Killer’s plea for chance at freedom after murdering woman, injuring another
The man who murdered a Pakenham mum while free on parole for another violent crime is pleading for a shorter sentence despite seriously injuring another woman just three months before the killing.
Police & Courts
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A killer who stabbed a mother to death in her home says he hates himself for what he did as he pushes a judge to show mercy and give him a chance at freedom.
Scott Alan Murdoch, 42, concedes he should be locked away for killing Kylie Blackwood in her Pakenham home on August 1, 2013, but says his remorse and guilty plea should see a non-parole period imposed.
“I hate myself for what has gone on,” Murdoch said.
“If I could take it back, I would.
“I know I have destroyed her husband and kids’ life. I’m sorry.”
Defence barrister Jim Shaw read out Murdoch’s apology as he faced the Supreme Court today in a bid to convince Justice Jane Dixon why she should set a minimum term.
The prosecution says a life sentence without parole is warranted as an aggravating feature of his offending was that he was on parole at the time for another violent crime.
Nick Papas QC, for the Crown, said it was an unusual step to jail someone for life when they had pleaded guilty to their crime, but Murdoch was an exceptional case.
He said Murdoch had two prior convictions for causing serious injury: one to a man he pummelled with more than 20 punches at a party in his early 20s, and another for a violent attack on a woman he was dating in her home when she refused his sexual advances.
Murdoch pleaded guilty to murdering Mrs Blackwood, 42.
Her twin daughters Mia and Holly detailed in victim impact statements read out at an earlier hearing their pain of being just 11-years-old and finding their “beautiful” mother in a pool of blood on the couch as they returned home from school.
Mia and Holly, now 17, said they hoped their mother’s killer would suffer in jail.
“After doing something like that, how could you call yourself a human being?” Holly said.
“I hope you suffer and get what’s coming to you. My mother deserves justice.”
Murdoch has also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury over an eerily similar attack on Ilona Prohaska, 80, in her Endeavour Hills home three months earlier on May 21, 2013.
Mrs Prohaska miraculously survived the monster hammering a knife into her neck.
Mr Shaw said Murdoch should get a sentencing discount for his guilty pleas as it saved the courts going through a lengthy and costly trial.
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He said his time in custody would also be more onerous as he is deemed a protected prisoner who gets limited time out of his cell, or interaction with other inmates.
Mr Shaw referred to other murder cases where some of the state’s worst killers have been given a parole period, including high-profile gangland figure Carl Williams, who was convicted on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to murder.
Notorious killer and rapist Adrian Bayley was also given a parole period over the murder of Jill Meagher at Brunswick in 2012 despite being on parole at the time and having a shocking criminal history, Mr Shaw said.
Justice Dixon will sentence Murdoch at a later date.