Love triangle murderers of Wollongong solicitor Katie Foreman jailed for decades by court

THE trio responsible for the “excruciating” murder of solicitor Katie Foreman will spend between 20 and 36 years in jail for allowing her to burn to death inside her home.

THE trio responsible for the “excruciating” murder of solicitor Katie Foreman will spend between 20 and 36 years in jail for allowing her to burn to death inside her home.

In sentencing Wendy Anne Evans, Michelle Sharon Proud and Ms Foreman’s ex-partner Bradley Max Rawlinson for the murder of the solicitor, Justice Ian Harrison said he was “completely puzzled” by the “callousness and brutality” of the crime.

Evans was sentenced to at least 18 years, with a maximum term of 24 years, Proud to a non parole period of 14 years with a 20 year maximum.

Rawlinson was sentenced most severely, with a maximum jail term of 36 years and a non parole period of 27 years.

“She died alone, with no chance of escaping the blaze,” Justice Harrison said, adding it was hard to imagine “a more frightening and excruciating way to die.”

The body of Ms Foreman, a well regarded lawyer in the Wollongong area, was found on the landing of her Corrimal home, metres away from the bedroom where she slept as the inferno began in the early hours of October 27, 2011.

Justice Harrison said Ms Foreman’s work ethic ranked her among “the more saintly and pious among us.”

The Crown case was Evans and Rawlinson, Ms Foreman’s ex partner, wanted her killed so they could be together, hiring Proud, to assist in carrying out the fatal fire. Evans pleaded guilty to murder last year, while Proud and Rawlinson were found guilty on April 11 this year, after a two month Supreme Court jury trial.

The house fire which killed Wollongong solicitor Katie Foreman.

Neal Foreman, father of murdered lawyer Katie Foreman, leave the Supreme court after the sentencing of her killers.

The trial heard different accounts of relationships between Ms Foreman and some of her future killers, as well as being told of rumours swirling around the Wollongong court complex of encounters with court staff, police and prosecutors.

Justice Harrison found Evans, Proud and Rawlinson had good chances for rehabilitation, but had shown varying degrees of remorse.

“Scurrilous gossip and meaningless banter can never justify the taking of any person’s life,” he said.

The court heard Rawlinson had “portrayed himself as a grieving partner” but had in fact deployed “twisted assistants” to carry out the murder which showed “cold indifference to the deceased’s right to live her life in her own way.”

Evans was granted a 25 per cent discount on her sentence for pleading guilty, but the judge criticised her for not giving evidence of her contrition for the crime during a submission hearing earlier this month.

Justice Harrison found Evans was “slightly less morally culpable” than Rawlinson, who had manipulated her.

Allowing for time already spent behind bars, Evans will be eligible for parole in December 2029, Proud in December 2025 and Rawlinson in December 2038.

Ms Foreman’s parents Ann and Neal, who told the court during the sentencing hearing that they are haunted by dreams of their daughter screaming for her life, were in court for this morning’s decision that took more than two hours to hand down.