Jay Brogden’s mother’s powerful victim impact statement after Gavin Philip Parnell found guilty

After 15 years of ‘absolute desperation, despair and helplessness’, Jay Brogden’s mother has delivered a powerful speech as her son’s killer is jailed for life.

After 15 years of “absolute desperation, despair and helplessness” a man has been convicted of murdering missing man Jay Brogden.

But the torment is not yet over for his family as another man awaits his own trial over the same charge, to be held in Mackay later this year.

Father of seven Gavin Philip Parnell was on Friday found guilty of murder after a seven day trial and jailed for life.

Gavin Philip Parnell (left) was found guilty of murdering Jay Brogden in early 2007.

Mr Brogden’s mother Gina Merritt said the family was “very pleased” with the outcome.

“We still have a lot of questions and it’s just a shame it’s taken 15 years really,” she said on Monday.

She along with other members of her family sat through harrowing details of how Parnell shot Mr Brogden in the head and tipped his body over the side of a boat in waters off Shute Harbour on an unknown date in April or May 2007.

The 21 year old vanished on April 21, 2007 and has not been seen since. His body has never been found.

Parnell claimed another man in the boat that day held a gun to his back, handed him a second gun he said was handmade as he was screaming and threatening his life and family.

Parnell argued he did not pull the trigger and could not explain how the weapon went off.

Parnell, a father of seven, was arrested and charged with Mr Brogden’s murder in 2019.

But a jury rejected his claim finding him guilty of murder after more than five hours of deliberation.

“It’s a tremendous relief to be through this step,” Ms Merritt said.

She read a powerful and gut-wrenching victim impact statement when Parnell was sentenced late Friday night.

“I stand here today not by choice but because something very precious has been taken from me,” she said about her firstborn child.

The impact on the family had been profound, both emotionally and financially, the court heard.

Mr Brogden’s father was unable to attend the trial because the pain was still too much.

Jay Brogden was last seen in April 2007. And now 15 years later a man has been convicted of his murder.

“For 15 years we’ve been searching for answers,” she said.

“As a mother the absolute desperation, despair and helplessness you feel when your child goes missing cannot be put into words.”

The family had investigated, done their own searches and “looked at every face in the crowd”.

Ms Merritt recalled the last time she saw her son, about one month before he disappeared when he visited her in New South Wales.

“He was hugging me while I begged him not to go,” she said.

“He said to me, ‘I’m coming back mum. I love you and I promise I will never miss another Christmas’.”

Now she said she struggled every Christmas.

“I’ve not been able to help put up a Christmas tree for 15 years,” she said.

“But I make it my one job to make sure that his name is sitting at the top and remind myself that his smile used to light up the room.

“Gavin you did not just take a life that day, you took pieces of everybody’s life, and you just keep taking.”

Gina Merritt, mother of Jay Brogden, leaves Mackay courthouse during a murder trial into her son's death. A jury found Gavin Philip Parnell guilty of the heinous crime.

She said the emotional and financial toll “has reshaped our goals and our future”.

“You had choices that day. I replay your scenario over and over again in my head

In your one action you took a life and so much more,” she said.

“You approached my family, had Jay’s belongings returned and pretended you did not know where Jay was.

“I knocked on your door and I listened to you act concerned.”

Ms Merritt said not once did Parnell tell the truth making his actions “extra callous and sinister”.

“You had many opportunities to come forward over those years but you did not,” she said.

“For 15 years we have not been able to properly mourn the loss of Jay, bury his body or give him a place to rest.

“Instead over those 15 years we’ve had to relive the trauma that has been brought to the forefront of our lives over and over again.

“I feel sad for you that you’ve chosen this life path, I feel sad for your own family.

“Gavin you’ve taken Jay away from us but you can never, ever take our love for him.”