Karen Salkilld sentenced for faking her own death to claim major insurance payout

A Perth woman who faked her own death to secure a $700,000 insurance payout has been sentenced to three years behind bars.

Karen Salkilld, 43, says she got the idea from a movie after finding herself in huge debt.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Karen Salkilld sentenced over life insurance scam.

The gym owner claimed she died in a car crash in Broome in 2023 and almost got away with the scam.

The court was told she started a life insurance claim, lodging falsified documents including a death certificate and coroner’s report.

A week later, the insurance company paid more than $700,000 into a bank account opened by the 42-year-old in her ex-partner’s name.

But when the fitness instructor moved some of the money around, the bank flagged it as suspicious and froze the account.

Salkilld visited Palmyra Police Station to certify her fake documents but after three visits, officers realised something was up.

She was eventually found out in March.

Salkilld admitted the idea of faking her own death came to her from a movie, although it was not specified which one.

The F45 trainer, who previously pleaded guilty to gains benefit by fraud and intent to defraud using a false record, was sentenced on Monday in Perth’s District Court over her elaborate web of lies.