Darren John Chalmers: self-described ‘monster’ handed two life sentences over unexplained murders

A self-described “monster” will likely die in jail after the unexplained killings of two women 27 years apart.

A “troubled” double murderer has been told he will likely die in jail after he confessed his role in the cold-case strangling of a young Geelong mother to undercover police operatives.

Darren John Chalmers, 56, returned to the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday where he was handed his second life sentence for the murder of Annette Steward in 1992.

The killer, who begged the court to never release him at a hearing last month, will be eligible for parole in 2059 at the age of 92.

“No parole for 40 years, not 20, not 30; please 40 years-plus, I think I deserve it,” he wrote in a one-page letter to the court, describing himself as “evil”.

Chalmers (left) was handed a second life sentence for the murder of Annette Steward. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

The court was told Chalmers had been handed a life sentence with a 20-year minimum in 2021 after bashing his neighbour Dianne Barrett, 60, to death in Perth two years earlier.

Sentencing Chalmers, Justice Andrew Tinney said the two crimes, separated by 27 years, showed Ms Steward’s murder was not an “isolated foray into serious and inexplicable criminality”.

Instead, he said, it was the conduct of a “troubled and very dangerous individual” which Chalmers continues to be.

“Your murder of Ms Steward, far from being an isolated, one-off event, was the act of a dangerous young man who by his subsequent actions, showed himself years later to remain a violent and dangerous person who places no value on the life of another,” he said.

“You were, in 1992, and remain to this day, a grave danger to the community.”

Ms Steward was strangled to death in March 1992 after inviting Chalmers inside. Picture: Supplied.

Chalmers strangled Ms Barrett in an unprovoked attack after inviting her into his home for tea. Picture: Supplied/ The West Australian

The court was told Chalmers first met the mother-of-two hours before he murdered her after attending her Geelong home with Ms Steward’s boyfriend for a coffee.

He then turned up on her doorstep later the same day saying he had “no one to celebrate his birthday with”.

The pair drank for a bit before Ms Steward left for bed, allowing Chalmers to sleep on the couch.

But an hour later he rose and beat the sleeping woman unconscious with an iron before strangling her with an extension cord.

Despite a significant investigation at the time, no one was charged and the case went cold.

Chalmers, who moved to Perth in 2012 and was working as a gardener, was identified as a suspect in 2019 and Victorian homicide detectives teamed up with their WA counterparts for a four-month undercover operation.

Chalmers (left) was extradited to face court in Melbourne in March this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Homing to secure a “significant financial benefit”, the court was told, Chalmers made a “detailed” confession for both Ms Steward and Ms Barrett’s murders, even leading police to Ms Barrett’s body.

Chalmers, who has never given a reason for either murder, told a psychologist he believes he is a “monster”.

“I’m a monster, only a monster would do what I did,” he said.

“I need to live with what I did. I will suffer (from) the consequences. I’m ashamed.

“For the family that I destroyed, I should get as much time as possible. I took her away from her family.”

When pressed by police for why he killed Ms Steward, Chalmers claimed he had no idea, saying; it “just happened”.

Originally published as Darren John Chalmers: self-described ‘monster’ handed two life sentences over unexplained murders