Karen Gilliland murder: Husband Nigel John Gilliland jailed for life
Karen Gilliland’s family organised a rental property for her to escape her violent husband. Less than two months later it would be the scene of her brutal death. Warning: Graphic content.
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Karen Gilliland was putting clothes away in a wardrobe when her husband of 20 years first stabbed her in the back.
She screamed out in pain at the first thrust of the knife and fell to the floor, where Nigel John Gilliland inflicted 26 more stab wounds – some which pierced her heart, lungs and major artery in her neck.
The mother of three also had injuries from trying to fight Gilliland off and had crawled to the front door before she lost consciousness.
The Queensland Health worker lost so much blood that her body was already white with blue lips and no pulse when a neighbour rushed to find her body in the doorway of the Brae Street property.
Gilliland, who had repeatedly told his wife a divorce would never make it to the courts as he would kill her first, slit his own wrists and stumbled up the road to die, with police finding him hiding in bushes where he had used a stick to open his wounds wider and pleaded for them to shoot him.
The 46-year-old man pleaded guilty to murder (domestic violence) on August 30, 2021, in Rockhampton Supreme Court.
Justice Graeme Crow, in sentencing Gilliland for murdering his wife on June 23, 2020, said: “You are a cold and cruel murderer.”
Karen’s stepfather Neville O’Sullivan went one step further, calling Gilliland a hostile, abusive monster and coward who blamed Karen for everything.
“If ever there was an award for the worst husband and father in the world, you would win it,” he said.
“You have been in our lives for 20 years and for the majority of these, you have been a thorn in our sides.
“You thought you were entitled to everything from everyone.
Mr O’Sullivan told the court of Gilliland abusing alcohol, gambling and drug addiction, along with the O’Sullivans helping Gilliland and Karen out financially time after time with Gilliland having his house and car repossessed.
“I believe Karen is in a safer place … albeit she is dead,” he said.
“You are a monster for what you have done.
“I do not see you changing in your incarceration.
“Goodbye. And I hope I never have to see your face again.”
Karen’s only sibling, Bryan Cranston, said Gilliland was evil and selfish.
He said Karen’s children blamed themselves for what happened to their mother that horrible night, suffering nightmares, not able to say Gilliland’s name and only referring to Gilliland as “him”.
The court heard one of the children was too scared to brush their teeth in a bathroom for fear their father would climb through the window to get to them, another called a family member in the same house on a phone to escort her from her bed to the bathroom if she needed to go in the middle of the night and another got scared of their own classroom because of the amount of windows in the room and fears their father would escape prison and come after them.
The children now live with Mr Cranston, Mr O’Sullivan and Karen’s mother, Cheryl O’Sullivan - who moved to Rockhampton from Hervey Bay.
“It is not without irony the three people you despised stepped up to care for your children,” Mr Cranston said to Gilliland, who sat with his head bowed throughout proceedings.
“Go rot, you vile coward.”
Mrs Sullivan said she had tried to warn Gilliland off from harming her daughter at Karen’s 21st and their wedding.
She said the family found out the full extent of Gilliland’s controlling behaviour over Karen about 10 years ago and a police officer commented the relationship would not end well.
A domestic violence order was taken out in May of 2013 and Gilliland breached twice in two days – first when he yelled at Karen while she was on the phone to a work colleague and accused her of having an affair, left the room only to re-enter it accusing her of being “an inadequate wife”.
She called police when he knocked toys off a table as she served dinner.
Gilliland breached the order the next day when he yelled at her for leaving their children with her father and she had told Gilliland she was getting a divorce and taking him to court.
Gilliland responded by punching the dash of the car Karen was driving and said, while laughing, “you will not get to court. I will kill you before you go to court”.
Karen’s family had spent money and time trying to get Karen away from Nigel, including organising and paying for the Brae Street rental property on May 1, 2020.
Fifty-four days later, it would be the scene of blood pools on timber floorboards, which leaked to the concrete slab under the house, and a child’s pink backpack in the middle of the floor.
On the day of Karen’s murder, Gilliland had picked the children up from school and when she arrived after work, about 5.30pm, they had argued and Karen told Gilliland she no longer loved him.
After she left, Gilliland grabbed half a bottle of wine and prescription pills, two knives and left.
He parked in Agnes Street and walked to Karen’s rental.
As he approached, she told him he could not enter.
The court heard it was unknown how he entered the house, but he was found in possession of keys to that house when police located him later that night.
A serrated 12.9 centimetre bladed knife was found under a skirting board in a bedroom and a 9.5cm non-serrated blade knife was found hidden in the garden.
Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips showed the court, including an almost full gallery, 27 photographs of what police found at the scene.
He handed up 26 other photographs in a folder to Justice Crow which showed Karen’s fatal injuries.
Gilliland’s Legal Aid defence barrister Catherine Morgan said Gilliland had turned to alcohol and marijuana as he struggled with the family’s finances.
She said Gilliland’s brother Jason, who was a divorcee, had tried to help his brother come to terms with Karen leaving him and tried to get a message across that he would see his children again.
However, Ms Morgan said Jason, who was in court with their father Paul, felt some level of responsibility over what happened to Karen and was grieving the loss of his “loveable” sister-in-law.
Her instructed comment that Gilliland loved and was proud of his family was met with grumbles from people sitting in the gallery.
Ms Morgan said Gilliland had accepted it was likely he would never see his children ever again.
She said the couple’s marriage had been marred by violent quarrels, bitter arguments and many partings and recouplings.
Ms Morgan, as per instructions, said Gilliland loved his children.
The court heard Gilliland battled Hodgkin Lymphoma (cancer) when he was 18 and after successful treatment, relocated to Rockhampton where he met Karen and worked for the Department of Education for 10-12 years.
He lost his job when the Newman State Government cut public servant jobs Queensland wide and was then a househusband for three years before obtaining a job at Rockhampton Hospital in a different department to Karen – he in records, her in the pathology lab.
Gilliland’s mother died in 2016 and his father has cancer.
Justice Crow said the evidence provided to the court showed Gilliland did not let Karen socialise much and he never had a good relationship with her parents.
“There is no worse human act or crime than to kill another person,” he said.
“When a man kills his own wife, it is unimaginable.”
He described the murder as “vicious, ferocious, prolonged attack” and “truly evil”.
Justice Crow handed down the mandatory sentence for murder in Queensland – life in prison which has a legislated minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
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