Eden Waugh murder ‘nothing but inhumane act of cowardice’

Peter Forster-Jones told an undercover cop: ‘I sleep pretty well brother’ after murdering Canberra man Eden Waugh. He has been sentenced to 40 years in jail.

Eden Waugh was shot dead with a 12 gauge, sawn-off shotgun in front of his girlfriend at his Watson apartment on November 3, 2016.

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The man who murdered Canberra artist Eden Waugh before stepping over his dying body to “callously pillage” his home has been sentenced to more than 40 years in prison.

Justice Michael Elkaim sentenced Peter Forster-Jones, 24, to a non-parole period of 25 years after he shot Mr Waugh at point-blank range with a 12 guage, sawn-off shotgun through the front door of his Watson apartment on November 3, 2016.

Mr Waugh’s mother Elaine broke down in tears at ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday as she delivered a victim impact statement, describing the actions of her son’s killer as “nothing but an inhumane act of cowardice”.

Eden Waugh’s parents Elaine and David Waugh after Peter Forster-Jones was sentenced. Picture: Kate Christian.

After firing the fatal shot, the court heard the then 21-year-old stepped over Mr Waugh as he lay dying before assaulting his distraught girlfriend by dragging her across the loungeroom by her hair and then robbing their home.

“To callously walk over my dying son, assault his girlfriend, calmly walk around his home to steal what you could, including a mobile phone — where was your remorse?

“I cannot find adequate words to convey to you, my utter desolation, heartbreak and bewilderment at the violent cold hearted murder of Eden.

“I hope you remember every day the consequences of your actions and in time start feeling some kind of remorse, for our family and yours.”

Eden Waugh was remembered as a passionate artist who loved to play guitar.

Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the court Forster-Jones had demonstrated “extreme callousness” when stepping over the body and that a reasonable member of the community would be “shocked and appalled by the level of depravity of this offending”.

Mr Williamson said transcripts, in which Forster-Jones admitted to the murder to an undercover officer, demonstrated a lack of remorse.

The court heard Forster-Jones had gone to Mr Waugh’s home to silence him over a home invasion he and his co-accused, who will be stand trial in March, had carried out at his home six weeks earlier.

He had believed Waugh, who was viciously attacked with a machete and hit over the head during the invasion, had given a statement to police about the co-accused’s involvement.

Forster-Jones told the undercover cop he “saved’ his co-accused from jail by “taking” Mr Waugh.

“But that like — like, it doesn’t eat me every night, you know what I mean? Like, I sleep pretty well brother, do you know what I mean?” he told the cop.

Prosecutor Anthony Williamson said Forster-Jones had shown a lack of remorse.

However Justice Elkaim said the transcripts point to an “attitude of bravado and desire to impress” the undercover operative rather than his “true attitudes”.

In another transcript he had said no one deserved to have that happen to them in their own home.

Justice Elkaim said the events surrounding Mr Waugh’s death had been “pervaded by the evils of drug use”, which encouraged a “separate culture of punishment” among criminals.

The home invasion was triggered by the co-accused’s belief Mr Waugh had refused to sell him drugs.

“Although the unit was being used to distribute drugs it does not mean the criminal underworld may think it acts according to its own rules,” he said.

An old photo of Eden Waugh with parents Elaine and David Waugh.

Defence barrister Richard Davies said the murder was “totally out of character” for Forster-Jones as he’d only committed one offence — driving with illicit drugs in his system — prior to that.

Mr Davies described his childhood as “disadvantaged, dysfunctional and traumatic”, marred by domestic violence, alcohol abuse, a custody battle and dealing with death in the family at a young age.

He had used drugs and alcohol since he was nine and had regularly smoked the drug ice from age 16 right up until the murder.

Reports from doctors also confirmed he suffered from major depression, ADHD, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse.

While he accepted he should go to jail for a “significant amount of time”, he was “not a case where the court should write him off and throw away the key”.

He should be seen as having a “light at the end of the tunnel” and someone who could return to the community as a “well-functioning and productive member of society who has a lot of years ahead of him.”

The Waughs remembered their son as kind and gentle.

Justice Elkaim did not accept his mental conditions were a cause of his offending but said they should be taken into account.

The “severity, callousness, cowardliness and unnecessary violence” needed to be “punished accordingly.”

He sympathised with Mr Waugh’s parents who could not comprehend why it was necessary for their son to be shot before Forster-Jones stepped over his body and “callously pillaged” his home.

He sentenced him to a total of 40 years, five months and 23 days for a total of nine offences with a non-parole period of 25 years ending on February 22, 2043.

Outside court, Mr Waugh’s parents Elaine and David remembered their son as a “kind, gentle person” and a “great guitarist”.

“I don’t think there’s such thing as closure, you just have to learn to live with it,” Ms Waugh said.

“There’s no door that shuts where you go: ‘Oh it’s all over’, it’s something you as parents just carry for the rest of your lives.”