Teen murderers handed 26-year prison terms

Stolen cannabis was the motivation for the ‘tremendous cruelty’ and murder of 18-year-old Launceston man Billy Ray Waters.

Murder victim Billy Ray Walters' Grandmother Denise Waters outside Launceston Supreme Court.

TEENAGE murderers William Adair Rothwell and Jacob Michael Brennan were both handed 26-year prison terms in the Launceston Supreme Court yesterday for their roles in the killing of 18-year-old Launceston man Billy Ray Waters.

Justice Robert Pearce said the pair were both aged 17 when the crime was committed in August last year, but the crime’s severity had prompted him to waive the ban on the publication of juvenile criminals’ names in their case.

Justice Pearce said Mr ­Waters’ murder had been committed “for trivial and dishonourable reasons” and the boys had planned it days in advance, which had put it among the most serious crimes committed in Tasmania.

Billy Ray Waters was killed for a trivial reason.

He said the motivation for the murder appeared to have been the theft of cannabis from an unidentified dealer, to whom Rothwell had been close.

Justice Pearce said the dealer had asked Rothwell if he knew of anyone who could kill Mr Waters. He said Rothwell had approached Brennan about killing Mr Waters, and that Brennan had “agreed”.

Justice Pearce said the pair’s initial plan had been to invite Mr Waters to go camping with them near Bridport, then to kill him using a single barrel shotgun while he was sleeping.

But after stealing a car and driving to a campsite with Mr Waters, they had not followed through, because Mr Waters had not gone to sleep.

He said the pair’s ultimate murder plan had involved a rendezvous with Mr Waters, at a hiding place for a stolen car, near Mayfield.

“Brennan fired the gun, hitting Waters in the upper leg,’’ he said.

Justice Pearce said the gun had jammed, preventing Brennan from firing a second shot.

He said Mr Waters, injured and “screaming for assistance”, was instead stabbed by Brennan 18 times.

Justice Pearce said Rothwell also attacked Mr Waters with a wooden baton, while Brennan succeeded in unjamming the gun.

He said Mr Waters had then received a fatal shot to the head. “Both accused the other of firing the fatal shot,’’ he said.

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Justice Pearce said Mr Waters had been subjected to “tremendous cruelty” and his body had been found at the crime scene by a Police and State Emergency Service search party.

He said significant mitigating factors including the boys’ willingness to admit to their crimes and their youth, had prompted him to reduce the minimum jail time that they could spend without parole by two years, to 15 years.

After sentencing, Mr Waters’ grandmother Denise Waters said drugs were largely to blame for her much-loved grandson’s murder and that she felt some sympathy for his killers.

“Justice has been done … but it’s two young fellas and, when all is said and done, it’s the dope that’s a big part of the problem,’’ she said.

“Shock … I just didn’t know that the boys would lose so much of their life … I hadn’t even thought of it before.”