Tara Brown murder: Her mother faces convicted killer Lionel Patea and tells him he’s a misogynistic, narcissistic murderer
TARA Brown’s devastated mother has stared down her daughter’s killer in court, telling him how his daughter Aria asks every day where her mum is.
Gold Coast
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TARA Brown’s devastated mother has stared down her daughter’s killer while reading a heartbreaking victim impact statement in Brisbane Supreme Court today.
Ms Brown’s brave mother Natalie Hinton turned to convicted murderer Lionel Patea during his sentencing hearing today and revealed how she watched her happy daughter changed into a young woman controlled by a monster.
PATEA SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON
She said every day Patea and Ms Brown’s daughter Aria asks for her mother.
“Aria has gone from saying I want mummy, I miss mummy to I want to see mummy,” Ms Hinton said.
“And then just the other week, she asked ... will I be getting another mummy just like my mummy?”
Patea looked blankly straight ahead and did not make eye contact with Ms Hinton as she emotionally told the impacts her daughter’s death had on her family and Aria.
READ THE HEARTBREAKING STATEMENT BELOW:
“My name is Natalie Hilton and I am the mother of Tara Brown, the deceased and the grandmother of her beautiful daughter Aria, now aged four-and-a-half.
I speak with extreme fondness of my daughter Tara.
She was a lover, loving and loved.
She was a lover of life from a very young age.
Tara would imagine, explore and seek fun. Push herself to the limit ... Give anything a go. The world was her oyster.
She was loving, she cared immensely and was always willing to help others.
Tara was empathetic, warm and trusting with a pleasant disposition and to each and everyone of us ... And she was loved by us her family and a nation of wonderful people of which she met, who became her friends.
All of these special attributes, all applied to her work on a daily basis ... and to each of her friends ...
Tara cherished her friends and family. She was forever present at family gatherings, footy training ... social gatherings.
The echo of her laughter, her joyful banter and those dimples and smiles were always at hand.
Then you, a self-centred monster, entered her life.
It was soon after I saw domestic violence ... unravel in front of me.
I watched as a sense of comfort was created that made Tara feel as though the relationship was going well but I knew what was really happening as he was constantly seeking validation and making it all about himself.
Then I watched as the gas-lighting tactics came into use, which I saw heightened Tara’s sense of self doubt and self confidence declined.
The monster was now into control.
She feared him, which in turn increased my fear of him.
He took advantage of our vulnerability, not having our protector around, as my partner, Tara’s father had suddenly passed away eight years earlier.
Conflict arose as Tara realised her emotional needs were not being met but, of course, this narcissist saw this as selfish behaviour and proceeded to make her life hell through abuse and repulsive threats until the day he murdered her.
From the time I received the phone call on the morning of the 8th of Sept 2015, I knew, I knew, in my stomach, he had found her and he had hurt her.
I was oblivious to the extent of his sickening, horrific actions.
There lay Tara in the hospital. Motionless, bandaged bruised, black and blue, broken and swollen. A shadow of her beauty.
And then I was told those words no parent should never ever have to hear in their lifetime: ‘The magnitude of Tara’s injuries are fatal and she is not going to make it’.
Tara was dying.
But then she gave all she had to give. She gave like she always did and somehow, her huge heart felt the strength to grasp on for another 36 hours and she gave to us all time to say goodbye.
At 9pm on the 9th day of the 9th month 2015, Tara passed away. My whole world caved in around me.
This misogynistic, narcissistic man murdered my baby girl.
My life was not the same. Everything changed forever because of one person’s selfish act.
The impact of Tara’s murder has had far reaching effects. The pain in my heart from the enormous hole Tara has left, the pain is indescribable.
We shared a special and close mother-daughter relationship, talking to each other every day without miss.
The reoccurring thoughts of my failure as a mother and protector of my daughter are crushing my soul.
This horror has also impacted my relationship ... We now have a life changing reality of accommodating and nurturing a parentless child.
Seeing and dealing with the distress of our three other children ... needing immediate counselling and therapy.
And the extent of tears, outbursts of frustration and anger ... is very trying for both of us.
The impact Tara’s death had on others and their experiences has also affected me.
I feel every ounce of their pain because I know how much they loved Tara unconditionally.
I increasingly struggle with using the past tense when speaking of Tara.
I still hear her voice and laughter ... I have a constant replay of her incredible beauty playing in my head.
I still find it hard to believe she is gone but the waves of sadness, anxiety and broken sleep and anger are a constant reminder.
The ramifications that have followed have completely and dramatically changed my life, my family and friends lives and the life of Tara’s only child, her daughter Aria.
Aria and Tara are inseparable. A bond like no other.
And at the tender age of three, her innocent life was destroyed by his choice of shameful, shameful and cowardly barbarism.
What father would do this to his own child?
Aria misses and asks for her mother every day without fail.
I have and continued to cuddle and comfort her tears of missing mummy.
Her sobs, all the heart ache and sadness, the weight and intensity of her sobs, is the saddest thing ever.
Aria has gone from saying ‘I want mummy, I miss mummy’ to ‘I want to see mummy’.
And then just the other week, she asked ... ‘will I be getting another mummy just like my mummy?’
Aria is confused and does not entirely understand the concept of her mother’s death.
She is not aware of the full extent of this monster’s brutality on the day of the incident.
What this child has witnessed in her very short years of life ... has already scarred her for life.
And these scars will be reopened in the future. I have been burdened with the impressive load as the person responsible for narrating these horrifically savage and fully graphic details of her mother’s death to Aria ... thus bringing her mother’s death to the surface over and over again.
In addition to having to deal with the impact it will have on her life and mind, I’ve had to endure the physical and emotional draining of the drawn out proceedings and investigation, criminal process and parole eligibility in the future.
It is a combination of all the things that I have outlined that my pain and anguish does not stop here today.
This brutal monster has stripped Tara of at least 60 years of her life, her identity, her dignity.
Our whole family has been robbed and little Aria. deprived of her mother and a community who never experienced Tara’s true footprint in life because of the selfishness of this inhumane act.
Tara’s death has impacted our nation. I am beginning to see welcome changes to laws, education, awareness and tolerance of society, as the appalling cost of human lives to domestic and family violence has become a national tragedy of grossest proportions.
I am overwhelmed and extremely grateful to all that have supported us through this horrid experience and would like to personally recognise you all for your copious amounts of love and prayers.
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