Carly McBride’s killer sentenced, vows to appeal murder conviction

An abusive MMA fighter who was found guilty of killing Carly McBride has been sentenced. But he maintains his innocence and says he will appeal his conviction.

The smiling face of missing mum Carly McBride was plastered across the Hunter Valley for two years before her body was found - now her abusive and brutal partner has been locked up for her murder.

But the convicted killer has vowed to continue to fight to prove his innocence and says he remains “heartbroken” for Ms McBride’s death.

Ms McBride went missing from Muswellbrook in September 2014 sparking a police strike force and a media campaign to bring the mother of two home.

Carly McBride went missing from Muswellbrook in 2014.

Sayle Kenneth Newson, former boyfriend of Carly McBride, has been sentenced for her murder.

Two years later her skeletal body was found on a roadside outside the nearby town of Scone - still wearing the same clothes in which she was last seen alive.

The 31-year-old died from blunt force trauma injuries to the head.

The case haunted the tight-knit towns of the Hunter Valley for seven years before a jury found Ms McBride’s partner, Sayle Kenneth Newson, guilty of her murder in June 2021.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Mark Ierace, on Friday, concluded Newson killed Ms McBride in a “fit of jealousy” after she spent just an hour with her former partner.

“The injuries inflicted by the offender were extreme, bespeaking an attack of unrestrained brutality,” Justice Ierace said.

“I‘m satisfied that (Newson), in that moment, intended to end her life.”

Sayle Kenneth Newson was convicted of his girlfriend Carly McBride’s murder.

Newson was interviewed twice by police in the weeks that followed Ms McBride’s disappearance but told detectives he had been hanging out with a mate waiting for a text from his partner the day she vanished.

The convicted killer even sent a decoy text to Ms McBride’s phone saying he was checking in but “wasn’t hurrying her along” in case she needed to be picked up.

Newson had told police his relationship was a picture of peace, respect and love but text messages revealed the truth, the court found.

“What is your f***ing go? You’re f***ing me around dont f**k me around I lose my shit,” Newson wrote to Ms McBride late one night weeks before she vanished.

“I’m violent when I’m in this mood and you have no idea of this part.”

Newson had fought with Ms McBride about men contacting her on Facebook, police told the court, and he had hit her in the days leading up to her disappearance in his “jealous rage”, the court heard.

Ms McBride’s body was cast onto a roadside, the court heard, and hidden in a shallow grave.

Carly McBride went missing in 2014 - her partner was convicted and sentenced for her murder more than seven years later.

There were 23 fractures to her skull and many more through her spine and ribs at around the time of her death, a forensic archaeologist concluded.

Another expert concluded Ms McBride’s injuries were consistent with major impacts to the head by a right-handed attacker and were as bad as those suffered by car accident victims.

Justice Ierace noted Newson was a former semi-professional MMA fighter who boasted he won all 20 of his matches and trained alongside world champions.

By contrast Ms McBride was slightly built and weighed less than 50 kilograms, the court heard.

But Newson was a diminished figure sitting in the Shortland prison’s F-Wing on Friday as he dialled into court for his sentence.

Newson periodically shook his head and rubbed his eyes - he had reportedly yelled out at the jury earlier that they had convicted the wrong man when they handed down their verdict in June.

Justice Ierace sentenced Newson to 27 years in prison meaning he will be 71 by the end of his sentence.

He will first be eligible for parole after 19 years and nine months in 2038.

Before Newson was even back in his cell his lawyer, Mark Ramsland, announced the condemned man was now focused on launching an appeal and maintained his innocence.

“Mr Newson is of the view that the police deliberately ignored vital information and ceased pursuing valid lines of investigation against another person he believes may be implicated in the crime,” Mr Ramsland wrote in a statement.

“He continues to be heartbroken for the loss of Carly. He was the primary person pushing for her disappearance to be vigorously investigated by police.”

Mr Ramsland said Newson is looking forward to being “vindicated” in the Court of Appeal.