Luke Samouel Simon sentenced: Moment Grandad tore young family apart

Haunting footage of a grandfather taking his pistol out of a gun safe marks the tragic moment his family’s lives changed forever.

EXCLUSIVE

An army veteran shot his daughter’s fiance after he “smirked” at him during an argument over a property dispute, a court has heard.

Luke Samouel Simon, 60, was sentenced to 31 years jail in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday morning after confessing to the February 2023 murder of 38-year-old Irish tradie Damien Conlon in regional NSW.

The court heard how Mr Simon was having a dispute over property with his daughter and her soon-to-be husband.

On February 9, Mr Simon “lured” Mr Conlon to his house in Oberon by telling him that items at the home at been stolen before killing him.

Court documents state how Mr Simon told police he hadn’t originally planned to kill Mr Conlon, however, did so after he “smirked at him” during the confrontation.

“When I affronted him this morning, and I said to him, look you f**ker. I know you’re trying to do me over. I said I know a con when I see one, I’m not f**king stupid. And he smiled,” he told police after the murder.

“And I said what the f**k and I pulled out hte firearm and pointed it at him and said say your prayers.”

After killing Mr Conlon, Mr Simon sat on a trailer outside his home and called police.

While waiting, he told a passing neighbour that he had “just killed Damien”.

“I put two in his body and one in the head. I’ve called the cops and I have told them I am unarmed. Don’t worry mate you’re in no danger. I have no intent to harm anyone else,” he told the neighbour.

“Sixty years of hard work by my old man and they wanted to just take it.

“I lured him here and when I opened the door I said get on your knees and confess. He confessed and I shot him.”

Handing down the sentence on Thursday morning, Judge Sarah McNaughton said it was clear Mr Simon had a “settled plan” and “intention” to kill Mr Conlon, as he was captured on CCTV footage getting his pistol out of the safe two days before the killing.

Mr Simon was given a head sentence of 31 years for the murder, with a non-parole period of 22 years.

Damien Conlon was captured on CCTV arriving at the home prior to his murder. Picture: Supplied

Loud noises can be heard just moments after Mr Conlon walks through the door. Picture: Supplied

The granny flat dispute

Court documents revealed how the relationship between the soon-to-be married couple and Mr Simon had “soured” in the months leading up to the murder over the building of a granny flat.

Mr Simon owned a home in Oberon, which he had inherited from his father, who died in October 2021.

Mr Simon had agreed for a granny flat to be built on the property for him to move into, allowing Ms Simon and Mr Conlon to move into the main house with their children. The couple had two children together, with Mr Conlon also stepfather to two boys from Ms Simon’s previous relationship.

However, Mr Simon was later served a document asking him to vacate the premises altogether for renovations to be made to the main house.

The court heard how on February 7, CCTV captured Mr Simon in the laundry area of his home, opening his gun safe and stating: “That’s the one that is going to put him to sleep. F**king Damien, you’re f**king gone.”

The court documents also told how Mr Simon told an IGA worker on February 8 that he had “found out” someone was stealing from him and “ripping him off”.

“I’ll get them,” he told the IGA worker, who was serving him at the deli.

Mr Conlon ‘lured’ to the house

In CCTV footage obtained by news.com.au, Mr Simon can be seen pulling out what appears to be a pistol in a case in a laundry safe just two days prior to the murder.

In an attempt to rebuff suggestions that the murder was premeditated, Mr Simon’s lawyer had previously argued he was taking out an empty pistol case.

However, Judge McNaughton determined that it made no sense for Mr Simon to be so careful when removing the object from the safe, if it were just a case.

Mr Simon taking the case out of the safe. Picture: Supplied

The CCTV also captured the moment Mr Conlon arrived at the home after being told by Mr Simon that an item had been stolen from the house.

Mr Conlon can be seen in the vision arriving at the home just before 8am, taking off his sunglasses outside the home before Mr Simon tells him: “Come and have a look.”

“At 7.56am the deceased was recorded laying on the ground at the front steps of the property,” the court documents state.

Mr Simon locks the safe in the laundry. Picture: Supplied

“The offender approaches the deceased, says “bye bye Damien” and proceeds to shoot him behind his right ear at close range.”

Shortly after murdering his son-in-law, Mr Simon called police.

“I am unarmed, I have just killed my son-in-law, my um daughter’s boyfriend you might say,” he told the operator.

He pleaded guilty to the murder charge.

Daughter asks judge to jail father

In a victim statement to the court, Ms Simon said her father had it out for Mr Conlon and could not face him “like a man and have a conversation with him like a human being”.

In the statement, Ms Simon labelled her father’s actions as “senseless and violent”.

“Luke, I believe you are a coward,” she wrote.

Mr Conlon has been described as a loving father and brother. Picture: GoFundMe

Damian moved from his home town in Sligo, Ireland, to Bathurst. Picture: Facebook

“You only had one intention in mind when you lured him into your home and that was that Damien would not be alive after he entered your house.”

She said Mr Conlon’s injuries from the shooting were so catastrophic, the family was unable to have an open-casket funeral.

She urged the judge to “give us peace of mind that we do not have to live in fear of Luke walking the streets and having to see him.”

Tragically, the court heard on Thursday how Mr Conlon’s youngest son still asks Ms Simon: “Why is Daddy dead?”

Wedding plans dashed

The pair met on a dating app in 2019 after Mr Conlon moved to Australia from Ireland in 2011.

In an interview with the Irish Mirror, Ms Simon shared how the pair were set to get married at the end of 2023.

“We had deposits paid on the venue, the church and everything, but unfortunately that will never be,” she said.

The couple met on a dating app in 2019. Picture: GoFundMe

The couple were just months away from tying the knot. Picture: Facebook

“That is the hardest part, all the plans we had for the future and watching our children growing up without him. We just take it day by day now, that is all we can do.”

Ms Simon said one of her sons “still walks around the house looking for him”.

“There’s memories of happiness and joy when we remember the good times, but then it just hits you that that’s all gone now,” she said.

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