By Perry Duffin
A former X-Factor star accused of murdering a baby allegedly told the grieving mother that he was “so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt her”, but police felt he showed “no emotion” as they described the horrific injuries sustained by the little girl.
Mitchell David Callaway, who appeared on The X-Factor in 2011, said he had left the baby sleeping on a makeshift bed in front of the television one morning in the rural NSW town of Binnaway in July 2018.
The X Factor star Mitchell Callaway, left, is accused of murdering a baby girl in 2018; he was arrested last year, top right; police search a property in Binnaway.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
Callaway said he returned from the bathroom five minutes later and found the baby not breathing, with vomit on her face and began CPR, police court documents state.
Callaway called the girl’s mother who raced to the home – an off-duty paramedic was close behind – but they found the girl cold and unresponsive.
The girl died in Coonabarabran Hospital and detectives turned the home into a crime scene.
A police fact sheet, released by the NSW Supreme Court, says they found no vomit and no blood at the home among other “inconsistencies” at the scene.
A post-mortem concluded the baby girl had sustained 13 injuries to her head including an 8cm fracture above the ear, patchy bruises on the rear of her head and a significant injury inside her upper lip.
Four months after the baby’s funeral, in November 2018, Callaway was badly injured in a motor vehicle crash, the police fact sheet says.
The grieving mother visited him in hospital, where police say they spoke about the child.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Callaway allegedly told the mother.
“Who?” the mother asked. Callaway replied with the baby’s name.
“I’m so sorry. You’re the best mum. I’m so sorry,” Callaway allegedly said.
Callaway performing on the X-Factor.
Later that month police interviewed Callaway as he recovered from the car crash.
Callaway allegedly told them he spent the hours before the baby’s death “shooting firearms from the rear door into the backyard”.
“He stated that after (the baby’s mother) left the house, he searched for and located the gun safe keys, accessed the firearms, cleaned them, then used one to shoot birds from the back door,” the police fact sheet reads.
Callaway was later charged and convicted of gun offences as a result of the admission.
As police rattled off the horrific injuries sustained by the baby before her death, they appeared troubled by Callaway’s response.
“(Callaway) showed no emotion during the discussion surrounding the injuries to (the baby) discovered during the post-mortem,” the police fact sheet says.
“He offered no plausible explanation for the injuries and appeared unmoved by the gravity or the seriousness.”
Callaway was battling stage-three cancer and was taking Valium and the painkiller Endone in 2018. This month the Supreme Court heard his cancer is in remission.
Callaway was not arrested for almost five years until after a coronial inquest was held in Sydney in early 2023.
Police charged Callaway after medical experts told the coroner the girl’s injuries were consistent with “accidental or deliberate infliction”, a Supreme Court judge said in December.
But the coroner also heard the girl had died of cardio-respiratory failure which was “not directly related” to the traumatic injuries to her head, the judge noted.
The connection between the injuries and the girl’s death will form a major part of the case, the judge said.
Ten days before the girl’s death, doctors at Coonabarabran hospital had diagnosed her with pneumonia after a month of nagging sickness, but an examination found no injuries.
A week later, after a dose of steroids, the little girl had improved and doctors again found no injuries.
The medical experts could not agree, the judge said, on the connection between the injuries and the girl’s death, and it was not inevitable that Callaway would be convicted.
Callaway will return to Dubbo Local Court later in August. He is expected to fight the charge of murder at trial.
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