Family of Ballarat mum Kobie Parfitt address killer Shannon Jeffrey in Supreme Court

The family of a Ballarat mother has told her killer that she will find “no redemption or absolution” during emotional scenes in court.

Shannon Lee Jeffrey, 34, killed Ballarat mother Kobie Parfitt in April 2020.

Family members of a Ballarat mother killed in her own home have told the Supreme Court they will “never forgive” the woman who robbed them of a loved one.

In July, Shannon Lee Jeffrey, 34, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ballarat Central woman Kobie Parfitt.

The plea came more than three years after Ms Parfitt was reported missing and found dumped down a mine shaft.

Court proceedings later revealed Jeffrey killed Ms Parfitt and hung up her body to make the death appear to be a suicide.

She and Wendouree man Brendon James Prestage then dumped Ms Parfitt in a Snake Valley mine shaft.

Tracking Prestage’s phone led to Ms Parfitt’s discovery months later.

In the meantime, however, Jeffrey perpetuated a lie that Ms Parfitt had left the state and then moved into the Hickman St home where she killed her.

Kobie Parfitt was killed by Shannon Jeffrey in 2020. Photo: Victoria Police

At a Supreme Court hearing on Thursday, Ms Parfitt’s mother Kathy Snowball said watching the news recently had “brought back the wave of grief” she felt when police told her Ms Parfitt had been found.

She said she drove out to the mine shaft where her daughter’s body was left “at night, in the dark”.

“Whatever you think of the circumstances of Kobie’s death, this part was planned,” she said.

“It was calculated and premeditated. And it was obviously thought she would never be found, but for a phone ping on a tower.”

She said a “poor choice” by Ms Parfitt did not justify her treatment by Jeffrey and that she felt “let down” by the justice system.

Ms Snowball said no sentence given to Jeffrey would be sufficient in her view.

“This family has grown stronger with the tragedy that we have lived through,” she said.

“But we also feel that the laws of this state have let us down to a certain degree.

“ … Part of me died the day Kobie did, but she lives on in her children and her grandchildren and she will never be forgotten.”

Kobie Parfitt’s mother Kathy Snowball in 2020. Photo: Supplied

Another family member said she thought about not providing a statement because a previous one “didn’t seem to have an impact”.

“Once again it all comes crashing back,” she said.

“Again and again you are reliving the pain and trauma that has shattered you beyond what you can put into words.”

But she said Jeffrey was “not going to take away (her) voice” and that she wanted to speak up for Ms Parfitt.

“I’m haunted by the wounded cry of anguish that came from my sister as she stood over her daughter’s coffin,” she said.

“I will be forever distressed by all the things we’ve heard in the community and in this court that can never be unheard — of Kobie terrified, alone, begging.

“And the anger: I’m so bloody angry that I’m enraged … That is not me, that’s not who I am.

“I no longer recognise the person looking back at me in the mirror.”

She told Jeffrey: “There will be no redemption and no absolution for you, and we will never forgive you.”

Ms Parfitt’s aunty spoke of the “lack of dignity and respect” she felt Jeffrey had shown the family, and the “horror movie” playing in her head.

“You thought that your anger for her was greater than anyone’s love could be,” she said, “that your anger somehow justified your actions.

“Wrong again. I don’t think you can even comprehend the love that Kobie’s family is capable of.”

“ … I don’t think you’ve thought of anyone but yourself for the last 1207 days. We’ve all been living this nightmare so that you can try and get away with what you’ve done.”

Jeffrey, 34, who is also a mother, was said to be interested in studying geology upon her release and “struggles to understand why she acted as she did”.

The court heard she had suffered serious abuse in her relationships and used drugs from a young age.

Jeffrey offered an “unqualified, unreserved apology” through her lawyer.

She was remanded in custody for sentencing in September.

Prestage, who pleaded guilty to assisting with the manslaughter, was sentenced in July to two years and three months’ imprisonment, which he had already served.