The Death of Phoebe Handsjuk: A Suicide or A Homicide?

She was found in the garbage compacter room, 12 floors below her apartment.

On 2nd December 2010, Betul Ozulup, the concierge of a luxury apartment in Melbourne was having a relatively normal day until 7pm that day. When she tried to open the door to the refuse room (garbage compactor room), it wouldn’t open fully. Something was behind the door, blocking her. She gave it a hard shove, and before her, it was a young woman in a pool of blood.

She was 24-year-old Phoebe Handsjuk.

How did the beautiful woman living on the 12th floor ended on the ground floor refuse room?

Phoebe Handsjuk

Phoebe Handsjuk was described as a creative soul, often expressed in poetry, journaling, and diary writing. She was very close to her grandmother, a safe place that she often sought comfort from. But behind this beautiful woman, she suffered from depression. A big part of it was caused by her alcohol abuse where at times, she would ‘binged’ alcohol that would leave her in a bad slump in the morning before slowly recovering in a few days. However, she was proactive with treatments from her therapist and anti-depressant medications.

Anthony Hampel

Phoebe lived on the 12th floor with her boyfriend, Anthony Hampel, often referred to as Ant, almost 17 years older than her. Hampel came from a family of judges with his father as a retired Victorian Supreme Court judge and his stepmother as a County Court judge.

He was quite the opposite of Phoebe. He liked everything to be organized and tidy while Phoebe was described as a creative clutter, with random post-its on furniture from time to time. Like the nature of his job in event promotion, he was a social butterfly while Phoebe enjoyed her time alone.

The Timeline on December 2nd

8.47AM and 8.50AM According to the data analyst, the iMac in the apartment recorded two usages in email and safari, but the duration could not be determined.

9.01 AM There were two access cards to Hampel’s apartment, ‘533’ frequently used by Hampel and ‘664’ frequently used by Phoebe. Hampel left the apartment for work with his card swiped out at 9.01 am. According to Hampel, Phoebe was still asleep when he left.

11.50 AM Phoebe was last seen alive on CCTV when the fire alarm sounded. 4 minutes later, Phoebe’s ‘664’ access card was used on the elevator.

Around 12 to 1.30 PM Hampel’s colleagues vouched on his whereabouts during the day, but Hampel did have his lunch break alone for about 30 to 60 minutes. His apartment was only 8 to 13 minutes away from his office.

6.09 PM Hampel returned home with his access card swiped at 6.09pm. He could not remember whether was the apartment door was locked or unlocked, but Phoebe was not home. Oddly, her handbag and access card were in the apartment.

Where could she be? Without her access card, she would not be able to come up to the apartment.

He noticed there were pieces of glasses on the floor, leading to the kitchen.

With growing concern, he decided to check the computer for any clues, be it from the search history or even, recently played music. He then noticed that there were fresh blood smears on the study desk and computer mouse.

At this point, his distress grew heavier. He said,

“I think by that point I was in quite a state.”

However, for someone in distress, the computer showed that he log on to his personal Facebook account and failed to mention the glass and blood during his call with Phoebe’s father, Dr. Handsjuk. The last recorded use on the iMac was at 6.19pm. He was also calm enough to have a cigarette break, feed the dog, and have a call with his colleague presumably for work.

6.20 PM A second fire alarm was set off in the apartment complex, and the fire brigade was called again.

Around 7 PM The concierge found Phoebe. Panic-stricken, she ran into the manager’s office to call her manager, Giamarrio. 2 minutes later, she called 000, the equivalent of 911 in Australia.

At 7.18 PM, the police arrived at the scene and quickly followed by the ambulance 9 minutes later. However, the police had sealed the scene off and denied entry for the paramedics, Kristie Cooke and Jade Mintern. Phoebe appeared deceased, but the paramedics were not able to do a proper medical examination to determine her life status.

7.20 PM Hampel ordered takeaway food for.. one.

Even though, he and Phoebe had plans to meet up with Dr. Handsjuk for dinner that evening to celebrate Dr.Handsjuk’s birthday.

7.28 PM Phoebe’s concerned father asked Hampel to call the police and to enquire Phoebe’s whereabouts from the concierge but again, Hampel did not act.

8.03 PM His food arrived. When the food deliveryman mentioned the swarm of police downstairs, it was only then Hampel decided to report her missing girlfriend, the girl lying in the pool of blood in the refuse room.

The Investigation

Injuries

Phoebe had multiple bruises and abrasions on her limbs and torso. She also fractured her leg with virtual amputation of the right foot above her ankle. Based on her injuries, the coroner concluded that Phoebe went into the chute feet first.

Based on the blood trail, it indicated Phoebe survived the fall and bled to death.

The severity of her injuries was not consistent to reportedly, a garbage compacter set on auto. According to Neil Bone, the Managing Director of Wastech, her injuries should have been more extensive if that was the case but after various experiments, he was unable to come to a conclusion.

Presence of Alcohol and Drug

The coroners found the presence of a hypnotic, sleeping drug, Zolpidem sold under the brand name “Stilnox” and alcohol 3 times more than the legal limit. The usage of Zolpidem has an uncommon, but a history of adverse reactions where it may cause hallucinations and parasomnias such as sleepwalking and sleep-driving.

It was possible that the combination of drugs and alcohol affected her mood, judgment, and perception that may lead to a suicidal act. On the other hand, the drugs would have affected her physically to the point she would not be able to enter the chute without assistance.

His report concluded,

“The issue of acute and long-term tolerance to ethanol makes definitive judgement on the ability to enter the garbage chute with a BAC of 0.16% difficult. However, the added synergistic effect of Zolpidem with ethanol is likely to have significantly impaired, though not entirely preclude, Phoebe’s ability to physically enter the chute unassisted.”

Mental Health

Phoebe suffered from depression, alcohol abuse and at times, used recreational drugs. 9 months before her death, her grandmother noted a cut on her wrist but Phoebe clarified that she was not suicidal.

Phoebe’s friend, Vanessa Levin, mentioned that they had a conversation about self-mutilation, self-loathing and Phoebe once stood on the balcony railing in the apartment. In Levin’s statement, she clarified that those topics were not in reference to Phoebe herself but they were just a general topic of conversation that they talked about. The comment about the railing was made in a joking manner that even Levin herself did not take it seriously.

Phoebe had made so many plans for the future and many happy events that she was looking forward to. She shared her eager plans with Benjamin Silver to volunteer in India. Her mother was returning from the Western Desert on the 1st of December 2010 and her grandmother was arriving in Melbourne on the 2nd of December 2010. She was particularly excited about planning his brother’s 18th birthday party on the 3rd of December 2010. Hampel had plans for the both of them to visit Paris on the 21st December 2010.

Pulled Down Jeans

Her jeans were pulled down to just below her knees. It was unlikely that it was forcefully pulled down by the fall as her belt was undamaged with it threaded into two loops of the jean.

It was also impossible that she would be able to climb into the chute with her jeans unfastened as it would restrict her leg movement.

Was a third party involved in her fall or, did she unfastened it after she fell?

The Garbage Chute

Investigator found traces of blood on the 12th-floor refuse room that suggest Phoebe fell from the 12th-floor garbage chute to the ground.

The entry of the garbage chute was 545mm in width, 300mm in height with 1025mm in length from the floor. The hatch opened up to 220mm. It was a tight squeeze and a difficult task even for a sober female as proven by Phoebe’s friend.

Phoebe’s grandfather, a retired detective, got the same model of the garbage chute from the manufacturer and a similar-sized friend of Phoebe to reenact the fall. In Australia 60 Minutes, she was visibly struggling to get in as there weren’t any railing to hold for support. The only way she could fit was if she put her hands straight up above her shoulders. Even then, Phoebe’s grandfather and the reporter had to help out to prevent the hatch from shutting on her fingers as she slid down the chute.

Would Phoebe with alcohol 3 times the legal limit be able to enter the hatch without help?

The very same Phoebe, who would be physically affected just after 2 drinks.

On the entry hatch, they did not find any traces of blood. Senior Constable Koslowski dusted for fingerprints but was unable to find any viable fingerprints for testing. It could be partially contributed to the fact that the surface of the hatch, brushed steel, was not the ‘best’ to get prints off.

Suspicious Man in the Lift

A resident of the apartment, Fotheringham, stated that she saw a suspicious man being buzzed up to the 12th floor around 4pm on the 2nd of December 2010. The police identified the man as a tradesman and stated he was not suspicious. However, Fotheringham remained uncertain whether was he the same man she saw.

Hampel’s Behaviour

Mrs. Levin felt that Hampel was behaving weirdly. She remarked that it was as if Hampel was lapping in this attention. Days after Phoebe’s death, she recalled, Hampel was working on his laptop when the apartment intercom rang. When Hampel knew it was Thomas Handsjuk, he grabbed a pillow and began crying on the couch as if he just flipped on a switch.

Detective Justin O’Brien who was with Hampel during the night of the tragedy said,

“[d]uring this time HAMPEL continued to cry, I observed that there were no tears running down his face, nor did it appear that there had been any at all. HAMPEL was sniffling yet there was no sign of mucus or snot coming from his nose, his eyes were not bloodshot or red and his face appeared quite normal”.

Romantic Relationship

According to Hampel, their relationship was difficult with its ups and downs. According to friends and family to Phoebe, their relationship was rather unstable and was going south. 3 months before her death, Phoebe’s mother and brother testified that they had already broken up 4 times but Hampel said it was merely 4 short separations.

There were multiple accounts that Phoebe was unhappy and even described Hampel as a volatile partner. Phoebe confided in her loved ones and her therapist about her troubles in the relationship. According to Phoebe’s doctor, Ms. Joanna Young, she said that Phoebe felt,

“extremely distressed about relationship issues, was drinking heavily and felt unsafe,”

On the 29th November 2010, during Phoebe’s meetup with her friend, Brendan Hession, they were constantly interrupted by Hampel’s constant calls. He recalled that it between 6–10 calls in 30 minutes, and at the end, Phoebe was left upset after a brief argument with Hampel.

Phoebe’s father, Dr. Handsjuk stated that once, he had to pick up Phoebe with her luggage from the apartment because Hampel kicked her daughter out. Hampel denied this but simply said, Phoebe left for a ‘time-out’.

Inadequate investigation

1. The police did not enquire about the usage nor the entry of anyone on the 12th floor during the day.

2. The apartment complex entrance was not guarded and sealed off as Crime Scene Log recorded that there were still residents entering the apartment from the car park at 9.35 pm.

3. The apartment itself was not secured as Hampel went back into the apartment after identifying Phoebe as the girl that passed away in the refuse room. Soon, his relatives too managed to enter the apartment and possibly contaminating any evidence present. It was only at 8.46pm, everyone finally was asked to vacate the crime scene.

4. None of the trash on the scene was taken in for further investigation.

5. According to Hampel’s housekeeper, Shellie Tonkin, the police only searched 1 bin (the kitchen bin) out of 4 bins in the apartment.

6. The shattered glasses, the blood on the computer mouse, and the door of the 12th-floor refuse room were not taken in for further testing.

7. The iMac was not even taken into investigation until 10th of March 2011, a year later. It is possible that the data could have been altered or removed before that.

8. Phoebe’s two phones, an iPhone3 and a Nokia, were not seized on that day but were taken in 5 days later. Several of the text messages sent to Phoebe’s iPhone were already read such as Mrs. Levin’s message at 1.57pm and Sarah Bruce’s message at 4.31. However, because of a sloppy investigation, it remained unclear whether was it Phoebe or a third party who read it.

9. Despite multiple urgings by Giamarrio to download the CCTV footage before it gets overwritten, the police did not consult their E-Crime division.

Mr. Giamarrio made a statement to police that stated:

“I mentioned to some of the Police that we had CCTV in the building. We were having problems with the CCTV at the time and the problem was that the footage was that the looping time for recording was too short, as in taping over itself. It was looping every 2–3 days. I suggested that it [sic] to the Police that if they needed any CCTV at the time they should start downloading. The Police on the night didn’t really respond to me suggesting this.”

10. The police denied entry for the paramedics to examine Phoebe. Even though Phoebe appeared deceased, they would have a better idea of her time of death if the paramedics checked for a pulse, breathing, and body temperature.

In the police defense, Sergeant Forster stated that Phoebe looked deceased and that his observations were based on his 38 years of experience as a Police officer. He said,

“without the need to enter the room or touch the body I had no reservations that the female was deceased.”

Many questions remained unanswered, but Phoebe’s death was ruled as accidental death.

Hampel accepted it and blamed alcohol for her death. He said,

“I believe that as a result of Phoebe’s depression and alcohol abuse she took her life tonight.”

Aftermath

When Phoebe’s death was ruled out as accidental death, her family did not accept that. They did not believe that the well-loved Phoebe was suicidal. That was why Phoebe’s grandfather launched an inquest with a much more detailed investigation than the initial investigation was carried out. He was the one who requested the model of the chute and experimented with it.

However, despite their best efforts, the investigation was left obstinately closed. Meaning, it was neither suicide nor was there any foul play. To appeal, it would be very expensive and regrettably, something that an average family could not afford.

Another Death

Years later, Hampel dated a 25-year-old model, Baillee Schneider. In 2018, she was found on the kitchen floor with a cord around her neck with the presence of cocaine and alcohol in her.

Mr. Schneider said although his daughter had been going through a difficult time before her death, ‘it was hard to see how’ she could have killed herself.

Many unanswered questions on her death such as ‘how did she actually hang herself in the kitchen’ but her death was also ruled as suicide.

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