Cold killer leaves Kylie Labouchardiere's family broken

PAUL Wilkinson boasted in a text message to his wife that he would never reveal where his lover's body was. "F**K THEM", he said of the Labouchardiere family.

Total torment ... Paul Wilkinson and Kylie Labouchardiere.

STUDENT nurse Kylie Labouchardiere was excited as she made an announcement at a family dinner - she was expecting a baby with her lover and they planned to start a new life together in Dubbo.

The 23-year-old had been in an intense relationship with police Aboriginal liason officer Paul James Wilkinson, whom she believed was leaving his wife to be with her.

Six days later, she left her grandmother's Erina home to meet Wilkinson with her suitcases packed. But instead of embarking on a new life, Ms Labouchardiere vanished.

Three weeks after she was last seen in April 2004 - on the night he was to be interviewed over her disappearance - Wilkinson burned down his rented Picnic Point home and then claimed he had been ambushed and tied up by Ms Labouchardiere and another man before they started the fire.

Wilkinson also claimed his younger lover wasn't missing but had become "possessive" and had threatened to kill his wife.

But yesterday in the Supreme Court, Ms Labouchardiere's grieving family was told Wilkinson, 33, had boasted in a 2006 phone text message to his wife that he would never reveal where his lover's body was. "Everybody has reasons 4 hiding a crime. Mine is the family can live not knowing where and why," he wrote. "Call me cruel, call me nasty and YES I'd agree.

"Her family can live their lives in misery 4 all I care F. .K THEM."

Sentencing Wilkinson, who pleaded guilty but later tried to reverse his plea, Justice Peter Johnson said Wilkinson had no intention of leaving his wife and was motivated to kill Ms Labouchardiere to "ensure her silence". He added his refusal to disclose her burial place was "cold blooded".

But the killer's callous attitude held no surprises for Ms Labouchardiere's mother, Carol Edwards. "I doubt very much that he will ever come forward and tell us and give us peace," she said.

Justice Johnson sentenced Wilkinson to a concurrent term of 28 years jail for the murder of Ms Labouchardiere and the arson attack, with at least 24 years to be served.