ACT Supreme Court sentences Donald Morley for murder of wife Jean Morley

A 93-year-old murderer has learned his fate after smothering his “darling” wife in what has been described as a “mercy killing”.

Murderer Donald Morley, left, and his victim, wife Jean Morley. Picture: Supplied

A 93-year-old killer will spend his dying days locked up over the murder of his “darling” wife, bringing a tragic end to two lives described by the sentencing judge as “the Canberra dream”.

Donald Morley doted on wife Jean Morley, 92, for decades before bringing her time on Earth to a violent end by suffocating her with a pillow as she lay in the matrimonial bed.

His barrister described it as a “mercy killing”, committed by a man who feared the future and believed, as the couple’s health rapidly declined, they had “lived too long”.

But as he sentenced the killer on Monday to nine years in jail, with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years, Justice David Mossop sent a stern message.

“Murder remains murder, notwithstanding the age or infirmity of the victim or the perpetrator,” the ACT Supreme Court judge said.

Murder victim Jean Morley. Picture: Supplied

“Murder is the gravest denial of individual autonomy.”

The Morleys met in the UK at the tender age of 16 and married seven years later, before moving to Australia when they were 40.

Jean Morley, who died in July 2023. Picture: Supplied

Donald worked as a “master tooler” at the Royal Australian Mint before becoming a cleaner, while Jean was employed as an administrative assistant.

They did not have any children, and Justice Mossop said they were known as a loving couple who “did everything together”.

“The offender always used to call Jean ‘my darling’,” the judge said.

But in recent years, their health began to decline at a rapid rate.

A police officer outside the murder scene in Fisher, the Canberra suburb where Donald and Jean Morley lived. Picture: ACT Policing

Donald was battling a series of health issues, including skin cancers that have penetrated his skull.

But he was reluctant to go to hospital for the treatment he needed because he was worried about what would happen if he left Jean alone.

His fears stemmed from the fact Jean had worsening dementia, which had caused her to forget simple things like how to get dressed for bed and how to use a television or a microwave.

She would also complain if she was left alone for any length of time by Donald, who confided in a lifelong friend that he had cancelled a hospital appointment so he could stay with her.

Despite some discussions about voluntary euthanasia, the couple had not made a suicide pact.

On Monday, Justice Mossop stressed that Jean had not asked to be killed when Donald decided the couple’s only way out was death.

The judge detailed how, in July 2023, the couple went for lunch with friends and did not enjoy themselves.

Donald would later tell police he thought this was a sign they had “reached the end”.

On the night in question, he waited until Jean went to bed at their home in the Canberra suburb of Fisher.

About 9pm, he knelt across her body and smothered her with a pillow for about two minutes as she “struggled a bit”, with her right arm moving up and down.

He then lay awake beside her body all night, trying but failing in his attempts to kill himself.

His crime was discovered the next day, when a nurse visited the house after Donald did not respond to her attempts to contact him.

The elderly man cried as he confessed, telling the nurse he had done “a terrible thing”.

Police later seized a suicide note, in which Donald apologised and wrote that the couple had been “afraid of the future”.

On Monday, Justice Mossop said it was unfortunate the couple had not had any younger people, such as children, to help them navigate the challenges of being “very old people”.

While the judge acknowledged the murder was not motivated by malice, he said the offence involved “a gross breath of trust” in which Jean was killed by her husband in her own home.

Donald, who has been remanded in custody since his arrest the day after the murder, watched via video link from a Canberra hospice, where he is receiving palliative care.

Justice Mossop noted the length of the sentence may not matter all that much to Donald, who is expected to die within six months because of his “grievous state of health”.

The judge added that the expiry of the non-parole period, in January 2028, was also “well beyond the statistical life expectancy of a 93-year-old”.

Donald had been detained in a mental health unit for older people until he was transferred to the hospice, still in custody, in recent days.

“It may be that he simply remains in a hospital or hospice until he dies,” Justice Mossop said.