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Cleary’s crusade for justice for slain sister
New podcast recalls lasting impact of the murder of Vicki Cleary
“I can’t imagine myself without Vicki’s presence,” Phil Cleary says.
Mark Phillips
THE passage of almost four decades has not lessened Phil Cleary’s determination to secure justice for his dead sister, Vicki.
August 26 marked 38 years since the day in 1987 when Vicki was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend Peter Keogh in the car park outside the kindergarten where she worked in Coburg. She was just 25.
Phil Cleary, a champion footballer for Coburg in the VFA who then became the federal MP for Wills, has spent the intervening years campaigning for justice for Vicki, and against violence by men.
On the 38th anniversary of Vicki’s death, he released a new conversation with his youngest sister, Lizzie, on his podcast, Cleary Independent, where they talked about the impact it has had on both of their lives.
The purpose of the podcast, which is confronting in its honesty from Lizzie, was to keep attention on Vicki, who Phil insists is owed an apology by the Victorian government. He says this is because her killer was never convicted of murder: by using a defence of provocation – which no longer exists – he was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Keogh, who committed suicide in 2001, was sentenced to three years and 11 months in jail and at the time of his death was facing prosecution for having burnt down the house of another former partner.
The scars of that fateful day run deep for Vicki’s siblings and Phil, now 72 and a resident of Brunswick West for decades, says he will never rest until he sees justice done.
In 2021, Cleary wrote to then-Premier Daniel Andrews to seek an apology for Vicki, but was unsuccessful. That hasn’t deterred him from continuing to press the case.
“This is a scandalous event in Merri-bek, and we need to remember and honour Vicki whilst pressing for justice,” he said.
“The government should apologise on two fronts. One that not enough was done to protect Vicki: the man who killed her had been to that kindergarten on several occasions, threatened her in her workplace and [she was] not protected. That’s a fact.
“Secondly, her killer was effectively exonerated in a courtroom by being found not guilty of murder. That matter has to be resolved.
“We apologise to the stolen generation, we apologise to men who were the victims of homophobic law. We’ve apologised to children brutalised in institutions.
“I want an apology from government for what happened to Vicki at her place of work and then in a courtroom.”
In the new podcast, Phil recalls how joyful Vicki was when he played his 200th match for Coburg in June 1987. Eleven weeks later she was dead.
Lizzie Cleary recounts in graphic detail the day Vicki died when Lizzie was aged 14 and describes the profound impact her beloved older sister’s death had on her both mentally and physically.
A vivacious, fun-loving and artistic woman, Vicki was like “a second mum” and best friend to Lizzie, 11 years her junior.
It was important that Lizzie finally had a chance to tell her story to the world through his podcast, Phil said. 
For Phil Cleary, the fight to ensure Vicki’s death was not in vain is a never ending project.
In 1997, after he left federal Parliament following four years as the independent MP for Wills, he first began researching her killing. That was published in 2002 as Just Another Little Murder.
A second book published in 2005, Getting Away with Murder, investigated how Melbourne businessman James Ramage used the same provocation defence as Keogh to avoid conviction for murder after he choked to death his wife Julie.
Subsequently, the law was changed in Victoria to remove provocation as a partial defence for murder.
But Cleary still has unfinished business.
“That was an important step, but I say to government, you abolished the law, but what about the families who suffered as a consequence of that law? What about my mum and dad who are now passed on?
“I say, go back, examine the case and admit that the judge was wrong at law in granting a provocation defence.
“The verdict can’t be changed, but you could make a ruling that reinforces my opinion that it was wrong at law, and an injustice occurred in that courtroom.”
Next year he will publish a new book which explores links between Vicki’s death and the murder of Thornbury bookshop owner Maria James seven years earlier.
Cleary has amassed a wealth of circumstantial evidence which points to Keogh as James’ killer as well.
Since 2017, Phil has organised the Vicki Cleary Day at Coburg City Oval, where he made his name as a player and coach of the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football Association.
The event is held annually to draw attention to the ongoing violence towards women, honour women who have been killed by men, and campaign for more changes to make women safer from their abusive partners.
Cleary says that despite the increased resources spent preventing family violence, 70 to 80 women are being killed every year who could have been saved.
He said there were plenty of red flags about Peter Keogh’s behaviour before he killed Vicki, and he still sees a similar pattern being repeated time and time again.
“We [need to] have a far stronger commitment to risk assessment and we [need to] devote money and resources to protect those women … Nearly every woman murdered by a man known to her is murdered in the context of separation. That is the starting point for government policy.”
Cleary would like to see an office for the safety of women in every municipality that would co-ordinate work by different agencies and police to protect women from abusive and violent partners, who he likens to “domestic terrorists”.
The day 38 years ago when Peter Keogh killed Vicki Cleary changed many lives, none more so than her brother.
“I can’t imagine myself without Vicki’s presence,” Phil Cleary says.
“It’s as if she has been my inspiration and part of my identity. And I thank her for it. And of course, her character and her memory drives my obsession with social justice and fairness in the world.”
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