Brother of killer Wayne Marmo jailed for helping cover up Simone Quinlan murder
WHEN Simone Quinlan was shot and dumped in a mine shaft in rural Victoria, Luke Marmo jumped to action with all the tools required to cover it up.
A MELBOURNE man has been jailed for at least two years for his role in helping cover up the violent murder of a 33-year-old mother.
Simone Quinlan was viciously beaten by her boyfriend Brendan Neil at his Melton home in August 2015 before being loaded into Wayne Marmo’s ute and set on fire in a mineshaft near Bendigo.
Along the way, Wayne Marmo pulled over and shot Ms Quinlan in the head about five times.
It is unknown at which point she died.
During the attack, Neil phoned Wayne’s cousin Luke Marmo, now 26, who arrived at the property with a jerry can of fuel.
He placed the fuel in the back seat of the HiLux as Ms Quinlan was being loaded into the ute’s tray.
Luke Marmo then accompanied Neil, who went to a hotel to “put himself on CCTV”, before going to his girlfriend’s house and arranging to have his clothes burnt. The next day, Luke Marmo helped Neil sand bloodstains off his floor and used a blue light to see if any traces remained.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of assisting an offender.
In the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday, Justice Jane Dixon said Luke Marmo had a “strong loyalty” to Neil since his teenage years.
“You deliberately and knowingly chose to cover up a very grave crime,” she said. “You acted from a misguided loyalty to Brendan Neil and Wayne Marmo.” Justice Dixon sentenced Luke Marmo to four years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.
He has already served 291 days in pre-sentence detention.