Man who lived with partner’s dead body for weeks walks free from jail

A man who dumped his partner’s dead body into a bin, after living with her corpse for weeks, will now walk free from prison.

A man who dumped his partner’s dead body in a bin, after living with her corpse for three weeks, will walk free from prison, after being sentenced to time he has already served.

Brisbane District Court Judge William Everson said Jason Cooper’s callous disposal of Shae Francis’s body denied her family closure and caused them considerable anguish and harm.

Cheryl-Lee Francis, the mother of Shae, 35, whose body was never found, said outside court she was shocked by the sentence.

Jason Cooper, 46, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to improperly interfering with the corpse of Ms Francis, at Torquay in Hervey Bay on October 23, 2018 and fraud.

Cooper told police he woke up one morning in October, 2018, in their Hervey Bay rented apartment to find his alcoholic partner dead beside him.

Judge Everson said Cooper, a chronic alcoholic who was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, chose to kid himself that she might wake up and ignored the body.

He said Cooper said he remained in the room with the dead body for about three weeks before he wrapped the body in a sleeping bag.

Shae Francis’ body has never been found.

Cooper claimed he intended to fulfil Shae’s wishes by burying her at a beach, but he panicked when he saw a police car while transporting the body.

Judge Everson said Cooper said he put the body in a skip bin and when he returned a couple of hours later, the body was gone.

Searches of a landfill site in March last year failed to locate Ms Francis’s body.

From late October, 2018, residents of the apartment complex noticed a particularly bad smell coming from the couple’s room and police were called on December 13 that year.

While police did not discover anything indicating a crime scene, Cooper was evicted and the room was cleaned and painted, the court heard.

Judge Everson said possible faecal material and a red substance were found on the bed.

After Ms Francis’s death, Cooper continued to tell her family that she was alive and had gone to a rehabilitation facility.

Within days of her death he was using his dead partner’s credit card to access $9260 from her Centrelink pension, spending the money on alcohol and rent, the court heard.

He sent text messages to Ms Francis’s family to deceive them that she was no longer in Hervey Bay.

Cheryl-Lee Francis, the mother of victim Shae Francis, leaves then Brisbane Supreme court. Picture: Adam Head

In May, 2019, Cooper was found in Victoria in possession of Ms Francis’s bank card, Medicare card and her identification, but initially denied she had died, before later admitting it to Queensland police.

Judge Emerson said Cooper, who was initially charged with manslaughter, which was later dropped, was not being sentenced in respect of Ms Francis’s death.

He said Ms Francis had a documented history of alcohol dependency and shortly before her death she was in hospital with symptoms that could have led to cardiac arrest.

Judge Everson said Cooper’s callous offending had denied Ms Francis’s family of closure.

“What particularly distresses them is the complete absence of dignity in the way you responded to her death and what happened to the body,” Judge Everson said.

The judge said the offending cut across fundamental principles of morality.

“By behaving in the way you did you denied the family and loved ones of the deceased of any opportunity to grieve,” Judge Everson said.

“…This has caused considerable anguish and harm to the family and loved ones of the deceased.”

Shae Francis’ mother, Cheryl-Lee Francis, lighting a candle at the shrine left for Shae outside her home in Hervey Bay. Picture: Cody Fox

The court heard Cooper and Ms Francis had a relationship that centred around alcohol consumption and he claimed he had been drinking four litres of wine a day for 20 years.

A psychiatrist said Cooper suffered from impairment of judgment at the time of the offence, which caused him to struggle to develop a plan to dispose of the body.

Judge Everson said he took into account Cooper was not behaving in a way that a rational human being would in the circumstances.

“The fact remains you did ultimately dispose of the body in a callous way and you did proceed to fraudulently access the credit card of the deceased to your own financial gain,” the judge said.

The judge considered victim impact statements from Shae’s mother and her aunt, Janine Francis, who read hers to the court.

Judge Everson sentenced Cooper to the 896 days he had already spent in custody, declaring it time already served, for interfering with a corpse.

He was sentenced to concurrent 12 months’ jail for fraud.

“I’m in shock, I’m numb, it’s horrific. This is absolutely horrific. There is no justice,” Cheryl-Lee Francis, who had reported her daughter missing, said after the sentence.