James Cunneen jailed for helping murderer Sayle Newson ‘evade justice’ in killing Carly McBride

A court heard the Upper Hunter man was acting out of ‘misguided loyalty’ when he helped murderer Sayle Newson cover up the brutal killing of Carly McBride.

NSW Police detectives at the site where Carly McBride's remains were discovered near Scone.

He was the mate of the man found guilty of murdering Lake Macquarie mother Carly McBride and dumping her body in the Upper Hunter, only to be found nearly two years later.

James Anthony Cunneen, now 31, heard the shocking news that Sayle Kenneth Newson, the jealous boyfriend of McBride, brutally beat her to death in an ice-fuelled rage before he helped to cover up the “callous” murder.

The 43-year-old was found to have used blunt force trauma to kill the 31-year-old from Belmont on September 30, 2014 before he buried her body in a shallow grave at Owen’s Gap near Scone.

Sayle Newson was found guilty for murder of McBride. Supplied.

Carly McBride was murdered by Sayle Newson, her jealous boyfriend. Supplied.

Despite a massive campaign to find the missing mother, it wasn’t until nearly two years later bushwalkers stumbled apon her skeletal remains in bushland.

Cunneen, from Muswellbrook, went to trial and pleaded not guilty to accessory after the fact to murder, but in July was found guilty of helping Newson to “evade justice”.

At the Downing Centre in Sydney on Friday Judge Phillip Mahony sentenced Cunneen to seven years and six months jail with a non-parole period of four years.

With time already served he’ll be eligible for release in May 2026.

Missing persons poster for Carly McBride. Supplied

During his trial, the jury found Cunneen had known all along what had happened to Ms McBride, helping Newson to dump her body in isolated bushland, before he assisted him in “escaping justice” and thwarting a police investigation into her death.

The court heard on the day of Ms McBride’s death Newson dropped her off at her ex-partners house in Muswellbrook to visit her daughter before he went to see Cunneen.

The mother-of-two died after blunt force trauma to the head. Supplied.

During that afternoon Newson would then leave Cunneen’s home where he would again met up with McBride before he brutally murdered her, the 31-year-old found to have suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

That’s when he returned to Cunneen’s home where the pair came up with a plan to dispose of the body of the mother-of-two, where they took backroads and tried to evade detection before she was dumped fully clothed near Scone.

The court heard Cunneen then assisted Newson to make it look like they were trying to find the ‘missing’ mother by printing up missing person posters of her and posting a plea on social media as to anyone that knew of her whereabouts.

Judge Mahony said he was satisfied Cunneen had assisted Newson to dispose of the body knowing she had been murdered in a jealous fit of rage and that he had told lies to police, providing a false alibi to cover up for his friend.

The 31-year-old seen to have a “misplaced sense of loyalty” to Newson, who was 13 years older than him.

“I find he willingly participated in the disposal of the body and assisted Newson evade arrest for nearly two years, and maintained soladirty for that period,” Judge Mahony said.

Police investigating the death of Carly McBride searched two homes in Muswellbrook and a rural property in Scone.

“The offending was born out of a misguided loyalty.”

Judge Mahony said he helped Newson escape justice until his arrest in 2017 and provided “active assistance” to get police off the trail.

“This was not a case of mere failure to report murder. He successfully thwarted investigation by assisting Newson,” he told the court.

The court also heard Cunneen deleted data and text messages on his phone after the killing but it was not known his level of involvement in dumping the body, whether he stayed in the car or actively helped Newson to Ms McBride’s makeshift grave.

Once arrested, Cunneen denied the charge and maintained innocence, as did Newson, and seemed to be “under the influence” of his friend.