Serial sex predator, murderer Mark Errin Rust is struggling in prison without a non-parole period, court told

Escalating sexual predator and double murderer Mark Errin Rust is finding prison life “particularly difficult” because there is “no end in sight” for him, a court has heard.

Double murderer and sex predator Mark Errin Rust.

• Judge has little confidence in Rust’s rehab
• The notorious crimes that shook and horrified South Australia

Sexual predator and double murderer Mark Errin Rust is finding prison life “particularly difficult” because there is “no end in sight” for him, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, Rust — who killed Maya Jakic and Megumi Suzuki, raped a third woman and sexually assaulted a fourth — asked the Supreme Court to give him a non-parole period.

He is serving two consecutive life terms and is also subject to an indefinite detention order because he is incapable of controlling his sexual instincts.

However Rachel Shaw, for Rust, said that was no reason to dismiss her client’s plea for assistance with his personal struggles.

“My understanding, from speaking to Mr Rust, is that not having an end in sight is particularly difficult for a prisoner’s mental health,” she said.

“If there’s a prospect of knowing when a prisoner is to be released — for his family and for his mother — that can make his time in prison less burdensome.”

 

 

Rust, 50, of Gilles Plains, has a 30-year history of violent and sexual offending that began with indecently exposing himself to strangers and culminated in two vicious murders.

He admitted murdering Maya Jakic in April 1999 after she refused his offer of “a lift and some fun”, and also confessed to stalking and murdering Megumi Suzuki in August 2001.

When asked why he had murdered Ms Suzuki, Rust replied: “Because I did.”

Police searchers form a guard a honour as the body of murder victim Megumi Suzuki is removed after being found buried at the Wingfield Dump in 2001. They searched the dump for more than a month under a scorching sun, moving about 1500 tonnes of rubbish.

Rust’s last bid for a non-parole period was dismissed in March last year, with a judge saying she had little confidence the predator had any chance of rehabilitating.

On Tuesday, Justice Kevin Nicholson said Rust’s latest application was “somewhat premature”, but agreed to give his counsel time to seek psychological reports.

The case returns to court in January.

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