Uni dean filmed dying brother after brutal spanner attack

A respected university dean who filmed his dying brother after he bludgeoned him with a spanner in an attack west of Brisbane has been sentenced.

Police at the Karana Downs home where Patrick Willemyns was bludgeoned with a spanner. Picture: Adam Armstrong.

A respected university dean who bludgeoned his brother to death with a spanner in a prolonged hours-long attack filmed disturbing footage of himself talking to his critically injured victim as he lay dying.

Michel Francoise Theodoor Willemyns was suffering from a serious untreated mental illness and was in a “downward spiral” when he went to the Karana Downs home of his chef brother Patrick on March 5, 2017.

The Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday heard Willemyns, a father-of-two, waited outside watching his brother while practicing swinging a spanner before he smashed his way into the home and attacked his sibling who was lying on the couch.

Victim Patrick Willemyns.

Crown Prosecutor Matt LeGrand said Willemyns used the spanner to strike repeated blows to his brother’s head and body, some with enough force to fracture his skull. He then repeatedly stomped on his head.

“Critically there are a number of points during the ordeal in which Mr Willemyns recorded video footage of him talking to his critically injured brother,” Mr LeGrand said of the prolonged attack.

“His brother did not respond intelligibly but groaned.”

Justice Melanie Hindman was asked to view the footage in the privacy of her chambers and in sentencing remarked upon its “disturbing and confronting” nature.

Willemyns, now 62, was charged with murder but that was downgraded to a domestic violence offence of manslaughter due to his diminished capacity caused by a severe mental illness.

His brother, who was aged 52 when he was killed, worked as a chef at the Karana Downs Golf Club and had previously been employed as a chef at Suncorp Stadium.

Patrick Willemyns has worked as a chef at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Derek Moore

The court heard while the brothers previously had a close relationship, Willemyns, an accomplished academic who held senior roles at various universities, was suffering from a hypomanic episode and his mental health had been declining in the lead up to the attack.

Five days prior to the attack, Willemyns attended the Roma Street Police Station where he was “screaming and inarticulate”.

Defence barrister Catherine Morgan said prior to 2016, Willemyns had been a well-respected member of staff at the University of Wollongong’s overseas campus in Dubai.

She said he lived a “highly successful” life and enjoyed the love and support of his wife, two daughters and his only brother Patrick with whom he had a good relationship.

Ms Morgan said at the end of 2015, his life “completely unravelled” to the point that he was homeless and emaciated prior to the attack.

“In that context he killed his only brother Patrick with whom up until the death of their mother in 2016 he had a loving and supporting relationship,” she said.

“The prosecutor has told your honour that no victim impact statements are before the court - the person who misses Patrick Willemyns the most, the person who perhaps loved him the most is sadly the man who killed him – his brother Michael.”

Michel Francoise Theodoor Willemyns has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Justice Hindman sentenced Willemyns to 10 years’ imprisonment. It means he will have to serve eight years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

He has already served five years and six months in prison.

“Your downward spiral culminated in the tragic and bizarre circumstances in which you killed your only brother,” she said.

Justice Hindman said while she accepted Willemyns did not intend to kill his brother, the nature of the bashing carried with it a “grave risk of death”.

“The attack on Patrick involved extreme and personal violence, he suffered defensive wounds, you bashed him down every time he attempted to get up,” she said.

“You used not just the weapon to inflict injury, but also stomped on his head.

“You say that when you left your brother in the early hours of the morning he was breathing and lucid, albeit injured. Whilst that’s difficult to accept, if it’s true, it makes the crime even more horrific given the extent of injuries that had been inflicted.

“Patrick must have suffered terribly through the ordeal.”