Karen Maree Salkilld jailed for faking her own death and collecting $718,000 life insurance payout

A woman who faked her own death to claim more than $700,000 from her life insurance has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Karen Maree Salkilld was sentenced in the Perth District Court after previously pleading guilty to obtaining profits by fraud and knowingly using false records for fraudulent purposes.

In February, the 43-year-old man received more than $718,000 from an insurance company after claiming he died in a December 2023 car crash in Broome.

Salkilld provided Insuranceline with a death certificate, funeral papers and a letter from the coroner.

He submitted the application in late January and the funds were disbursed on February 14.

During sentencing, Judge Vicki Stewart said Salkilld’s crime was not opportunistic and therefore a suspended sentence was not appropriate.

He said Salkilld, who was living beyond his means and accruing various large debts, took steps to begin the fraud in January and continued the scam until March, when he was arrested.

The court again considered the facts, including details of how Salkilld opened a MyState Bank account in his former partner’s name because he was the beneficiary.

There is no evidence that the woman knew about the murder.

‘Planned and relatively complex’

Salkilld and the woman had been in a relationship for several years before splitting three years ago but the couple had remained friends.

This meant Salkilld was able to access the woman’s identity documents and place his face on her driver’s license and passport to use as identification, as well as create an email account.

Although he was initially successful in transferring funds to creditors and himself, MyState Bank suspiciously froze the new account.

This then led Salkilld to try other means to release the money, including going to Palmyra Police Station for identification.

His arrest came during his last visit to the police station, pretending to be his former partner.

Prosecutor Emily Roberts has previously described the crime as “planned and relatively complex” and said the incident was not “victimless” because it involved a bank, an insurance company, the police who approved the documents and his former partner.

In sentencing, Judge Stewart also addressed the fact that Salkilld’s offending was likely to affect other people’s bonuses.

Inspired by the movie

Earlier, Salkilld’s lawyer Max Crispe told the court his client was inspired by a movie to fake his own death in exchange for money, but did not specify which one.

During sentencing, the court was told about Salkilld’s past, including how he received a $500,000 life insurance payout after his ex-partner died in 2018.

He has two daughters, born in 2012 and 2015, and had lived in Broome for many years running an Aboriginal business before returning to Perth in 2019 and purchasing a fitness franchise.

His former partner provided the court with a character reference and Judge Stewart told Salkilld he spoke highly of him.

“He expressed concern for you, your children and himself,” Judge Stewart said.

Salkilld was sentenced to three years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving half of it.

After sentencing, Judge Stewart issued court orders for the return of the money.

Compensation must be paid by Salkilld to the insurance company in the amount of $101,771.11.

A restitution order was also issued for funds in the MyState Bank account; these orders were in two parts, one in the amount of $549,195.92 and the other in the amount of $67,995.97; the latter was held in the bank’s fraud recovery account.

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