Rebecca Payne guilty of murdering husband Noel Payne with poisoned biscuits in Walpeup

Lawyers have argued a judge must show mercy when sentencing a mum who murdered her “domestic terrorist” husband with a poison-laced biscuit.

Rebecca Payne has been hailed a hero for killing her abusive husband, Noel Payne. Picture: Mark Scott.

Lawyers for the mum who murdered her “monster” husband with a poison-laced biscuit have lashed the prosecution for suggesting she could have simply left the abusive relationship instead.

Rebecca Payne, 43, faced the Supreme Court on Monday after a jury in March found her guilty of murdering her husband Noel Payne, 68, at their home in the tiny town of Walpeup in the state’s northwest in 2020.

At trial, the court heard she crushed more than seven of her sleeping pills with a mortar and pestle, before lacing the icing of one freshly-baked biscuit with the powdered poison.

She then handed the deadly biscuit to her unwitting husband with a cup of Milo, before wrapping his unconscious body in a blanket and stashing him in an empty chest freezer.

But from the witness box, Payne detailed to the jury the shocking verbal, physical and sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.

Rebecca Payne was found guilty of murder in March. Picture: Josie Hayden

Payne will be sentenced at a later date. Picture: Josie Hayden

She testified he would brutally rape her, control her every move and bash her frequently, including once on a dirt road at the local graveyard.

Despite this, she claimed she did not intend to kill him but send him to sleep, so she would not “cop any abuse” that evening.

But the jury refused to find her guilty of manslaughter and convicted her of murder.

Defence lawyer Richard Edney on Monday told Justice Rita Incerti she needed to show Payne “mercy” when sentencing her, having previously dubbed Noel a “domestic terrorist”.

“In this extreme and unique case, any term of imprisonment should be disproportionately lower than would ordinarily be the case for murder,” he said.

“Noel Payne created – in this remote town of Walpeup – a perverted, disturbing moral universe where he treated the women of that house as mere objects and chattels for his own pleasure.

“But for his conduct towards her, Rebecca Payne would not be awaiting sentence for the crime of murder.”

Noel Payne. Picture: Facebook

Continuing to address the court, Mr Edney labelled a submission by Crown Prosecutor David Glynn – which stated Payne had “options” in her relationship – as “absurd”.

“This idea of free choice and agency and options … is inconsistent with the modern understanding of family violence (and) inconsistent with a proper understanding of what Rebecca Payne went through,” he said.

“This is again attempting to blame the victim of family violence.”

But Mr Glynn stood by his submission, arguing she used her “determination and grit” to murder Noel, instead of using it to leave her marriage.

“I said Ms Payne had options because … she knew leaving was possible,” he said, referring to the two times she sought refuge at a shelter.

“I’m criticised by (Mr Edney) … but the point is Ms Payne did exercise free choice and agency. She exercised it by killing Noel Payne.

“This is not a woman who was helpless and unable to act. She acted.”

He added that there was “no justification” Payne had for taking Noel’s life.

“You can’t solve your problems by committing murder,” he said.

The pre-sentence hearing comes as the Herald Sun on Monday revealed how the locals of Walpeup have hailed Payne a hero because they believe that by ending his life, she saved countless others, including her own.

Mr Edney said the abuse he inflicted on his wife – and a younger woman with an acquired brain injury he moved into the house as his girlfriend – was “reprehensible and obscene”.

“He was perpetrating unspeakable acts of family violence behind closed doors,” he said.

However, despite this he said Payne was “remorseful” for killing her husband, which showed the “complexity” of family violence.

Earlier, numerous victim impact statements were read out in court, including one from the younger woman, who said she is “happy” to not live in that house anymore.

“I hate Rebecca for what she’s done but my life is now better than what it was,” she wrote.

“I’m happy that I’ve got my freedom.”

Payne will be sentenced at a later date.