Killer wife Rebecca Payne has sentence cut to 12 years on appeal

A woman who fed her abusive husband drug-laced biscuits will walk free from prison in less than three years after her sentence was slashed.

Rebecca Payne was found guilty of murdering Noel Payne, 68, after a three-week trial in the Victorian Supreme Court. Picture NewsWire / Aaron Francis

A woman who killed her sadistic husband and hid his body in a chest freezer has had her sentenced slashed on appeal.

Rebecca Payne, 44, was jailed for 16 years in June last year after she was convicted over the murder of Noel Payne, 68.

At trial, Payne claimed she didn’t intend to kill him when she gave him temazepam-laced lemon biscuits, just that she wanted to sedate him for some time out.

Payne appealed the conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal, with her lawyers arguing the conviction was a miscarriage of justice and that the facts of the case should have resulted in more mercy.

Payne was found guilty of murdering Noel Payne, 68, after a three-week trial. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

On Wednesday, Justices Terry Forrest, Stephen McLeish and Stephen Kaye returned to court as they refused her appeal against the murder conviction.

But they set aside her sentence of 16 years and imposed a new sentence of 12 years.

Her non-parole period was also slashed from 10 years to seven, meaning with time served she will be eligible for parole in September 2027.

They will publish their reasons.

The court was told Noel Payne was an abusive husband. Picture: Facebook

Handing down her original sentence in June last year, Justice Rita Incerti said Noel Payne had inflicted years of depraved sexual, emotional and physical abuse on his wife.

“The abuse was insidious … You were trapped in an abusive, violent and cruel environment for over a decade,” she said.

“I accept your regrettable conduct cannot be disengaged from the abuse you suffered.”

Originally published as Killer wife Rebecca Payne has sentence cut to 12 years on appeal