{{Short description|Australian child sex offender and manslaughterer (1950–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2013}}
'''Michael Anthony Guider''' (20 October 1950 – 7 September 2024) was an Australian child sex offender who was widely described in the media as one of New South Wales’ most notorious criminals. In 1996 he was convicted on 60 counts of child sexual abuse involving eleven victims. In 2002 he received an additional sentence after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of nine‑year‑old Samantha Knight, who disappeared from Bondi in 1986 and whose body has never been found.
Guider’s offending typically involved sedating children known to him before molesting and photographing them while they were unconscious. His imprisonment was followed by repeated parole reviews, public controversy, and legal efforts to keep him detained under extended supervision orders. He was released under strict conditions in 2019, returned to custody in 2022 for breaching those conditions, and died in hospital in 2024 at the age of 73.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Poposki |first1=Claudia |title=Serial pedophile Michael Guider who killed 9yo Samantha Knight dead in custody |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/serial-pedophile-michael-guider-who-killed-9yo-samantha-knight-dead-in-custody/news-story/6195936483979968ae7f4b0cfea5aa36 |access-date=7 September 2024 |publisher=news.com.au |date=7 September 2024}}</ref>
==Early life== Michael Guider was born in Melbourne in 1950. He moved with his mother to Sydney in 1952, and a younger brother, Tim, was born the following year.<ref name=SMH99080412>''Sydney Morning Herald'', 4 August 1999, p.12</ref> The boys spent periods in institutional care at Melrose Boys Home due to their mother’s instability.<ref name=SMH99080412 /> Guider later told prison psychologists that he had been sexually abused by his mother and at the boys’ home.<ref name=smh-silence>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/07/1022982768777.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=The deadly silence that doomed Samantha |date=8 June 2002 |accessdate=8 September 2014}}</ref>
In the 1970s he was charged with several offences after setting fire to a shop owned by a former partner.<ref name=SMH99080412 /> He worked as a gardener at the Royal North Shore Hospital<ref name=SMH9908041>''Sydney Morning Herald'', 4 August 1999, p.1</ref> and developed an interest in Aboriginal history, surveying Indigenous sites around Sydney and later producing self‑published booklets on the subject.
==Criminal offending== Guider’s sexual offending spanned many years and involved children known to him. His method typically involved administering sedatives before molesting and photographing his victims.<ref name=smh-silence /> In 1996 he was convicted on 60 charges of child sexual abuse involving eleven children and received a lengthy custodial sentence.
While in prison he was held under strict protection at Goulburn Correctional Centre and was assaulted on multiple occasions.<ref>''Forever Nine'', p.141</ref>
==Samantha Knight== thumb|right|Samantha Knight Samantha Terese Knight, aged nine, disappeared from Bondi on 19 August 1986. Despite extensive searches, she was never found.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=Chris |date=2024-09-07 |title=Samantha Knight’s killer Michael Guider dies in custody |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/samantha-knight-s-killer-michael-guider-dies-in-custody-20240907-p5k8oz.html |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref>
Police attention turned to Guider in the late 1990s. Investigators established that he had molested Knight and two other girls at a house in Manly in 1984–85.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hofman|first1=Denise|last2=Kidman|first2=John|title=Forever Nine: The Untold Story of Bondi's Missing Schoolgirl|date=2013|publisher=The Five Mile Press|location=Scoresby, Victoria|isbn=978-1-74346-706-0|page=185}}</ref> He was charged with Knight’s murder in February 2001.<ref>''Daily Telegraph'', 23 February 2001, p.4</ref>
On 7 June 2001 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, telling police he had drugged Knight in the same manner as his other victims and claimed her death was accidental. In August 2002 he was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment, with a non‑parole period of 12 years, to be served cumulatively with his earlier sentences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rawsthorne |first=Sally |date=2019-09-03 |title='I am angry': Anguish as Samantha Knight's killer is set to be released from prison |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/samantha-knight-s-killer-to-be-released-from-prison-20190903-p52ncw.html |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref>
Knight’s body has never been found. Guider gave inconsistent accounts of what he claimed to have done with her remains, and police searches of locations he nominated did not locate her.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cornford|first1=Philip|title=Killer's silence leaves chilling doubts|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/28/1030508071690.html|accessdate=22 March 2015|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=29 August 2002}}</ref>
==Other case== ===Renee Aitken=== Five‑year‑old Renee Aitken disappeared from Narooma in February 1984. Police identified another man, Brian James Fitzpatrick, as the chief suspect; he died before an inquest could be held.<ref>{{cite news |title=Informer links killer to missing Renee Aitken |url=https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1987953/informer-links-killer-to-missing-renee-aitken/ |work=Illawarra Mercury |date=2013 |access-date=2026-04-23}}</ref>
In the mid‑2000s, Denise Hofman, co‑author of ''Forever Nine'', suggested Guider might have been involved based on circumstantial material found among his possessions. Police reviewed the information but stated there was insufficient evidence to pursue the theory.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/Aitken.htm |title=Australian Missing Persons Register – Renee Aitken |access-date=2025-03-18}}</ref>
==Authorship== While in prison, Guider wrote a series of self‑published booklets on Aboriginal sites and history around Sydney. Copies were distributed to local councils and libraries and are held by the State Library of New South Wales.<ref>[http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=153896 State Library of New South Wales catalogue]</ref>
==Parole and supervision== Guider became eligible for parole in June 2014, but the State Parole Authority rejected his application, citing inadequate post‑release planning.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sex-predator-who-killed-samantha-knight-denied-parole-20140517-38goi.html |title=Sex predator who killed Samantha Knight denied parole |date=18 May 2014 |first=Tim |last=Barlass |newspaper=Sun-Herald |location=Sydney}}</ref> His parole was again refused in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=Michael Guider, killer of Bondi schoolgirl Samantha Knight, 'should never be released' |url=http://www.news.com.au/news-story/e8852ee8cbe63596ffd42765749ebe51 |publisher=News.com.au |accessdate=12 April 2017}}</ref>
In 2019 authorities sought to keep him in custody beyond the expiry of his sentence. The Supreme Court imposed an interim detention order before ruling that he could be released under a strict five‑year supervision order.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paedophile Michael Anthony Guider to remain in prison after manslaughter sentence ends |date=4 June 2019 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/paedophile-michael-anthony-guider-to-remain-in-prison-after-manslaughter-sentence-ends-20190602-p51tqo.html}}</ref> He was released on 5 September 2019.
==Reoffending== On 29 September 2022, Guider was arrested after a search of his Fairfield Heights residence allegedly uncovered prohibited material on his mobile phone. He was charged with breaching his extended supervision order and was remanded in custody.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/bondi-schoolgirl-killer-back-in-custody-over-internet-searches-involving-infants-20220929-p5bm1g.html |title=Bondi schoolgirl killer back in custody over internet searches involving infants |date=29 September 2022}}</ref>
He was later sentenced to a maximum of three years’ imprisonment, with a non‑parole period of two years and three months.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/convicted-killer-michael-guider-back-behind-bars-dramatic-arrest/3110d293-9722-4b06-9660-ad3484558525 |title=Convicted killer Michael Guider back behind bars |publisher=Nine}}</ref>
==Death== Guider died at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick on 7 September 2024.<ref>''Sunday Telegraph'', 8 September 2024, p.29</ref>
==In popular discussion== Guider’s younger brother, Tim Guider, has spoken publicly about their upbringing and his brother’s crimes, including in a 2019 ''60 Minutes Australia'' interview.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_My3ItQ_GR4 |title=Convicted child killer and paedophile released from prison |date=8 September 2019 |via=YouTube}}</ref> He later published a memoir, ''Good Brother Bad Brother'', discussing their lives and the disappearance of Samantha Knight.
==Bibliography== ===Books=== * Guider, Tim (2020). ''Good Brother Bad Brother''. ISBN 9781661890094. * Hofman, Denise; Kidman, John (2013). ''Forever Nine: The Untold Story of Bondi's Missing Schoolgirl Samantha Knight''. Five Mile Press. ISBN 9781743468920.
===Archival material=== * ''Michael Guider papers, 1972–1980''. State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 3702. * ''Michael Guider – further papers'', 1996. State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 3702 ADD-ON 2080. * ''Michael Guider – further papers concerning Aboriginal history, 1997–1998, 2003–2004''. State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 3702 ADD-ON 2184.
==See also== * Timeline of major crimes in Australia
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Michael Guider and Samantha Knight}} * [http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/SamKnight.htm Samantha Knight – Australian Missing Persons Register] * [https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1987953/informer-links-killer-to-missing-renee-aitken/ Illawarra Mercury – Guider and Renee Aitken]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guider, Michael}} Category:1950 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Australian people convicted of manslaughter Category:Australian people convicted of child sexual abuse Category:Criminals from Melbourne Category:Prisoners and detainees of New South Wales Category:Manslaughter trials