Man murdered partner in drug-induced psychosis
A man who stabbed his partner to death in front of their children told them to lie about it, but what he did next was just as shocking.
Police & Courts
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A man who told his three children to say their mother killed herself after they witnessed him stab her to death before setting the family home on fire has been jailed for 18 years.
Daniel Eckersley, 40, was in a drug-induced psychotic state and believed his partner of 17 years, Amanda Harris, was poisoning him and their children when he murdered her in their Cranbourne North home on July 7, 2018.
He callously kicked his young son away when he bravely tried to defend his mum by grabbing his father’s knife-wielding hand.
Eckersley then did nothing to try and save his partner, instead setting fire to a nearby lounge before bundling the children in the car and fleeing.
Supreme Court judge John Champion said Ms Harris was defenceless and would have been “taken by surprise by the savagery” of the attack.
“This was a brutal killing aggravated by the fact that it occurred in the family home, witnessed by your three children,” Justice Champion said.
“You treated your children callously after they had witnessed your brutality by driving them away and telling them to tell others that Ms Harris had committed suicide.”
Justice Champion said it would have been “traumatic” for the children, relaying the victim impact statement of Ms Harris’s sister Louise Flynn who cared for the siblings in the weeks after the murder, and heard their screams for their mother at night.
Ms Harris’s mother broke down crying in court as she learnt her former son-in-law could be released on parole after serving just 14 years behind bars.
“No,” she yelled, before calling Eckersley a “bastard” as he was removed from the court and returned to custody.
“You are nothing but a mongrel,” the grieving mother yelled.
“I hope you get it in there. The kids hate you. You will never see them again.”
Justice Champion said he had given Eckersley a sentencing discount for his guilty plea, and determined his moral culpability had been reduced due to his lack of knowledge surrounding the risks of his prescribed medications.
Eckersley had been taking double the prescribed dosage of pain killer, Tramadol, after he sustained a knee injury at work in 2015.
Psychiatrist Andrew Carroll said Eckersley had a rare reaction to the prescription drug, sending him delusional and into a severe state of psychosis.
From August 2016 to June 2018, medical records show Eckersley had been prescribed Tramadol more than 100 times.
Dr Carroll said the high dosages of Tramadol, combined with the antidepressant, Pristiq, that Eckersley was prescribed three days before his murderous rampage induced his psychotic state.
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After days on remand, and drug-free, he said Eckersley displayed “bewilderment” that he believed his wife was trying to poison him, and was remorseful for his actions.
In a rare move, Justice Champion said he would refer the case to the Victorian state coroner to see if more could be done to ensure GPs inform patients of the risks of taking Tramadol.