Shaun Robert Sturgess found guilty for murder of wife Jacqueline Sturgess in Narangba home
The murder of a woman by her ex-husband with a sledgehammer was another example of “unnecessary” domestic violence, a judge has declared.
A man who bludgeoned his estranged wife to death by striking her in the back of the head with a 1.8kg sledgehammer intended to murder her, a jury has found.
Shaun Robert Sturgess was found guilty by a jury to a single count of murder in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday.
The jury had spent about 2.5 hours deliberating their verdict.
His plea to the alternative count of manslaughter was rejected by the Crown on Monday.
The Crown alleged Sturgess murdered his estranged wife, Jacqueline Sturgess, by hitting her in the back of her skull with the sledgehammer at their Narangba home north of Brisbane on April 18, 2020.
The court was told Mrs Sturgess, 45, had previously arranged to come to the family home to collect property, including a desk and some jewellery, when she was killed.
Sturgess had then left her bloodied body for nearly a day while he went to a bottle shop and later a friend’s house to keep drinking, the court was told.
Justice Sullivan ordered Sturgess to serve life in prison – the maximum sentence for murder.
He will serve 20 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Justice Sullivan said “nothing justified” Mrs Sturgess’ death.
“Your actions were completely excessive and unjustified. What occurred on that day should never have occurred,” he said.
“Domestic violence is despicable. Here, a woman and a mother is unnecessarily dead and you’ll spend a remainder of a portion of your adult life in jail.”
Mrs Sturgess’ 80-year-old father, Robert Fitzsimmons, shared his heartbreak at losing his youngest daughter in a victim impact statement read out in court by Mr Cook on Thursday.
“All my life I’ve been a simple man, I’ve served my country and the people of this country,” Mr Fitzsimmons wrote.
“Now I’m broken-hearted and feel a total failure because I was unable to protect the one I loved, my beloved Jacqui.”
Mr Fitzsimmons said his daughter had helped him overcome the “traumas of war” by helping overcome his alcohol abuse and smoking.
“She promised her mother (on her deathbed) she would care for her father until his passing,” he said.
“My life is now empty as I sit waiting for her car or the phone to ring for her voice that never comes.”
Outside of court, Mr Fitzsimmons said the trauma he experienced getting the phone call his daughter was killed was like “being sent back to Vietnam again”.
“I’m very sad about my daughter’s death but very happy about the outcome (of the trial),” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
Mr Fitzsimmons said the level of domestic violence gripping the country was “despicable”.
“Women don’t need this. There’s other ways to overcome these problems, not with domestic violence,” he said.
Following the guilty verdict, Mr Cook said Sturgess had used “severe force” to kill Mrs Sturgess, “left her for dead” and showed” no efforts to assist her”.
“He himself spoke about having a cowardly rage,” Mr Cook said.
“This was a horrible incident of domestic violence. Domestic violence is scourge that continues to plague the Australian community.”
Mr Wilson said his client had always showed regret for killing his estranged wife, which was shown by his plea to manslaughter.
“He expressed his remorse often,” Mr Wilson said.
“He was a man who at the time was in a state of declining mental health, quite serious depression.
“(He was) certainly someone who was not able to cope.”
During the trial, the jury heard evidence that Mrs Sturgess has spoken to a solicitor hours before she died who had informed her that she was most likely entitled to a 60/40 spilt of assets in her favour if she divorced her husband.
The pair had previously discussed a 50/50 split.
Crown prosecutor Chris Cook told the jury that the new suggested arrangement would mean
Mrs Sturgess could also have a claim to Sturgess’ prized Monaro muscle car.
The Crown alleged the pair had discussed this new suggested arrangement and child support when Mrs Sturgess arrived at the house.
“You know they must have talked,” Mr Cook told the jury in his closing statements on Wednesday.
“We have Shaun Sturgess’ version about how he says they talked before he killed her.
“Their property settlement was discussed, child support and that prized Monaro.
“He will no longer receive a 50/50 split and his Monaro was now to be considered in the split (which) set his temper off.
“It seems he couldn’t handle things out of his control, he was a volatile man.”
Defence Barrister, Chris Wilson, who acted for Sturgess during the trial, had told the jury his client had “struggled with alcoholism”.
Mr Wilson said his client had not intended to kill Mrs Sturgess when he struck her with the sledgehammer.
Mr Wilson said when Sturgess struck his wife it wasn’t the action of a cold blooded killer but instead a “hot blooded” act out of anger.
“This is a man who is acting impulsively without any intent at all,” he said.
During the trial, the jury heard a recorded police interview with Mr Sturgess, where he had told police he’d knew he’d killed her when he hit her with the sledgehammer.
“She just dropped like a bag of sh-t,” he said in the recorded police interview.
“I just started doing laps uncontrollably, the blood just kept rolling.
“The way she fell, it was like she was shot.
“I was f – ed, I didn’t know what to do.
“I’m so serious, it f – ked me instantly.
“I was thinking I’m f – ked, just my whole life, … I’ve just let so many people down.”
In the recording, Sturgess told police he’d become angry because of a discussion around family finances and child support, the jury had heard during evidence.
“It was money orientated, and I lost my sh-t because I worked so hard … so f – king long,” he can be heard in the recorded police interview.
“She had access to everything of mine, I’m the d – khead here, I let my guard down too long ago and it’s bit me on the arse really, really bad.”