Brutal Assault in Swan Hill

 A 65 year old man was beaten to death in his own home.

Crime: Murder and theft

Occurred: 28 September 2011


Where: Harrisen Crescent, Swan Hill

Sentenced: 6 February 2013

Convicted: Darren Williams

Victim: Gary John Beggs

What happened?
Darren and Gary became acquainted in Bendigo when Darren asked Gary for a lift to Swan Hill for $20.  Gary obliged.  Six days later, over a cask of wine with his friend Kim (who happened to live on the same street as Gary), Kim told Darren that Gary was gay and was involved in a dispute with Kim over some money that she owed him.
Darren was disturbed at hearing this news, and as more people came to the premises that day for a party, he was heard by witnesses to make threats that he was "going to do the old fella over".
The party finished up at midnight but Darren stayed up and continued drinking.  Eventually, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and walked down the road to Gary's house.
Shortly before the attack, Darren became convinced that Gary had sexually assaulted him.
Gary was in his lounge room when Darren stabbed him in such a frenzy around the chest and face that the knife broke off after becoming stuck in Gary's right eye.  Darren also dropped a stone statue on Gary's head, fracturing his skull.
Gary died of head and chest injuries.
Following the murder, Darren stole Gary's Toyota station wagon and dumped it in Dareton, New South Wales.

Victim's background
Gary was 65 years old when he was killed.  He is survived by his intellectually disabled 11 year old son, Nathan.  Nathan's mother left the family when he was three years old, and he was raised by Gary until he was 8 and then placed into the care of the Department of Human Services.  Nathan looked forward to his father's visits, and since his father's death has regressed.
Gary also left behind a brother in Austria.

Convicted's background
Darren was 37 years old at the time of the murder.  He was one of nine kids.  Darren was sexually abused as a child.  He told police that Gary had also sexually assaulted him, though he was unable to convince the sentencing judge on a balance of probabilities that this was the case.
Darren's mother died of cancer when he was 11, and his father died of diabetes-related complications when Gary was 35.  Gary was of Aboriginal, Afghani and Irish origin and identified as Aboriginal.  He spent most of his life at the Manatjira Mission in Dareton, New South Wales.
Darren dropped out of school around year 10, and worked seasonally in number of jobs including woodcutting and fruit picking.  He became an alcoholic by the time he was 18, and continued to abuse alcohol up until the murder.  Throughout the years he incurred a string of violent convictions dating back to when he was 21, spending over 5 (non-consecutive) years in prison.
He has a daughter who lives with her mother.

Outcome of trial:  Although Darren initially pleaded not guilty to the murder, he changed his plea to guilty and there was no need for a trial.

Sentence:  Darren was sentenced to 14.5 years imprisonment before eligible for parole, 17.5 years maximum. Darren served 494 days of his sentence while in remand.

You can read the judgment here, and media articles here and here.

The township of Swan Hill (source)