Maryborough’s Matthew Bradley James Tench pleaded guilty to murder

A disturbed young Fraser Coast man had long fantasised about killing someone. Now, a court has heard how a vulnerable sex worker proved to be the “random b***h” he was after.

After meeting a sex worker at a hotel, a young Maryborough man “vented his anger against the world”, viciously stabbing her 26 times before leaving the scene as his dying victim tried to get help.

Later, he would tell a police officer posing as a prisoner that he’d “killed some random b**** by stabbing the living s*** out of her”.

Matthew Bradley James Tench, 26, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Supreme Court on Tuesday to the gruesome murder.

The court heard on November 3, 2018, he and Linda Lovett, a 58-year-old Thai sex worker, arranged to meet for sex after he found her through a classified ad.

He had stopped at an ATM to withdraw cash before going to the Maryborough City Motel.

Ms Lovett had been staying at the hotel for about a week and had plans to go to Brisbane.

Maryborough man Matthew Bradley James Tench, 26, has been sentenced for murder.

Tench, who had secretly brought a knife with him, arrived and showered before the two engaged in sexual activities.

After he had gotten what he wanted, he approached Ms Lovett and stabbed her multiple times to her head, neck and upper body.

First he stabbed her with his left hand and then his right as the grip of the knife was “uncomfortable” for him.

Ms Lovett attempted to escape, walking towards the door of the motel room, while Tench also walked to the door, slipping on her blood and falling over.

Other guests and the manager heard screams and saw Ms Lovett stumble from the room, covered in blood.

She did not make it far outside the door before she succumbed to her wounds, which included a cut to the neck – later determined as the cause of death due to blood loss.

Police had caught up with Tench to question him later that day.

In interviews with police, Tench first denied any wrong doing, then said it was “their word against his” before admitting they “obviously had him red-handed”.

When he was taken to the watch house, Tench spoke to an undercover police officer who was posing as a prisoner, the court was told.

He told the officer he had killed “some random b***h by stabbing the living s**t out of her”.

The court heard Tench had smoked cannabis the day before, but was not intoxicated at the time of the attack.

He had been sexually abused as a child and had a disturbed childhood.

Judge David Jackson said as well as the 26 wounds inflicted on Ms Lovett, she also had defensive wounds to her hands and arms.

He said when Tench was interviewed by police the day after the attack, he told them he’d “had enough of life in general”.

During that interview with police, Judge Jackson said, Tench had told them he’d “been through so much s**t” he had hit breaking point and “felt like killing people”.

“You then had sex with Ms Lovett and still had that urge, so stabbed her and continued to do so while she tried to get away,” Judge Jackson said.

“She did nothing to provoke you before you stabbed her.”

Tench suffered from a personality disorder, Judge Jackson said, characterised by borderline anti-social traits, low tolerance for frustration recurrent suicidal thoughts and intense anger.

But he had not been of unsound mind when he committed the offence.

“Your killing of Ms Lovett was shocking; it was physically savage and mentally vicious,” Judge Jackson said

“You vented your anger against the world by killing a defenceless woman who was a stranger after having had sex with her.”

Judge Jackson said the next day, Tench had shown some amount of remorse, telling police to apologise to his victim’s family on his behalf.

Tench was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The 1277 days Tench had spent in presentence custody was taken as time already served under the sentence.