Murdered mum Simone Quinlan’s family share heartache in Supreme Court
THE family of murdered mother Simone Quinlan has detailed their grief in heart-wrenching victim impact statements read out in court.
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THE family of murdered mother Simone Quinlan has detailed their grief in heart-wrenching victim impact statements read out in court.
Sitting just metres from the two men guilty of her daughter’s murder, Lynda Quinlan told of the regret her and her husband, Wayne, felt for not being able to keep her safe.
She also detailed how Simone’s eldest son, 14, had at times blamed himself for her death.
“Nothing will ease his pain,” she said. “Some days he blames himself and thinks he could have saved his mum.
“He said he wanted to be an angel so that he could be in heaven with his mother.”
Mrs Quinlan said her grandchildren had been spared the details of their mother’s horrific death.
“Some day we will have to tell (them) what these monsters did to her,” Mrs Quinlan said.
Simone’s boyfriend Brendan Neil has pleaded guilty to her murder after he brutally beat her around the head in their Melton home on August 25, 2015.
His friend Wayne Marmo was also this month found guilty by a jury of her killing.
Marmo, 25, had tried to convince the jury he was guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
He argued Simone was already dead when he shot her five times in the back of the head on his way to dispose of her body in a mineshaft in Kangaroo Flat.
The court heard how Simone had “gone off the rails” with a drug addiction but had aspired to be a vet, loved her children and was trying to get her life back on track.
“Our daughter Simone, despite her problems, was a human being,” Mrs Quinlan said.
“She deeply loved her two sons. She had a big heart. She’d go out of her way to help a friend.
Her favourite colour is red.”
No word in the English dictionary could describe how they felt when told Simone’s body had been found on September 30, Mrs Quinlan said.
She said her husband often visits and leaves flowers where Marmo had dumped her and set her alight.
“Grief is so deep and personal,” Mrs Quinlan said. “We experience guilt not knowing the full situation she was in so we could have helped.”
Simone’s younger brother Troy Quinlan said his sister was always “the life of the party” and relayed memories of how she looked after him growing up, and protected him from school bullies.
He said he had now become an only child.
“My reality has been altered. I no longer have a sister. My parents are broken,” he said.
“My three daughters will not know their aunty. They point to photos of her and ask who she is.”
Simone’s cousin fought back tears as she looked at Neil and Marmo and told them how their “cruel actions” had robbed two boys of their mother.
“You took away the bright light that shone in her,” she said. “There’s only hurt and pain.”
The plea hearing for Neil continues.
Marmo will return to the Supreme Court on July 20.
