Tiny town changed forever after horrific act saw 600 men forced to hand over DNA

She was 91 years old. A fragile woman, fast asleep in the safety of her own bed, when she was violently sexually assaulted in the early hours of the morning.

On 1999, Rita went to bed as she normally would - not able to even imagine what would follow in just a matter of hours. But while she peacefully slept, a man broke into her home and attacked her in the most brutal way, but it wasn’t just sexual assault, Rita was beaten so severely, her face was left unrecognisable.

Rita Knight had lived comfortably alone in her house, her childhood home, where she had lived since a baby, in the quiet town of Wee Waa in . She was gentle, independent, and deeply loved in her community - a woman of faith who went to regularly and found joy playing her piano. That night, she had no reason to believe her life would be torn apart.

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On , Rita followed her usual routine and made a cup of tea and sat peacefully downstairs as she sipped on her hot drink, before going to her room, taking off her hearing aid and reading before going to sleep. Completely oblivious that someone was watching her for half an hour, waiting for her to turn off the bedroom light. She slept peacefully, while the twisted rapist turned off the power in her house and broke the window into her French door and put his hand through to unlatch it.

He went straight to her bedroom and violently sexually assaulting her in her own bed. Rita thought she was going to die, as a pillow covered her head leaving her fighting the shortness of breath.

When the horror finally ended, she cried out in agony, hoping and praying that someone would hear her. Through all the ’s Eve noise, a neighbour did. They rushed over and found her bloodied and broken. It was unthinkable. Who could do this - and to her?

The news of the crime broke out, leaving neighbours and even the police shaken to its core by the brutality of the crime and the officials made it their mission to find the twisted criminal behind it. Despite it being a small town, the Police had no leads - no eye witnesses, no suspects, no direction. All they had was a small trace of DNA left behind - a genetic fingerprint.

That’s when Lieutenant Robin Nappa, who recently transferred to the New Force, brought forward the game changing tool - DNA Forensics. He pushed for an intelligence led DNA screening of every single man in the small town. But this didn’t sit well with some of the residents. Some called him a ‘White Nazi.’ The town was split but Robin Nappa stayed firm.

While this was controversial he believed it was a necessary step to find out the truth.

However, in the end around 600 men gladly came forward, eager to help, hoping that they could contribute to getting justice for Rita. Alongside DNA collection, police included a short questionnaire to flag possible suspects.

It worked. Within just 10 days, Stephen James Boney, a 44-year-old farm labourer and father of six, was arrested. He confessed straight away — admitting he knew Rita after mowing her lawn.

In court, a powerful statement from Rita was read aloud reading “I really thought that I was going to die. It will always be with me — that man putting a pillow over my head… pulling my pants down. That was when I passed out.”

She was so traumatised, she had to sell her home.

“The fear was so great that to this day, I have to sleep with the door locked. I jump if anyone touches me. I have residual numbness on the right side of my face. My independence has been taken from me — I can no longer live alone.”

Stephen was later sentenced for aggravated sexual assault, aggravated breaking and entering, and committing a felony involving violence. Shockingly, he was only ordered to serve a minimum of eight years, coming after the Judge, Robert Bellear stated "the Crown had virtually no case at all" and the police would never have caught him, if not for his voluntary surrender and detailed confession which awarded a 25 per cent reduction sentence.

Even more disturbing, this wasn’t his first rape offence. He had already served time for raping a 22 year old woman in 1984, a crime for which he only served three of his six year sentence.

Rita’s case changed the game for Australia. It was the first mass DNA screening in the country’s history, and it opened the door to forensic-led justice. It gave police across the nation a new tool to hunt down monsters hiding in plain sight.

But while Stephen was caught and convicted, the emotional scars left behind will never fade. Not for Rita. Not for Wee Waa.

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