R v Edwards (No 3) [2019] NSWSC 1815

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Edwards (No 3) [2019] NSWSC 1815 Hearing dates: 16 December 2019 Decision date: 18 December 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: R A Hulme J Decision: Imprisonment for 24 years with a non-parole period of 18 years Catchwords: CRIME – sentence – murder – conviction following jury trial – offender killed estranged wife of 33 years and disposed of her body – offender's post-offence conduct included attempts to create impression of ignorance – multitude of lies – difficulty of assessing objective seriousness in absence of evidence of how offender killed deceased and disposed of her body – motive for killing was offender's inability to accept that his wife had right to choose her own course in life – evidence showed that deceased wanted to end their marriage and engage in relationship with new partner – intention to cause grievous bodily harm – offence aggravated because offender killed deceased in her home and dumped and concealed her body – offence marginally below narrow mid-range of offending – absence of remorse – prior criminal history – physical and mental health issues – no evidence of mental condition relevant to offender's functioning at time of offence – importance of punishment, denunciation, and deterrence in murder committed in domestic violence context – unlikely to reoffend due to advanced age on release of low significance – no special circumstances Legislation Cited: Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW), s 12(2) Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act, s 25C(11) Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), s 51D(2) Cases Cited: R v Keith Owen Goodbun [2018] NSWSC 1025 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina John Wallace Edwards Representation: Counsel: Ms K Ratcliffe (Crown) Mr P O'Connor (Offender)