Terrigal woman Tamara Fenton acquitted of murdering Leslie Wallace
TAMARA Fenton spent four months in jail and nearly two years fighting murder, kidnapping and breaking and entering charges after she gave a man she hardly knew a lift. This is her story.
Central Coast
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TAMARA Fenton’s life was spiralling out of control in the grips of an ice addiction.
It was a little over a fortnight before Christmas in 2015 and she agreed to give a man she had only met once a lift.
It was a decision that would change her life forever.
Unbeknown to her that man, John Evans, had planned to rob a low-level drug dealer named “Santa Claus”.
The only problem was the drug dealer had moved out of the Terrigal unit and another innocent man, retired architect and much-loved surfer Leslie Wallace, 65, was in the process of unpacking boxes when Evans burst in, tied him up with duct tape and beat him during what a Supreme Court would later hear was a “prolonged attack”.
Mr Leslie’s body was found by a real estate agent and, the following day Evans, 35, was charged with murder, kidnapping and breaking and entering.
He would later tell police Ms Fenton was in on the plan, helped rough the victim up and drove him to The Entrance for another break and enter. By February, Ms Fenton was also charged with murder, kidnapping and breaking and entering.
Justice is rarely swift, especially for those charged with the crimes Fenton faced, and it was the beginning of an almost two-year process, in which her life was “put on hold” until last week when she was finally acquitted by a jury of all three charges.
“When the jury read out their ‘not guilty’ verdict it was surreal,” she said.
“The Judge just said ‘okay Ms Fenton, you’re free to leave’ and I was like ‘what, now, from the dock?’
“It was over as fast as it began. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to know what really happened.
“I was telling the truth and he was lying.”
Ms Fenton said her family were incredibly relieved and she knew, deep down, she was innocent.
After her arrest Ms Fenton spent eight “torturous days” in a remand centre as she “defrosted” from her ice addiction before spending a further four months in jail until she successfully sought bail in a Supreme Court application.
After her release she had to report daily, more than 500 times, to police and endure the looks of strangers who treated her as if she was “already convicted”.
She said she also lost friends she had known since primary school.
For the first time the Express Advocate can reveal Evans pleaded guilty to Mr Leslie’s murder and agreed to give evidence against Ms Fenton in exchange for a discounted sentence.
He was sentenced last week in the Newcastle Supreme Court to 24 years jail with a non-parole period of 18 years.
Justice Robert Allan Hulme said it would have been 32 years if he had not pleaded guilty and offered his “assistance to authorities”.
Ms Fenton meanwhile is trying to rebuild her life.
“I didn’t know anything he was going to do that night,” she said.
“As far as I was concerned all I was doing was giving him a lift. In those days and in those ways, in the drug (world) anything for extra money or extra drugs was fine.
“Rationally now I say ‘who would go and give someone a lift for an extra $10 petrol money or a little bit more to smoke’ that sort of thing.
“Looking back now it’s like ‘you idiot’. Yuck, you derro, druggie sort of person.”
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She said she had learned a lot from the experience and reflects on it with mixed emotions; on one hand how she could have ended up in that situation and fortunate it was the “ultimate wake up call” to get her life back on track.
“I’ve learnt a lot, I feel like I’m 85 with knowledge,” she said.
“I’ve learnt not to rely on anyone but yourself but in saying that I’m so grateful for the support that I had throughout these times.
“If it wasn’t for my family and close friends I wouldn’t have been able to get through this.
“I’m grateful I did get pulled up in a way because I don’t know where I would have been today otherwise. It was the ultimate wake up call.
“Everyone has their wake up call and this was mine.”