Rebecca Payne appeals conviction after murdering her abusive husband with poisoned biscuit

A Victorian mum who murdered her husband by feeding him a poison-laced biscuit is fighting to be freed from jail early, alleging she had only intended to send him to sleep to escape his abuse.

Rebecca Payne was sentenced to 16 years’ jail for the murder of her abusive husband. Picture: Aaron Francis

A Victorian mum who murdered her husband with a poison-laced biscuit after he physically, sexually and emotionally abused her in a “house of horrors” for more than a decade has launched an appeal as she fights to be freed from jail early.

Rebecca Payne, 44, was sentenced in June last year to 16 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 10 years after a jury found her guilty of murdering her husband, Noel, in the tiny town of Walpeup in the state’s northwest in September 2020.

But on Friday, Payne’s legal team took her fight to Victoria’s highest court, appealing against both her conviction and sentence.

If her conviction is overturned, a new trial could be ordered or her murder charge substituted with the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Payne was hailed a hero for killing her abusive husband. Picture: Mark Scott

At trial, the court heard Payne crushed more than seven of her sleeping pills with a mortar and pestle, before lacing the icing of one biscuit with the powdered poison.

She then handed the deadly biscuit to her 68-year-old husband with a cup of Milo, wrapped his unconscious body in a blanket and stashed him in an empty chest freezer, making sure to tie down the lid with straps.

From the witness box, Payne – who offered to plead guilty to manslaughter – detailed to the jury the shocking abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband of 15 years.

She said that Mr Payne, described as a “domestic terrorist”, would brutally rape her, control her every move and bash her frequently, including once on a dirt road at the local graveyard.

In moving testimony, the woman told the court he even forced her into getting 18 tattoos of his name all over her body, so no one else could ever “love her”.

The Walpeup kitchen where Payne laced a biscuit with poison.

She attempted to leave their marriage on two occasions but when she ran away with their two young sons in 2012, Mr Payne entered into a sexual relationship with another woman, who he moved into the home.

The vulnerable woman with an acquired brain injury was also subjected to Mr Payne’s abuse, with neighbours commenting that the women were “prisoners” in their own home.

Despite this, Payne claimed she did not intend to kill her husband but send him to sleep, so she would not “cop any abuse” that September evening.

But the jury refused to find her guilty of manslaughter and convicted her of murder.

Payne was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury. Picture: Supplied

In the Court of Appeal on Friday, Payne’s barrister Veronika Drago argued there had been a “substantial miscarriage of justice”, pointing to several issues with the closing address made by the prosecutor during the trial.

“Crucial evidence, key evidence, in the case was misstated and overstated,” she told the court, adding: “What chance did Rebecca Payne have at a fair trial?”

She said during parts of his address, the prosecutor displayed “enormous overreach”.

“The learned prosecutor simply went too far.”

When addressing the appeal against sentence, Ms Drago argued that despite there being no error by the sentencing judge, it was a “unique case” that called for a greater degree of mercy due to “unbelievably” depraved and degrading abuse.

“There were images, there were videos depicting what could only be described as an absolute house of horrors,” she said.

“There was an invasion of her body, mind and soul.”

She added: “A sentence of 16 years with a non-parole period of 10 years … given the context in which this offending took place, instinctively one just says: ‘This is too much. This is way too much’.”

Noel Payne in 2012, eight years before he was killed. Picture: Facebook

In response, lawyers for the Crown argued that nothing in the closing address gave rise to a miscarriage of justice, adding that the sentence was not “manifestly excessive” but a clear demonstration of mercy given the standard sentence for murder is 25 years.

Payne, who is currently eligible for parole in 2030, watched the proceedings from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre via video link in a prison-issued blue sweater.

The Herald Sun last year travelled to Walpeup, revealing how the locals had hailed her a hero because they believe that by ending Mr Payne’s life, she saved countless others, including her own.

Justices Stephen McLeish, Justice Stephen Kaye, Justice Terence Forrest will hand down their decision at a later date.

Originally published as Rebecca Payne appeals conviction after murdering her abusive husband with poisoned biscuit