By Sarah McPhee
Warning: Graphic Content
A Sydney couple were killed in “horrifying circumstances” inside their inner-city home by a neighbour who had previously been jailed for pushing a man off a balcony to his death, it can be revealed.
Christopher Bouggas faced a special hearing in the NSW Supreme Court for the murders of Steven Finlay, 52, and his partner Mitch Watson, 32, who were stabbed to death in Redfern in 2022. The 44-year-old was previously found unfit to face a criminal trial due to a persistent psychotic illness.
Mitch Watson and Steven Finlay were stabbed to death by Christopher Bouggas.
Bouggas and the victims lived in a boarding house which comprised two adjoining terraces on Cleveland Street.
Bouggas moved to the home in 2021 after a jail sentence for the manslaughter of Ryan Dewhurst, who he pushed against a Waterloo balcony during an argument over Xanax tablets in 2013, causing him to fall to his death.
He spent five years behind bars for that crime, before his release in 2018 on parole which expired in late 2021.
The Crown alleged Bouggas considered Finlay and Watson “pests” and had threatened them with a knife on at least one occasion.
On the night of January 29, 2022, Finlay twice called triple zero for help.
The Redfern home where the two men were stabbed to death.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“I’ve been stabbed, I’m dying,” Finlay said. A minute later, in the second call, he said: “He’s dead. I’m dying.”
Finlay and Watson suffered multiple stab wounds and died before police and paramedics arrived. Finlay’s phone was found in his hand, and the operator was still on the line, the court heard.
“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the deliberate acts which caused the death of the two deceased,” Justice Robertson Wright said in a judgment published this month.
The Crown’s circumstantial case against Bouggas was based on fingerprint and DNA evidence at the scene, including a bloodied palm print he left on the internal bedroom doorknob, and his previous conduct towards the two men involving derogatory statements and aggressive interactions despite not knowing them by name.
The defence argued someone other than Bouggas could have committed the stabbings and left the property before being seen, particularly as the doors were not generally locked. It was further argued that prosecutors had not eliminated the possibility the two victims had killed each other on the backdrop of a strained relationship.
The court heard Finlay and Watson were found barricaded inside the room, with a number of large items against the door, which “prevented police from entering until the door was removed from its hinges”.
The judge said there was no direct evidence as to why they had barricaded themselves inside, but one available inference was that they had tried to prevent the killer re-entering.
Between 11.35pm and 11.45pm, Bouggas “would have had the opportunity to go from his room to the deceased’s room, attack and stab them and return to his room without being seen by anyone other than the deceased, including police who attended the scene”, the judgment states.
The blood of each victim was found outside the room before police arrived and gained access, including on an external doorknob and a piece of board.
“This was significant evidence indicating that someone must have left that room after … Mr Finlay and Mr Watson had been stabbed, with their blood on or about their person,” the judge said.
“There was no reasonable possibility that the deceased killed one another or that no third party was involved.”
Wright returned special verdicts of “act proven but not criminally responsible” for each murder charge. The Crown had conceded the mental health impairment defence was available to Bouggas on the evidence.
The judge accepted the opinions of two psychiatrists diagnosing Bouggas with schizoaffective disorder and substance use disorder, noting they were unanimous and there was no material challenging them.
He said Bouggas’ mental state on the night of the killings had potentially included episodes of paranoia, and his thought process “would have been unlikely to operate to inhibit him from attacking the deceased, and ... may well have motivated him to do so, if he became annoyed by their noisiness or conduct”.
Wright said it was a heartbreaking case of “significant human tragedy” involving “extreme violence”. The judge said victim impact statements from the families of Finlay and Watson spoke eloquently of their “great loss”.
“The deaths of these two men in such horrifying circumstances has been devastating for those who loved or knew each of Mr Finlay and Mr Watson,” he said.
Bouggas has been in custody since his arrest on January 31, 2022, and will be monitored until a future decision about his release.
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