Thomas Hemming killed Robert and Cheryl Adamson in Murrumbeena home for the thrill of it, court hears
A 21-YEAR-OLD man who murdered an elderly couple inside their home in Melbourne’s southeast did it for fun, the Supreme Court has heard.
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THE horrific slaying of an elderly couple inside their own home was a thrill-killing, a court has heard.
Thomas Hemming, 21, savagely attacked Robert and Cheryl Adamson inside their Murrumbeena home in February this year.
Today the Supreme Court heard Hemming did it just for fun.
Robert, 65, an accountant, and Cheryl, 60, a senior teacher librarian at Melbourne Grammar School, had lived in their Omama Rd home for 40 years.
Hemming lived with his parents just 160 metres down the road.
He did not know the couple, but knew they were old and vulnerable.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Gavin Silbert QC told the court Hemming had developed an interest in weapons leading up to his evil act.
His first choice of killing implement was unavailable when he tried to buy the it online from a Queensland distributor.
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Instead he settled for a Cold Steel Marauder — an extra-long, stainless steel blade made in Japan.
Inspired by the formidable combat knives of WWII and honouring the name of Merrill’s Marauders, the blade is advertised as being a ``true battle ready Bowie’’.
The court heard Hemming had long fantasised about killing someone and was about to scratch it off his bucket list.
The day before he carried out his murderous ambition was routine.
He turned up for work at the Woolworthes bottle shop and left at 10pm.
When he got home he went online and arranged a drinking session with his mate.
The pair drove down to the local Thirsty Camel and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels.
They returned to his bedroom and proceeded to drink for the next few hours while listening to music.
Hemming was so drunk he had to go outside to vomit.
At about 1am they went for a stroll, walking past the Adamson family home on their way.
At 4am Hemming’s mate bid him farewell and got into his car and drove home.
It was at this time that Hemming decided to act on his fantasy to murder.
He put on a black jacket and gloves and attached the Marauder to his belt.
For the next 90 minutes he hunted for someone to kill, settling on the Adamson home just before 6am.
Mrs Adamson was in her pyjamas when Hemming knocked on the door.
For a moment she was secure behind a security door, which could only be opened from the inside.
The young man asked if he could use her phone.
Perhaps suspicious about the man in black at her door, she called for her husband.
Mr Adamson, also in his pyjamas, got out of bed and Hemming again asked if he could use their phone.
It was a fateful decision that would end both of their lives.
Hemming later told police he followed the couple through the house into the rear living room where Mr Adamson picked up the cordless phone.
He never knew what hit him, the court heard.
Hemming grabbed the knife from its scabbard on his belt, cutting himself just below the groin in his haste to kill.
He repeatedly stabbed Mr Adamson in the back and chest, killing him almost instantly in the frenzy.
In a desperate bid to save her husband, Mrs Adamson grabbed the nearest object she could find to use as a weapon.
She grabbed a broom and smacked Hemming over the head with it.
The killer turned and murdered her too, leaving the knife stuck deep in her shoulder.
Covered in blood he calmly walked home, disposing of his jacket and gloves in the front yard before returning to hide them under his mattress.
He told his dad he’d been out looking for his mate’s mobile phone.
He then went to sleep.
The couple’s body was found just before 1pm the following day.
Police found the cordless phone within reach of where Mr Adamson fell.
Homicide detectives arrested Hemming just days later.
An analyses of his laptop computer found he had accessed online news articles about the couple’s murders.
Hemming initially denied he had killed the pair, but broke after two-and-a-half hours of questioning.
``Alright, yeah I did it. I was responsible for it,’’ he said.
He justified killing the much-loved couple because they were old.
``Morally, it’s better to kill someone old than young,’’ he said.
He offered little explanation for why he killed them, other than saying he was drunk and lost common sense over his fantasies.
The court heard his interview was ``matter of fact’’, showing no emotion.
Justice Betty King described the murders as terrifying.
``I have to say, what is going on?” she said. ``What’s going to happen in the future? Is he likely to do this again to someone else?’’
His barrister Damian Sheales struggled to provide any explanation for his client’s behaviour.
He said Hemming had been diagnosed with asperger’s syndrome but conceded this could not explain his offending.
``He clearly knew right from wrong,’’ he said.
Mr Sheales described Hemming as coming from a hard working family, who had successfully raised other children without incident.
``His own family are shattered,’’ he said.
The court heard several of the Adamson family had provided victim impact statements, but just one agreed to have his read out in court.
Mrs Adamson’s brother Craig Collier described his sister as a brave woman, whose last act alive was to try and save her husband.
``What went through her mind as she fought to save her husband?’’ he wrote.
The court heard Mr Collier could not bring himself to tell his 86-year old mother that her daughter had been murdered in such horrific circumstances and told her she died in a car accident.
The court heard Mrs Adamson would have been looking forward to Christmas, which was her favourite part of the year.
``Life will never be the same for any of us,’’ he wrote.
The court heard of his family’s fears that Hemming might one day be released back into the community to kill again and he now worried about how to protect his own family.
He ended by asking his sister’s killer a question.
``I would like to ask Thomas Hemming if you were to die tomorrow how many people would be at your funeral?’’
Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to the Adamson’s when they were farewelled at a service just a kilometre from where they were murdered.
Mr Hemming, who pleaded guilty to the murders, will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.