Rekiah O’Donnell’s killer Nelson Lai a serial woman-beater, court hears
A KILLER who beat a murder charge by arguing shooting his girlfriend was an accident has been exposed as a serial woman-beater who terrorised an ex-partner.
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A KILLER who beat a murder charge after arguing he didn’t mean to shoot his girlfriend dead has been exposed as a serial woman-beater who terrorised an ex-partner for years.
Nelson Lai, 35, fatally shot Rekiah O’Donnell in the head ending a volatile relationship marred with regular physical and emotional abuse.
But despite Lai warning he would make it his life’s mission to make her suffer, a jury accepted his claim he didn’t know the gun was loaded when he shot her in October 2013.
He was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after a Supreme Court trial.
A plea hearing was told today Lai had a string of convictions for offences including assaults of his ex-partner.
Despite the revelations, Ms O’Donnell’s mum Kerryn Robertson told Lai she had forgiven him.
But he paid her the ultimate disrespect by refusing to look at her after she had asked to face him as she delivered a heart-wrenching victim impact statement.
“You made our life here hell on earth,” she told him.
“You had taken (Rekiah’s) life away before you even pulled the trigger on the gun.
“I forgive you Nelson. I know that you have not asked for forgiveness. I will never forget that you shot and killed my daughter.”
The court heard that between 2006 and 2013 Lai was convicted of a number of offences and was ultimately jailed for thumbing his nose at the law.
In that time he was also convicted of beating an ex-partner, threatening to kill her and bashing her dad with a saucepan.
Despite his long and sordid history of domestic abuse, his lawyer, Patrick Doyle, told Justice Michael Croucher the prior offending should carry little weight in relation to his sentence.
He said that because Ms O’Donnell’s shooting was an accident, Lai’s violent past couldn’t be considered.
The jury was not told of Lai’s violent history in relation to his ex-partner at trial, but he did admit to repeatedly bashing Ms O’Donnell.
“This is not a crime of violence,” Mr Doyle said.
“It’s not a repetition of that prior behaviour.”
Mr Doyle said his client didn’t aim the gun at Ms O’Donnell’s head, had no idea about firearms and honestly believed the gun wasn’t loaded.
Lai had repeatedly threatened Ms O’Donnell, telling her: “My mission will be complete when you’re gone, slut. One day you’ll feel the full force of my hand you f---ing dog slut.”
He couldn’t get over his jealousy and suspicions that Ms O’Donnell had been cheating on him with one of his friends.
Ten of Ms O’Donnell’s closest family and friends submitted victim impact statements to the court.
Prosecutor Andrew Grant said Lai’s crime an extremely serious case of gross negligence manslaughter. As a result, he should be sentenced at the higher end of the range.
The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 20 years’ imprisonment.