Jamefil Wal, 40, sentenced for murder of Garang Chock at Endeavour Hills
A man brutally killed his next door neighbour in a vicious attack at an Endeavour Hills accommodation block, leaving him to die in a public corridor.
South East
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An Endeavour Hills man lay dead in a public corridor at an accommodation block where neighbours walked past his body for seven hours until someone called for help.
Dressed in a grey prison jumper and tracksuit pants, Jamefil Wal, 40, showed little emotion as he was sentenced at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to a minimum of 16 years for the murder of his neighbour Garang Chock in February 2023.
Wal pleaded guilty last year to murdering Mr Chock at the Mossgiel Park accommodation centre, stabbing him four times with a knife before hitting him on the head with a hammer as he lay motionless on the ground.
Court documents revealed Wal and Mr Chock, 40, lived next to each other where they drank together and were known to have arguments.
It’s believed Wal thought Mr Chock had owed him money in the lead up to the attack.
The court heard on the night of the murder Wal had drunk several bottles of wine and struck Mr Chock’s door several times with a hammer, yelling “I’m gonna get you” and “come on, let’s get it on. Where’s my money? Give me my money.”
Wal went in-and-out of his room several times during the night between 10pm and 2am, damaging Mr Chock’s door with various weapons including a timber fence picket.
The pair eventually met in a shared hallway about 2am where Wal — after a fight broke out — stabbed Mr Chock four times with a knife and hit him with a hammer as he lay motionless on the ground.
The court heard he then taunted Mr Chock and pointed towards a security camera with his hammer after the vicious attack.
Between 2.24am and 9.38am, a number of residents at the accommodation moved throughout the corridor while Mr Chock lay dead.
The centre’s manager called emergency services after seeing Mr Chock’s body.
After the attack Wal barricaded himself in his room until police arrived.
Justice James Elliott described Wal’s actions as “brutal” and “shocking”.
“You've brutally taken the life of a friend with the use of a weapon,” he said.
The court heard Wal was born in South Sudan where he witnessed several killings during the country’s civil war before he fled to Egypt as a refugee and then Australia.
He was also diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Wal was sentenced to 22 years behind bars, with 16 years non-parole.
The sentence was delayed 30 minutes after Wal’s interpreter failed to turn up on time, with the court hearing she slept in.
“She’s only just woken up,” prosecutors told the court as the sentence was scheduled to begin.
