Inside the romantic obsession which led a woman to hatch a plot to kill her own mother
A woman was so obsessed with a married man she hatched a plan to brutally murder her own mum and fake a home invasion to get away with the “horrific” crime.
Warning: Graphic
A romantic obsession with a married man led a woman to hatch a plan to brutally murder her own mother and fake a home invasion to try and get away with the “shocking” crime two decades ago.
Almost 20 years to the day, 56-year-old Irene Jones was murdered just hours after going for a birthday dinner with her daughter, who was on Wednesday sentenced to prison for her role in the violent killing.
Isabela Camelo-Gomez faced the NSW Supreme Court dressed in her prison greens tracksuit pants and hoodie with her long red hair tied up in a black scrunchie.
The 48-year-old, who was just 27 when her mother was murdered, had pretended she was also attacked by a “blonde intruder with a stocking on his head”.
It would be 18 years before she was finally arrested over her role in hatching the murder plot, with the cold-case finally coming to an end this week.
THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER
Just hours before Mrs Jones was killed, she enjoyed a dinner with Camelo-Gomez to celebrate her 56th birthday.
During her sentencing, Justice Helen Wilson told the court Camelo-Gomez claimed she was in the shower before she was also assaulted by a “blonde intruder” who had a stocking on his head.
After responding to Camelo-Gomez’s triple-0 calls, officers discovered Ms Jones, 56, lying face down on her kitchen floor.
Mrs Jones was lying in a pool of blood after she was strangled and stabbed.
Justice Wilson told the court a ligature was pulled over the woman’s head and pulled tight.
She said the strangulation “probably led quickly to unconsciousness” before Mrs Jones was stabbed in the neck “likely with a knife”.
“She died on the floor from combined effects of ligature strangulation and the stab wound inflicted upon her,” Justice Wilson told the court.
“In the seconds before she lost consciousness she must have been bewildered, shocked then when she realised what was taking place, terrified.”
THE FAKE HOME INVASION
A bloodstained Camelo-Gomez ran from the Lansvale home claiming her mother had been attacked and she would continue to maintain the same false narrative for the next 20 years.
Justice Wilson told the court Camelo-Gomez “went about the house opening drawers and moving stuff around to show it was a robber”.
“The attempt was a clumsy one,” the judge said.
“There was no sign of forced entry, no claim to fight for her life from an intruder, no signs of theft with valuable items including a handbag left in plain sight.”
THE WALK-THROUGH VIDEO
Days after the brutal killing, she even walked police through the home she shared with her mother, with video showing a near-catatonic Camelo-Gomez breaking down in tears repeatedly.
She described the moment she was getting out of the shower and realised there was an invader in her home.
“He’s here …” she whispered before jumping with fright as the wind blew open a creaky door.
The officer assures her there is no one else in the house and Camelo-Gomez cries, saying she was attacked by the intruder.
Camelo-Gomez is shown leading officers through the house, having panic attacks and talking with a quiet, monotone whisper while clutching the hand of a woman who is not identified.
A SUSPECT FOR 18 YEARS
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) earlier this year revealed NSW Police considered Camelo-Gomez a suspect just three days after her mother was killed.
An inquest into Mrs Jones’ death in November 2007 found the identity of her killer could not be determined, with the coroner finding the evidence fell short of the criminal standard.
However the inquest identified Camelo-Gomez and her lover, Carlos Camelo, as persons of interest.
The case then ended up on the desk of the Unsolved Homicide Team (UHT), where it was shuffled in with up to 700 other cold cases being reviewed and rechecked.
Ms Jones’ death remained with the UHT until 2013 as police had turned their attention to an infamous spate of bombings in the 1980s.
The investigation sucked up so much of the unsolved homicide team’s time that cases like Ms Jones’ death sat idle for years, the CCA appeal found.
It wasn’t until September 2018 that detectives from the Unsolved Homicide Unit arrested Camelo-Gomez outside a unit at Bondi Junction, after concluding she had faked the home invasion.
She was charged with murder.
THE LOVER
During her Supreme Court trial earlier this year, Crown prosecutors alleged Camelo-Gomez killed her mother because she stood in the way of her relationship with Carlos.
The court heard she was obsessed with the married man and showered him with gifts such as a car all while living with her mother.
Prosecutors also claimed Camelo-Gomez had travelled to Columbia to marry Carlos’ brother, Cesar, in a “sham marriage” for visa reasons. Camelo-Gomez denies her marriage was disingenuous.
While Camelo-Gomez denied having anything but a friendship with Carlos, evidence at the trial found this to be a false claim, Justice Wilson said this week.
“Evidence pointed not just to an intimate relationship between the offender and Carlos, but to an obsession on the part of the offender for him,” Justice Wilson said.
“That Mr Camelo did not reciprocate her feelings is equally clear.
“Although it is not necessary to determine it, it is very likely that the wedding dress the offender purchased from Park Avenue Bridal Boutique, with payments against the purchase made between June and November 2000, was intended by her for what she hoped would be her marriage to Carlos Camelo, necessarily after a divorce from his wife, Paolo Camelo.”
The court was told Mrs Jones did not like the relationship her daughter was having with a married man, especially when Camelo-Gomez asked her to sell her house to give them $20,000 so Carlos could begin a business.
A witness told the court Mrs Jones was “upset” because “the house was all she had”.
THE PLAN
Justice Wilson told the court Camelo-Gomez and her lover “planned to kill Mrs Jones” so they could obtain control of her assets, notably the property.
While it was not possible to say definitively which of the two conceived the plot, Justice Wilson pointed to Carlos’ “manipulative and devious intentions to extract money from the Jones family”.
She said it was “likely” Carlos who suggested the 56-year-old be killed.
Carlos has never been charged over Mrs Jones’s murder.
“In the offender’s strong feelings for Carlos the plan to kill her mother orchestrated,” Justice Wilson said.
“It is likely that the plan began as no more than fanciful discussions, initiated by Camelo but, at some point, and by no later than the evening of 2 November 2001, when Camelo travelled to the Lansvale area, the plan to kill Irene Jones solidified.”
During the trial, prosecutors told the court Camelo-Gomez chose to “put the plan into action” on the afternoon of November 2 when she learned her neighbours would not be home that evening.
Justice Wilson was “satisfied to the criminal standard” Carlos was present at the time of the murder, pursuant to a joint criminal enterprise between the two to murder Mrs Jones.
THE MURDERER
Justice Wilson told the court the evidence did not establish whether Carlos or Camelo-Gomez was the assailant, or whether they both played an active role in inflicting the fatal injuries.
“It is reasonable to infer that it was Camelo who physically strangled and stabbed Mrs Jones, with the offender present and able to assist, pursuant to the enterprise,” she said.
The court was told Carlos had “already demonstrated a willingness” to resort to violence and had no “long term” connection to Mrs Jones.
Justice Wilson found he was likely to have been “far more comfortable” in inflicting violence.
While neither the ligature used to choke Mrs Jones or the knife used to stab her were located, with Justice Wilson saying it was likely that Camelo “disposed” of them.
“It is most unlikely he will ever face justice,” Justice Wilson told the court, as he suffers from a traumatic brain injury.
“SHOCKING MURDER”
Justice Wilson said a feature which made the murder “so shocking” was that it was planned and carried out “by her own beloved daughter”.
“Mrs Jones was violently killed in what should have been the safety of her own home, by someone she trusted entirely, for reason no better than romantic obsession and associated greed,” Justice Wilson said.
Camelo-Gomez effected an “elaborate deception on authorities, family and friends” to obfuscate her crime, Justice Wilson said.
The motivation for the murder was mainly financial, but was driven by her desperation to please Carlos and “keep him by her side”.
“Matricide is a rare crime,” Justice Wilson said.
“It is one to which a particular degree of horror attaches because it breaks the ordinary bonds of love and gratitude that typically exist between mother and child.
“It is a crime that all right thinking members of the community view with great aversion, and vigorously decry.”
VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT
During a sentence hearing in October, Keith Sheldrick delivered a victim impact statement on behalf of Ms Jones’ family, saying the pain and heartbreak of having a loved one murdered inside her own house still resonated more than 20 years on.
He said the family would, for the rest of their lives, carry with them the images of the house where Ms Jones was strangled and stabbed in the neck twice.
“It’s very hard to describe how hard it was to visit the scene and last resting place of a murdered loved one,” Mr Sheldrick told the court.
“After all this time, I still struggle and cannot get the words out to succinctly verbalise it.
“What we saw was a lot of blood. A pool of dark, red blood all over the kitchen, on the cupboards and on the floor.
“For a while, we just felt so numb and questioned whether it was even real. Ultimately, the scene that day was implanted forever.”
Outside court on Wednesday, Mr Sheldrick told media it had been a “very difficult and emotional time” for the family but Mrs Jones can “rest in peace now that justice has been effected”.
20 YEARS BEHIND BARS
Witnesses who attended Mrs Jones’ funeral gave evidence they had heard the offender say, “Oh Mum, I’m so sorry, it was never meant to go that far.”
Justice Wilson found this to be “genuine remorse” but said Camelo-Gomez had not shown any ongoing remorse.
There was also no evidence of Camelo-Gomez’s contrition or insight into her offending.
When the Supreme Court jury handed down the guilty verdict, Camelo-Gomez told her lawyer the jury got it “wrong” and expressed disbelief.
This week the court was told Camelo-Gomez had “good prospects” of living a law-abiding life in the future.
Justice Wilson sentenced Camelo-Gomez to 20 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 14 years, describing Camelo-Gomez’s role as having a “particular degree of horror”.
She did not react when told of her sentence.
The sentence was backdated to May, meaning she will be eligible for parole in May 2036. The maximum term expires in 2042.
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