Mackenzie Anderson’s friends, family face killer Tyrone Thompson
The grieving mother of a young woman stabbed 78 times by her abusive ex has revealed her anguish about the last Christmas present she bought her daughter.
The mother of a young woman stabbed 78 times by an abusive ex partner has revealed her anguish at knowing she bought the kitchen knives used to kill her daughter.
Mackenzie Anderson’s friends and family on Monday delivered powerful statements at the sentence hearing of murderer Tyrone Thompson, telling him that she will never be forgotten and he never forgiven.
Thompson, 25, pleaded guilty to murder on the eve of a scheduled trial earlier this month and faces decades in prison.
It came more than three years since he stabbed ex-partner Ms Anderson, 21, in her Mayfield unit on March 25, 2022 just two weeks after he was released from jail for domestic violence.
Tabitha Acret, Ms Anderson’s mum, told the Supreme Court in Newcastle of how their family had been exposed to the “true evil in this world”.
“Mackenzie did everything she could … her death was no surprise but instead a death in slow motion,” Ms Acret said through tears.
She said Ms Anderson had asked for a new knife block for the kitchen as a present for what would be the last Christmas they shared together.
“I have to live with the knowledge the very knives I bought her were the ones Tyrone used to kill her,” Ms Acret said.
Thompson’s previous intention to claim self defence at trial had been a “disgusting” affront to Ms Anderson’s family, Ms Acret said, as she called on the court to understand her daughter and those who loved her had already been given a “life sentence”.
Matthew Sheehy, Ms Anderson’s stepfather, said the family should be “protected from this horrific human being for the rest of his life”.
Tyler Lance, a close friend of Ms Anderson who was with both her and Thompson earlier on the night she died, said he was haunted by the guilt of not being able to protect her.
Mr Lance said his life had fallen apart since that night and he held “so much anger” towards Thompson.
“What you did will never be forgiven, Tyrone, and Mackenzie will never be forgotten.”
Three of Ms Anderson’s friends made a joint statement to the court in which they called Thompson “evil” and described their late friend as a “beautiful, loving, devoted mother”.
They said she had lived in fear of Thompson, who was a danger to all women.
“What she went through was more than one night of violence. It was domestic abuse,” they said.
“He tried to take her spirit … she had to fight every day just to exist in peace.
“She still shined. Even in death she’s stronger than he will ever be … her heart was too big, her soul too bright.”
Agreed facts released by the court revealed how Thompson terrorised the young mother in her final hours.
Then 22, Thompson was released on parole for previous domestic violence offences against Ms Anderson just two weeks before he killed her.
He ignored an AVO put in place to protect Ms Anderson within 24 hours of his release, telling her in a call “he was coming for her and he loved her”.
The two reconnected in the days later and spent much of March 25 together, alongside Mr Lance, at Ms Anderson’s Crebert St unit.
The court has heard Thompson became increasingly erratic throughout the day, including “moving knives” around the kitchen and taking her phone, and was twice asked to leave.
He climbed back into the apartment using a ladder while Ms Anderson slept and then fled with her house keys when she called triple-0.
“My ex-boyfriend’s broken in,” Mackenzie Anderson told the operator.
“I’ve woken up to him in my house. Like, I have an AVO on him.”
More Coverage
About 10 minutes later he returned and stabbed the young woman dozens of times, telling police “It took as many times to stab her till she f***en stopped”.
“We got into a heated argument … she (had) a f***ing knife … And then I’ve literally grabbed the knife, and I just f***ing stabbed, stabbed stabbed,” he claimed.
The sentence hearing before Justice Richard Weinstein continues.