R v Schreiber [2001] NSWSC 1184

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v Schreiber [2001] NSWSC 1184 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Common Law Division FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70089/2000 HEARING DATE(S) : 11/05/2001; 24/08/2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 19 December 2001

PARTIES : Regina Keith Andrew Schreiber JUDGMENT OF : Hidden J at 1

COUNSEL : P Conlon SC (Crown) P Zahra SC (offender) SOLICITORS : Solicitor for Public Prosecutions Legal Aid Commission CATCHWORDS : CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - murder - plea of guilty LEGISLATION CITED : Mental Health Act CASES CITED : Previtera (1997) 94 ACrim R 76 R v Thomson; R v Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383 DECISION : Sentenced to sixteen years with a non-parole period of twelve years.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION CRIMINAL JURISDICTION 70089/2000 HIDDEN J

Wednesday 19 December 2001 Regina v Keith Andrew Schreiber

Remarks on Sentence 1 HIS HONOUR: The offender, Keith Andrew Schreiber, has pleaded guilty to the murder of Jack Van Krevel at his home in Albion Park in the early hours of Friday, 18 August 2000. 2 The offender was a longstanding friend of the deceased's son, Mark Van Krevel, who is also known as Mark Valera. In July and August 2000 Valera was tried upon two counts of murder and found guilty. In that trial the deceased had given evidence in which he admitted that he had been physically violent to Valera, although he denied any sexual abuse. 3 The deceased was living at the house at Albion Park with his daughter, Belinda Van Krevel, and her two year-old daughter, Tia. The offender was friendly with Ms Van Krevel. Evidence as to whether their relationship was a sexual one is conflicting but I do not find it necessary to resolve that matter. What is clear is that he was strongly attached to her. Prior to the killing, Ms Van Krevel had told the offender that the deceased had interfered with her daughter sexually. There is evidence that she solicited the offender to kill the deceased, and she has since been charged with involvement in the murder. 4 The offender told Dr Bruce Westmore, psychiatrist, that about two weeks before the killing, Ms Van Krevel had suggested to him "in a roundabout way" that he should kill the deceased. She asked him "hypothetically" if he would do it but he said that he would not. To what extent, if at all, Ms Van Krevel influenced his crime is a matter to which I shall return. 5 The offender himself had been the victim of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of a teacher when he was in primary school. He told Dr Westmore that he had been touched sexually by the deceased from time to time but, as he described these incidents, they appear to have been minor. 6 At the relevant time the offender was subject to a community service order which had been imposed following his conviction in the Wollongong District Court in September 1999 of a charge of armed robbery. For that purpose, he was under the supervision of Ms Rhonda Freestone, a Probation and Parole officer. In the early part of the year 2000, Ms Freestone arranged for him to attend courses in stress and anger management. However, from late July 2000 she noted a deterioration in his mood and presentation. Mark Valera's trial was in progress at the time, and the offender himself was called as a witness in the Crown case. It was clear that he was finding the trial distressing and that, as Ms Freestone expressed it, he was "very angry at life in general". His mood fluctuated between anger and depression. He expressed suicidal and homicidal thoughts, although the latter were not directed at anyone in particular. 7 When she first observed this deterioration, Ms Freestone asked the offender if he wanted to be referred to a counsellor. He said that he did not, that he had to deal with things himself and that he would not take any charity. About a week later Ms Freestone was sufficiently concerned to refer him to a psychologist, but he did not keep the appointment. By 14 August 2000 there had been a further significant deterioration. He told Ms Freestone that he had not eaten and had slept badly for several days. By this time Mark Valera had been found guilty and was in custody. The offender had been sharing premises with him and, as a result, he was homeless. 8 By 15 August, only a matter of days before the killing, his presentation was such that Ms Freestone contacted the Mental Health Mobile Treatment Team of the Illawarra Area Heath Service. Among other things, he spoke of his belief that little Tia was being sexually abused in her home and expressed concern for her welfare. Ms Freestone said that he spoke of this "as if it was a very personal hurt". The Mental Health Team had him assessed by a staff psychiatrist at Wollongong Hospital, who found no evidence of mental illness such as to justify his being detained under the Mental Health Act. The doctor concluded that he was "a long term risk of harm to self and others", but he did not see him as an "immediate risk". 9 It is against this background that the terrible events of the morning of 18 August might be understood. The offender went to the deceased's home and obtained a tomahawk which was hanging up on the outside of the garage. He entered the house by climbing through an unlocked window. He went to the kitchen and obtained a large knife. He then went to a bedroom where the deceased was sleeping, naked. The deceased woke and he struck him on the head with the tomahawk, holding it with both hands. As the deceased rolled to the centre of the bed, calling out in protest, the offender continued to strike him with the tomahawk. He tried to cut his neck with the knife and to stab him in the heart but, as the bedroom light was off, he was finding it difficult to see. 10 The deceased rolled off the bed. The offender ran to the lounge room, where he seized a brass-handled poker from near the fireplace. He returned to the bedroom and turned on the light. The deceased was kneeling at the side of the bed and called to him by name. The offender said, "This is from Mark, fucking paedophile bastard. You'll never molest another kid again." He then struck the deceased in the neck, first with the poker then several times with the tomahawk until he heard the neck crack. He took up the knife and cut the deceased's neck to expel air from his airways. He also cut the deceased's right leg, down the length of his spine, on the cheeks of his buttocks and around the anus. Although