‘Daddy put mummy in the fire’: Horrific account of Kelly Wilkinson’s death as timeline of terror in lead-up to murder revealed
The horrific timeline leading up to a mum being doused in petrol and set on fire by her murderous estranged ex-husband has been revealed. WARNING: DISTRESSING
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
By the time Brian Earl Johnston arrived at Kelly Wilkinson’s Gold Coast home, murder was already on his mind.
Clad in black and wearing a mask to obscure his face, he was packing the deadly tools he would use to end his ex-wife’s life in a crime of “extreme domestic violence” that would shock the nation.
In addition to a jerry can filled with 20L of petrol, he was carrying a duffel bag containing tape, zipties, a prybar, a tomahawk axe, a bag of white powder later identified to be a sedative and a bundle of rope.
In a grim twist, a court was told the rope was fashioned into a hangman’s noose.
Neighbours woke at 6.30am on April 20, 2021 to the sounds of an argument, then the screams of a woman yelling “please stop” and the cries of distressed children, before an explosion rattled the neighbourhood.
Flames climbed a metre high as Johnston, 37, jumped into the family pool to extinguish himself.
A knife he had used to stab Kelly, 27, was found at the bottom of the pool, along with another blade near her burned body which matched knives in a kitchen knife block.
The tomahawk axe, stained in Johnston’s blood, was found in the garden bed after he stumbled down the road, leaving a trail of his own blood.
It was a brutal, senseless killing – one Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth said warranted no other penalty but life in prison.
While it is the standard sentence for anyone charged with murder in Queensland, Johnston is required to serve 20 years before even being considered eligible for parole.
By that time – after 2041 – he will likely be 55.
Johnston’s sentencing brings an end to the nightmare court ordeal for Kelly Wilkinson’s family, who have watched the man they once called Kelly’s husband progress through the courts since that fateful morning.
A trial was just weeks away before Johnston, a former US marine born in Ohio, pleaded guilty to his ex-wife’s murder in early February.
It followed instructions to his legal team late last year – one of which was he did not wish for his children to be cross-examined at any trial.
The horrifying timeline culminating in the life sentence can now be revealed, including bombshell details of the murderous ex facing further charges – alleged to have been committed against Kelly – in the District Court.
After Kelly and Johnston met online in 2011, she travelled to America to meet him.
After a whirlwind romance they were married. Their two eldest children were born in the US.
But just six years later Kelly returned to Australia with the children. She told Johnston she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him and did not want him to follow the family there.
Despite this, Johnston still followed her, desperate to reconcile the marriage.
He resorted to persuading Kelly’s brother-in-law and her father to sponsor him to travel to Australia, surprising his ex-wife in Queensland in July 2017.
For a time, the couple’s relationship settled; he moved into the family home and they had a third child together.
But this again became undone in 2021 when Kelly’s mother passed away.
She claimed Johnston was abusive and controlling towards her, saying she needed “space” and she did not want the relationship to continue.
Johnston moved out of the family home afterwards.
In March that year Kelly claimed to her family Johnston was abusive and controlling to her, detailing alleged instances of emotional, physical and sexual assault.
Johnston was charged by police in relation to these allegations. He has denied them and they are still before the District Court in Southport.
On March 31, 2021 a temporary protection order was made in the Southport Magistrates Court. Johnston was ordered not to approach or speak with his ex-wife.
Kelly was so fearful of him she even created a codeword with her family to let them know if she was in trouble by typing: “I’m considering moving back to Ohio”.
Two days before murdering Kelly, Johnston was drinking with a friend and told him: “If something happens to me, please will you be the one to tell everyone that I am a good person”.
“That is consistent with a plan to kill yourself and also consistent with a plan to kill your wife,” Justice Applegarth said in his sentencing remarks.
“It is unnecessary for me to find the latter because your deadly intent towards Kelly Wilkinson soon became evident from your actions.”
Over the days he had attempted to visit his GP due to his declining mental health. The court was told he had claimed to others he was feeling suicidal.
CCTV on the night of the murder captured Johnston making preparations for his heinous act, as he loaded the bag with his tools and the white powder.
He had told his mother – per his lawyer’s advice – he would go to jail on April 30 until the sexual assault case went to trial.
Johnston is also heard telling a friend he would not be at work the next day.
At 3am on the morning of the murder Johnston travelled to a petrol station at Coomera allegedly accompanied by a workmate, Bradley Bell.
Mr Bell allegedly filled up the car with petrol while Johnston filled the jerry can.
Mr Bell has also been charged with Ms Wilkinson’s murder and his case remains before the courts.
“You went to the vicinity of the family home at Arundel where you directed your associate to park at the end of the cul-de-sac,” Justice Applegarth said.
“You got out of the car, taking your camouflage bag and jerry can with you.”
Three hours later, Kelly would be dead.
The couple’s horrified children witnessed the act – one telling police they saw “daddy being bad” and saying “daddy came in and put mummy in the fire”.
Justice Applegarth said he could not be sure how Johnston precisely intended to kill his ex-wife and himself.
“The mask, the duct tape, the knives, and the petrol tell us that you had a premeditated plan to detain her and to kill her,” he said on Wednesday.
“You obviously wanted to silence her from being a witness in pending proceedings.
“You may have simply wanted to kill her because you had lost control of her and thought she should be your possession.”
But Justice Applegarth said Kelly was not Johnston’s to control. He said he ignored her dignity and autonomy, violating a clear court order designed to protect her.
“You brutally killed her in a sustained attack with knives and burnt her to death,” Justice Applegarth said.
“The impact on your many victims has been enormous, debilitating, and devastating.”
Multiple members of Kelly’s family attested to this, speaking of their profound grief at losing the beloved mum.
The court was told Johnston had a difficult upbringing – exposed to violence from a young age, witnessing suicides and killing during his tours of Iraq.
His barrister Kim Bryson said Johnston had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression but was late in seeking help.
While the life sentence may bring some closure to Kelly’s grieving family, it is not an end to their “immeasurable” pain.
Danielle Carroll, Kelly’s sister, said Johnston could still be free at age 55.
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“This is not justice for her, this is not justice for our family, and this is not justice for future victims in our community,” she said outside court following the sentence.
“Our family’s journey does not stop here today – it will never end.
“Which makes me question, who really gets the life sentence?”