Ex partner jailed for stabbing mum-of-three to death south of Coffs

59-year-old killed his estranged partner in self defence, before hiding her body in a bush and then offering the father of her child a beer.

A Mid North Coast man who stabbed his estranged partner to death before hiding her body in a bush on his property south of Coffs has been jailed.

Robert Bruce Smith, 59, was sentenced to a non-parole period of five years and six months in the NSW Supreme Court for the manslaughter of mother-of-three Karine Polly Farrell in 2018.

During a murder trial in Coffs Harbour, Smith’s lawyers argued the former soldier had stabbed Ms Farrell in self-defence as she swung a 112cm iron bar at his head. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty to murder, instead finding him guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The jury had heard that on the previous day, the couple had gotten into a heated argument while in a car and Ms Farrell punched him in the face, causing his nose to bleed. This prompted Smith to tell her their relationship was over and she was no longer welcome at his home.

The court heard the argument was reignited the next day when Ms Farrell turned up to Smith’s Argents Hill property to drop off his work boots.

Ms Farrell retrieved the metal pipe from the boot of her car, when Smith grabbed two ornamental knives from his veranda and ran towards her in what the defence said was an attempt to “scare her”.

Smith stood trial in Coffs Harbour earlier this year and was found guilty of manslaughter.

“I went f**k you, I’ve had enough of you,” Smith had told police during questioning, the court heard.

Ms Farrell attempted to swing the pipe at Smith’s head, before he reacted by stabbing her multiple times in the upper body. It was heard that Smith apologised to Ms Farrell and, in a state of panic, moved her body out of sight beneath a hedge.

He then moved her car to the back of property, and washed the knives and his bloodstained jeans.

In the hours following it was heard Smith had lied about Ms Farrell’s whereabouts to a number of people including a school bus driver.

Ms Farrell’s other ex-partner, who she had a co-parenting relationship with, also dropped by Smith’s property in search of her.

The court heard Smith denied she had been there, offered him a beer and just metres from where her body lay, the pair consumed VB beers together.

After being contacted by staff at the school, it was heard a police officer attended Smith’s property where eventually admitted to killing Ms Farrell after initially denying knowing of her whereabouts. He was taken to Kempsey Police Station and was charged.

Smith was taken to Kempsey Police Station and charged following the discovery of Ms Farrell’s body in a bush at his Argents Hill property.

Ahead of his sentencing, victim impact statements were submitted to the court at a hearing in Coffs Harbour including one from Ms Farrell’s sister Catherine Arrigo, who spoke of the family’s heartbreak.

“My father … thinks about her every day. He is now 87 years old. He lost his daughter and no parent should have to have to go through this,” she wrote in the statement.

“No one should have to go through losing their daughter, mother, sister in such a barbaric and violent act.”

The prosecution had debated that Smith did not show remorse over the incident, however in his judgment Justice Michael Walton accepted that Smith had shown remorse “albeit belatedly” through a letter he had submitted to the court and through conversations with family members and a psychologist.

Justice Walton, who handed down his judgment in Sydney last week, took into account factors including Smith’s mental health conditions including PTSD from his troubled childhood and time in the armed forces as well as his good prospects of rehabilitation.

Smith was sentenced to seven years and six months jail. Due to time already served, he will be eligible for parole in November 2023.