caught up with her.
While Kinman accepted the prosecution summary in pleading guilty to the charge, she had complained about her own lot in life to Daily Mail .
‘I had no idea. All of this has taken a massive toll on my life and my mental health,’ she sooked.
On Monday, Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Melissa Sambrooks told the court the Bone Buddies group was commonly used by people to buy, swap and sell ‘specimens’ and share their discoveries.
‘The accused is an avid contributor to the site and has sold multiple items, including a wet specimen of a stillborn kitten, a wet specimen of a stillborn puppy and a book titled “History Of Punishment And Torture”,’ the prosecutor said.
The court heard Kinman also engaged with the group about ‘the processes of dead roadkill animals’ and a television show that focused on ‘buying and selling human remains’.
Kinman had come across the human toes in an animal shelter, which cannot be named for legal reasons, after dead man’s dogs were sent there to find them a new home.
The court heard the dogs later vomited up the remains, which were tossed in the bin by disturbed staff – one whom was so distraught she went home sick.
Upon learning of the distressing incident, Kinman offered to cover for the worker, later diving into the bin and retrieving the man’s bones.
The court heard Kinman discussed with her daughter selling the bones, suggesting her ‘research’ indicated they could fetch her up to $400 from online buyers.
Kinman told police she took the toes because she knew someone who collected ‘weird things’.
‘And it was a toe and I thought “cool, it’s a toe”,’ Kinman told police.
Her lawyer, Rainer Martini, described his client’s actions as ‘reprehensible’. ‘spontaneous’ and ‘insensitive’.
But argued she had already suffered enough by the media reporting of her atrocious behaviour.
‘Her name has already been spat out to the world at large – even overseas apparently there is that sort of interest,’ he said.
‘I can understand that interest. My client is already being punished as a result of that.’
Mr Martini argued his client ought escape a jail sentence with a community corrections order, with the possibility of being let go without conviction.
Magistrate Sim suggested she would be lucky to leave the courtroom without wearing handcuffs.
A reference supplied by Mr Martini on his client’s behalf was panned by the magistrate amid claims it attempted to ‘condone’ her actions.
‘This is a strange thing to do, but if you’re collecting stuff like this or having stuff like this in your home and that’s something you want then I don’t see it as a major issue,’ the referee told the court via the statement.
Magistrate Sim condemned Kinman’s behaviour, expressing disbelief she could not have understood what she did was wrong given her position of trust.
‘It’s just astounding that she would not have understood … that taking two toes that have been vomited up by one or two dogs from a deceased person and then effectively trying to sell those on the internet would not be the wrong thing to do,’ he said.
‘There’s no real explanation and I’m struggling to understand what has caused this.’
The court heard Kinman had led an otherwise law-abiding life, completing her high school studies in her 20s and later studying psychology, but had previous court appearances for driving matters.
She then went onto complete her Certificate 2 in Animal Health Care and taking up the job that would ultimately lead to her facing court and international notoriety.
An expert doctor’s report indicated Kinman had an ordinary childhood after being adopted, but had suffered from a ‘destructive relationship’ in her teens.