Killer son Mitchell Perks denied mum’s life insurance

Teenage killer Mitchell Perks has been found to be ineligible for a life insurance payout after stabbing to death his mother and sister.

Ebonie Perks and her mother, Melanie.

Queensland teenage killer Mitchell Perks has been found to be ineligible for a life insurance payout after stabbing to death his mother and sister.

Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop said in a judgment that he wanted to see whether the insurance funds could be used for Perks’s benefit, “for instance, for the funding of psychiatric help, given his mental health and the burden of the guilt that may now lie upon him”.

Perks was 16 when he killed his mother, Melanie Perks, and 12-year-old sister, Ebonie, in the family’s home in Toowoomba in January 2014.

He had schizophrenia and a significant history of psychiatric problems dating back to when he was four. After pleading guilty to manslaughter, he was sentenced as an adult to nine years’ imprisonment. Melanie Perks had a life ­insurance policy with insurer Swiss Re, which paid out half the amount, $57,881, to the Public Trustee, as Ebonie’s share of the proceeds.

However, it was less clear what should happen to the other half, which under the will was due to go to her son.

Killers generally forfeit any entitlement to inherit from their victims, under a rule designed to stop them profiting from taking someone’s life.

But Chief Justice Allsop said there were conflicting views on whether the rule applied in manslaughter cases, with Victoria’s Court of Appeal stating in one ­decision that it was to be ­approached case by case.

He sought assistance from the Queensland bar on the issue, asking how the money should be distributed and the extent of his discretion to apply the forfeiture rule.

Bar Association of Queensland president Rebecca Treston provided submissions pro bono.

“Mrs Perks’s last will gave the whole of her estate to her children equally,” the Chief Justice said, in a judgment published last month.

“Thus, subject to the order of the court and the forfeiture rule, Mitchell Perks was entitled to half of the estate of his late mother (whom he had unlawfully killed).”

Chief Justice Allsop found Perks’s mental illness diminished his criminal culpability, but did not remove it completely. “In these circumstances, the criminal culpability for the violent death of Mrs Perks must ­attract the operation of the forfeiture rule,” he said.

Melanie Perks’s estate was to be distributed to her parents, Mary and Kevin Perks.

“If the funds are to be used in any respect for the health or benefit of Mitchell, it is for his grandparents to decide such matters,” Chief Justice Allsop found.

Sentencing judge James Douglas said the case involved “tragic circumstances”, with Perks admitted to a mental health unit for 15 days in August 2013 with homicidal thoughts towards his mother and sister. He had subsequently ceased taking medication, which had been supported by his mother at the time.

After killing his mother and sister, he phoned triple-0 and ­requested an ambulance and police, telling the operator he had stabbed the pair and both were dead.