Joanne Lillecrapp: Murderer given new non-parole period despite drug breaches, grieving family censored by SA prosecutors

Joanne Lillecrapp’s murderer has been given another chance of parole – while her brother’s grief has been edited and redacted by SA’s prosecutors. Read the original victim impact statement here.

A drug-fuelled murderer who beheaded and dismembered her victim has been given a second chance at parole, while the dead woman’s family have been censored by the state’s prosecutors.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted Nicole Therese Courcier McGuinness a new 12 month non-parole period for the 2003 murder of Joanne Lillecrapp.

Justice Laura Stein backdated that period to October 24 last year, when McGuinness breached her parole by using drugs.

If she remains of good behaviour, McGuinness could return to living in the community under supervision in two month’s time.

The decision comes despite pleas by Ms Lillecrapp’s brother, Ron, to keep McGuinness behind bars – an appeal that was bowdlerised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It can be revealed prosecutors did not inform Mr Lillecrapp of his right to give a new victim impact statement about McGuinness, who blamed media coverage for her drug relapse.

July 7, 2022: Ron Lillecrapp, brother of murder victim Joanne Lillecrapp. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Some of Ms Lillecrapp’s remains were strewn about her prize backyard strawberry patch.

He was instead informed by The Advertiser, which also facilitated contact between his family and a senior member of the ODPP.

However on July 7 – the day Mr Lillecrapp gave his statement – prosecutors edited and rewrote the document twice.

Mr Lillecrapp was told he could not refer to McGuinness as “a lower than life monster”, “scum”, a “destroyer” or “greedy”.

He was also not allowed to criticise her purported remorse, which he dismissed in his original statement as “crocodile tears”.

Additionally, McGuinness’s lawyer requested further changes when the case reached court, causing a 20 minute delay while the statement was again edited in a witness room in the court building.

On Tuesday, Mr Lillecrapp said he could not comment on the court’s decision and would instead make submissions to the Parole Board when McGuinness’s release came up for consideration.

Mr Lillecrapp’s experience highlights ongoing debate surrounding inconsistencies in the drafting and delivery of victim impact statements.

Ms Lillecrapp in 1994.

Under state law, the documents allow people to outline how “a crime has affected you physically, emotionally, financially and socially”.

However, the statements are scrutinised by prosecutors, defence counsel and judges before they are read, with some changes made just minutes before hearings begin.

In October 2012, the family of Anne Redman were told to “temper” their statements about the two teenagers who murdered her, in her own home, with a blunt hunting knife.

In August 2020, counsel for Jayden Lowah tried and failed to block the family of his victim, Michelle Foster, from giving statements in his mental incompetence case.

Just 24 hours before Mr Lillecrapp spoke, the victim of paedophile Bevan Charles Wilson gave his statement in court and referred to his abuser as “a vicious and scary monster”.

Nicole Therese Courcier McGuinness.

Donna Lee Casagrande.

McGuinness blames Google for her drug relapse.

Seeking drugs, Casagrande revealed to police that she and McGuinness had killed Ms Lillecrapp.

McGuinness and her lover, Donna Lee Casagrande, murdered Ms Lillecrapp – who was also known as John – after she invited them to live with her and kick their drug habits.

They beheaded, dismembered and defleshed her body, then buried it in several different locations and fled interstate.

The couple were arrested after Casagrande attended a NSW police station and offered to confess to a crime in exchange for methadone.

Casagrande was paroled in 2011 and McGuinness in 2021, but both repeatedly breached their release conditions.

In June, McGuinness blamed Google for her relapse, saying she was “triggered” by reading media coverage of her crime.