Court told of Perth gym owner’s motives for faking her own death

The District Court in Perth has been told has been told that gym owner Karen Salkilld was inspired by a movie to fake her own death for an insurance payout.

The Court was today told that Perth-based F45 franchisee Karen Salkilld received more than $718,000 from an insurance company after claiming she had died in a car accident in Broome.

Crown Prosecutor Emily Roberts described the crime as "planned and relatively sophisticated", and said it was not "victimless" and involved a bank, an insurance company, police who certified documents and her former partner.

The Court heard Salkilld had provided a death certificate, funeral documentation and a letter from the Coroner's Court to the company Insuranceline, claiming she had died in December 2023.

She made the application in late January, and the funds were paid in February.

She then opened a MyState account in her former partner's name, as she was the beneficiary.

Salkilld, a former East Fremantle Sharks assistant coach and mother-of-two had been in a relationship with the woman (who had no knowledge of the crime) for several years, and while they separated three years ago, were still friends.

She had access to the woman's ID documents, who she had previously travelled overseas with.

Salkilld superimposed her own face on the woman's drivers licence and passport as forms of identity, and also set up an email account.

She started transferring the funds to creditors, and herself, but MyState Bank froze the new account under suspicion.

Salkilld went to Palmyra police station several times to get identification verified so she could free up the funds but the "heavily altered" documents ultimately did not get past the bank's verification process.

Salkilld was arrested after she went to the police station in early March, purporting to be her former partner.

Her lawyer, Max Crispe, said the "crazy act" of faking her death came to her from a movie she had once seen, although he did not specify which one.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to gaining benefit by fraud and knowingly using a false record to defraud.

She was remanded in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on 28th October.

Judge Vicki told Salkilld to expect an immediate prison term at that time.

While media reports have indicated that Salkilld was the franchisee at F45 Applecross her LinkedIn profile advised she is the ‘business owner’ at F45 Dianella.

Image: Karen Salkilld. Credit: Facebook.