Greedy killer Angelika Gavare’s ‘self-interested’ early release bid should be thrown out, court hears

This pensioner murderer wants parole, but prosecutors say she’s done nothing to help police recover her victim’s still-missing head and hands.

Greedy dismemberment killer Angelika Gavare’s “self-interested” early release bid should be thrown out, a court has heard, because “nothing can be done to retrieve” her victim’s still-missing head and hands.

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard prosecutors had changed their position on Gavare’s claims that she had co-operated with police, and thereby discharged her responsibilities under SA’s “no body, no parole” laws.

Gavare – who laughed and smiled throughout her trial – wept openly over video link as her levels of remorse and contrition were debated in court.

Amy Fisher, prosecuting, said Gavare spoke to Major Crime detectives just once, in 2016 – as first revealed by The Advertiser – and only because they approached her.

That conversation, she said, did not amount to co-operation and therefore did not qualify Gavare for a new non-parole period – meaning her application should be immediately struck out.

“What we have here is a defendant who has, 10 years after the fact, made admissions to a crime for which she was solely responsible and that had already been solved,” she said.

“She provided information that was entirely consistent with the prosecution theory at trial, and there was really no benefit to what she provided.

“It was information largely known to police, about the mechanism by which she disposed of Ms McGlynn’s head and hands – and there’s nothing that can be done to retrieve those body parts.”

Angelika Gavare during an SA Police interview in 2008. Picture: Supreme Court

Gavare, now 48, is serving the longest sentence ever imposed, in SA history, upon a woman for murdering Ms McGlynn, 82, in 2008.

Her motive was greed – she wanted to take over, renovate and sell Ms McGlynn’s home for her profit – while her method – dismembering the pensioner – was gruesome.

To date, Ms McGlynn’s head and hands have never been recovered, leaving Gavare ineligible for early release under the state’s “no body, no parole” rules.

Last month, she petitioned the court to impose a new, lesser non-parole period, citing her current state of health and “co-operation” with police 13 years after her conviction.

Gavare wants her non-parole period reduced. Picture: Supreme Court

Murdered SA pensioner Vonne McGlynn. Picture: Supplied by Ms McGlynn’s friends

On Monday, Ms Fisher said it was important to remember Gavare had denied her guilt throughout her trial, even taking the stand to give sworn evidence falsely blaming her former partner.

She said the court could reasonably infer Gavare’s 2016 conversation with police did not arise from a genuine desire to provide assistance.

“What she has done is made admissions purely for the self-interested reason of ensuring she is eligible for parole,” she said.

Nick Vadasz, for Gavare, said that was not a relevant consideration “at this stage” of the case.

“The prosecution suggests that, if there is an ulterior motive, it’s not co-operation... with respect, I don’t agree with that,” he said.

“It is the co-operation itself that brings us to the position (of considering a new non-parole period), not questions of contrition and remorse.”

However, he said a Parole Board report had indicated “strong” signs of “genuine rehabilitation” on Gavare’s part.

He said detectives had recorded, in their notes, the conversation “enabled Ms McGlynn’s family to understand how she died and what happened to her remains”.

“They are significant matters of co-operation that is useful in order to achieve closure for those close to the deceased,” he said.

Justice Sandi McDonald said the “no body, no parole” laws had yet to be tested in court, meaning there was no precedent for Gavare’s application.

“This is a unique case, given what was unknown to Ms McGlynn’s family and what is known now,” she said.

She declined to strike out the bid at the moment, and ordered it proceed to full argument in September.

Originally published as Greedy killer Angelika Gavare’s ‘self-interested’ early release bid should be thrown out, court hears