Russell Manser: Meet the Byron Bay 'wild child' turned barrister who stole bank ... trends now
EXCLUSIVE
Bank robber turned TikTok star Russell Manser, who died in his Sydney harbourfront apartment last Saturday, once planned to marry a barrister he met while in prison.
Manser embarked on a relationship with Mary Keaney after he left jail for the last time seven years ago and later bought a farm with her in the Tweed Valley in NSW's north-east.
Property records list Ms Keaney and Manser as joint owners of that four-bedroom home on six hectares at Stokers Siding, which cost $1,240,000 in December 2020.
Daily Mail Australia understands Ms Keaney was still living on the farm at the time of Manser's death.
Bank robber turned TikTok star Russell Manser, who died in his Sydney harbourfront apartment last Saturday, once planned to marry barrister Mary Keaney, who he met while in prison. The former couple is pictured
Manser, who had a long history of abusing drugs including heroin, died in his apartment at King Street Wharf near Barangaroo on Saturday night aged 56.
The cause of his death has not been made public but there were no suspicious circumstances.
Manser spent 23 years in prisons around Australia until he turned his life around and became an advocate for victims of institutional child abuse.
He was repeatedly raped in juvenile detention, and then again in an adult prison as a teenager, and launched 'The Voice of a Survivor' in 2017 to help abused inmates get compensation.
Ms Keaney, who describes herself on Instagram as 'not your average barrister' and is a self-declared social justice warrior, was admitted to the bar in 2017.
Manser first encountered Ms Keaney while he was in prison after giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Manser embarked on a relationship with Mary Keaney after he left jail for the last time seven years ago and later bought a farm with her in the Tweed Valley in NSW 's north-east
Property records list Ms Keaney and Manser as joint owners of a four-bedroom home (above) on six hectares at Stokers Siding, which cost $1,240,000 in December 2020
Ms Keaney had been working on a justice project and heard about Manser's efforts to help other inmates seek redress for the abuse they had suffered as children.
'The people I'd helped in jail had told her all about me,' Manser said in a video interview posted on YouTube.
'So she contacted me and asked me to be involved in this justice project where survivors get to tell their stories... about what had happened to them.'
Two weeks before Manser was due to be released in 2017 he learnt he was about to be charged over a series of bank robberies committed before his last stint in prison.
He was granted bail, went into rehab and was not required to serve any more jail time when he was sentenced for the old offences in 2018.
Ms Keaney, who had previously been married in her early 20s, was one of the lawyers to whom Manser felt he owed his liberty.
A source said Manser struggled to adjust to life on the outside after spending so long in custody.
'He was basically behaving like a 20-year-old because he had no idea how to have a relationship with a woman,' the source said.
Manser first encountered Ms Keaney while he was in prison after giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
'I am feeling blessed,' Manser captioned a picture of the couple in September 2020
Manser and Ms Keaney's relationship began slowly but they eventually set up home at the Stokers Siding property, with Manser spending part of the compensation he received for being abused as a teenager.
His social media posts from that time show the pair enjoying country life - Ms Keaney is a keen horse rider - and seemingly making plans to get married.
'I am feeling
