Gas Bottle Dispute in Goroke - Pregnant Woman Murdered

A 35 year old woman died from a gunshot wound intended for her fiance.

Crime: Murder and reckless conduct endangering life

Occurred: Sunday, 12 February 2012

Where: Goroke

Sentenced:  27 March 2013

Convicted:  Michael Terrence Kelly

Victim: Julie-Anne Trenery-Rogers

What happened?
Michael had a friend who died of an epileptic seizure in January 2012.  Michael became angry when later in the same month his son informed him that he had seen a man named Peter Brown taking items from the deceased friend's house.

Michael rang the police and then drove to Peter's house in Goroke with the intention of "giving him the hiding of his life".  Peter wasn't home but Michael did notice a 45 kilogram gas bottle in the yard, which he believed was taken from his deceased friend's house.

A little later, on 11 February, at somebody else's house, an altercation occurred between Michael's wife, Michael's son and Peter Brown.  Peter yelled "I'm going to kill someone, it's going to be another Horsham incident" (referring to this murder that occurred the day before).

Michael's wife later reported the incident to Michael, who was incensed.  He rose the next morning and began drinking at 10am, continuing throughout the day.  At 8:30pm he grabbed his .22 rifle and set off for Peter's house.

Police attend at Peter Brown's property (source).

Upon arriving, he fired off a shot through the front window and then forced his way into the house through the locked back door.  As he entered, Peter ran down the hallway to the front door.  Between the two men stood Julie-Anne, Peter's fiance, who cried out, "Don't do it!"

"Shut up, slut," Michael said, before firing off another shot at Peter.  The bullet entered Julie-Anne's back and pierced her heart, killing her at the scene.

Meanwhile, Peter was hiding at the back of his property.  After an unsuccessful search, Michael fired one more shot into Peter's car before driving away.

Victim's background
Julie-Anne was 35 years old and 20 weeks pregnant when she died.  She had another five children, aged from 20 months up to 14 years.  She was engaged to marry Peter Brown.  Julie-Anne's mother and brother have since had to rearrange their lives in order to care for the five children.  One of Julie-Anne's sons wrote in his victim impact statement, "There is only one Mum in the world for a child".  One of her daughters also wrote "Everything I pictured with Mum I don't picture anymore and I struggle to see my future".

Julie-Anne (source).

Convicted's background
Michael was around the age of 47 years old at the time of Julie-Anne's murder.  He grew up in Adelaide and was gang raped in Canberra at age 15.  He left school in Year 10 and subsequently held a number of jobs in manual labour and as a tattooist.

He has a history of poor health, suffering from three heart attacks since the mid-1990s.  He also had sciatica since 1995 and around 1998 contracted a post-surgical infection following carpal tunnel surgery.  He has been on a disability pension since 1995.  He also describes himself as an alcoholic.

Michael Drummond (source).

His first marriage ended after his wife cheated on him with his brother.  In response, Michael set the family home on fire and was convicted for arson.  Since then, he remarried and has five children.

He also has prior convictions for offences relating to dishonesty and property damage.

Outcome of trial: Michael pleaded guilty so there was no need for a trial.

Although he did not intend on killing Julie-Anne, he was nevertheless charged with murder because in Victoria, a person who unintentionally kills another in the course of a violent crime is liable to be convicted of murder as if they had done so intentionally.  This is sometimes referred to as statutory murder.  Michael's lack of intent remained relevant, however, when determining the appropriate sentence.

Sentence: 16 years before eligible for parole (19 years maximum), with over a year already served while on remand.

You can read the judgment here.  News articles are available here, here and here.