Danny Volpe jailed for murdering Cameron Harris, who was found in Upper Ferntree Gully
A father-of-10 who murdered a man he had known for two days before dumping the body in the Upper Ferntree Gully Kindergarten carpark has been sentenced to 19 years in jail.
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A Vermont father-of-10 who murdered a man he had known for two days before dumping the body in the Upper Ferntree Gully Kindergarten carpark has been sentenced to 19 years’ jail.
But Danny Noel Volpe will be eligible for parole in less than 13 years after he fatally stabbed Dandenong’s Cameron Harris on September 17, 2016.
Judge John Champion ruled the crime was “at the lower end of gravity for the offence of murder” when he sentenced Volpe in the Supreme Court last month.
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A jury found the 59-year-old guilty of murder on June 26, 2018, but Judge Champion said the verdict meant the jury believed Volpe had either intended to cause death or serious injury.
“I am not satisfied you intended to kill Mr Harris when you stabbed him … rather, you intended to cause him really serious injury,” the judge told Volpe at sentencing.
Judge Champion said the decision to stab Mr Harris was “nevertheless spontaneous”, despite the clear tension between the men in the lead up.
The court heard Volpe and Mr Harris fell out on the morning of September 17, 2016, after spending a couple days together at a mutual friend’s Montrose property.
Volpe told the house’s occupants he had bashed Mr Harris after he threatened his family.
The pair were then seen fighting and “chesting” each other in the carpark at Croydon’s Arndale Shopping Centre about 11.30am.
Witnesses saw Volpe follow Mr Harris with a bladed weapon as he left the scene, before turning back to his car, the court heard.
About 2pm, Mr Harris returned to the house as a passenger in his friend’s utility van, where he tearfully called out he was sorry to Volpe, who was standing on the nature strip.
Volpe approached the van and stabbed Mr Harris once in the chest through an open window.
The court heard the friend thought Mr Harris had only been punched, and went to tell Volpe to apologise.
Volpe acknowledged Mr Harris looked unwell and said he would drive him to a hospital in the van.
He drove past Upper Ferntree Gully’s Angliss Hospital several times before dumping Mr Harris’ body in the Upper Ferntree Gully Kindergarten carpark, the court heard.
Judge Champion said he accepted Volpe’s claim he had intended to get medical assistance.
“It is likely that Mr Harris died at some point during the journey to seek assistance for him, and your decision was borne out of panic.”
The court heard Volpe had “low to average” cognitive functions and suffered from a complex range of mental health issues, with a spectrum of personality disordered problems.
It was heard Volpe had PTSD, and had abused drugs since he was 10 or 11, leaving him with impaired mental functioning.
Mr Harris was 39 at the time of death, and the court heard his loss caused great distress to his teenage daughter and her mother.
Volpe was sentenced to 19 years behind bars, with a minimum of 15 to be served before being eligible for parole.
He served 816 days in pre-sentence detention.
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