R v Streeter
[2014] VSC 100
•19 March 2014
| IN THE SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised | |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
No. 0115 of 2013
| THE QUEEN | Prosecution |
| v | |
| ROSS JAMES STREETER | Accused |
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JUDGE: | LASRY J | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 2 December 2013 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 19 March 2014 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | R v Streeter | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2014] VSC 100 | |
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CRIMINAL LAW – Murder – Plea of guilty – Two motiveless murders – Victims are family members – Lack of memory of the crimes – Subsequent acceptance of responsibility – Plea of guilty to two counts - Remorse – Effect of lack of motive – General deterrence – Moral culpability – Totality.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown | Mr M. Rochford SC | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr M. O’Connell SC | Galbally & O’Bryan |
HIS HONOUR:
Ross James Streeter, on 23 September 2013 you pleaded guilty before me to two counts of murder. First, the murder of your father, Douglas Ivor Streeter, and, second, your uncle, John Walter Streeter. These offences took place on or about 14 March 2013 at a sheep grazing and wool production farm known as “Daisymont” in Natte Yallock which had been in your family for three generations. The bodies of your father and uncle were located by your mother at about 5.30pm on 14 March 2013. Both men had been shot to death with a shotgun. The maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment. I must now sentence you for these two crimes.
On 2 December 2013, I heard a summary of the case against you from senior counsel on behalf of the prosecution and submissions from senior counsel on your behalf and as to the sentence I should impose on you. Subsequent to hearing those submissions, I informed the parties that I was dissatisfied with the claim by you that you had no memory of the commission of the offence and also that I was concerned about the apparent lack of any motive you might have had to commit them. As a result I expressed the desire to engage another psychiatric professional to report pursuant to s 8A of the Sentencing Act 1991. On 20 February 2014 I received a report from Dr Douglas Bell who is a consultant psychiatrist and Assistant Clinical Director (Prison Operations) with Forensicare. On 7 March 2014 I was informed by email that the parties did not wish to make further submissions about that report. I will return to Dr Bell’s report shortly.
No issue has been taken on your behalf with the accuracy of the prosecutor’s opening presented on 2 December 2013. However, I have also had reference to the depositions in an effort to understand what occurred. That was necessary because of your claim, to which I have already referred, that you have little memory of what occurred. This case is very unusual for that reason and, further, because there is no discernible motive for you to have done what you did. Therefore, I must sentence you in the face of your claim to having little or no memory of the day’s events and you having offered no explanation for your conduct. The facts of what you did, however, demonstrate that there was a significant degree of premeditation for your actions.
The circumstances in which these tragic events happened are summarised as follows. Your father lived at Avoca and your uncle John lived alone on the farm. By way of background, the evidence indicates that in December 2012, your father, Douglas Streeter, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. That condition would have eventually taken his life. Your father and his brother John were the legal owners of the farm and they entered into a new partnership with you giving you a one-third share of all stock and equipment without the need for you to pay money in return. That agreement was signed by all parties on 13 February 2013. Approximately a week later, both Douglas and John Streeter made new wills revoking all existing wills and appointing you as an executor. The new will that had been created by John Streeter had not been signed, however, at the time of his death. You had married Lynden Frances Wright in December 2012. On 13 March 2013, you made contact with a property developer in relation to purchasing a block of land for you and your wife at Regent Park Estate valued at $189,000. Having described these background events, I do not understand that it is suggested by anyone that any of these matters had anything to do with what you did on 14 March 2013.
Coming then to the events themselves. On 13 March 2013, you contacted an associate of yours, a Mr Craig Fazulla, and asked if he wanted to earn some money the next day by assisting with sheep drenching. I infer that by this stage you had decided to kill the two deceased men. Fazulla agreed and at about 6.00am on 14 March 2013, the day of the killings, you picked him up from his home at Kangaroo Flats in your utility vehicle. You arrived at the farm at about 6.50am, having stopped for breakfast, and at about 7.25am you went to an area known as “The Creek”.
At “The Creek”, you asked Mr Fazulla to get out of the vehicle and you left him there alone for about 15-20 minutes. When you returned, you were, as he put it, “on edge”. You showed him a shotgun you had in the vehicle and you told him you “bopped” your uncle. Fazulla took this to mean that you had killed your uncle. In all likelihood, that conclusion was correct. You then told Fazulla not to touch the weapon, not to say anything and to take what you had told him to his grave. You drove to a shed, put some containers of drenching liquid in the utility and sprayed some around the tray. You then drove to another set of sheds and told Mr Fazulla to wait inside one of the sheds while you again drove off. You were gone for about 20 minutes and in this time Fazulla heard two shots fired which sounded like they were from a shot gun. When you returned, you were no longer on edge. This second incident represented the killing of your father.
You and Mr Fazulla then drove back through the property. At one point, you said to him, “This is where we were doing the work on the sheep”. You stopped at a dam and threw the shotgun and the shells into it. When you got back into the car, you told Fazulla not to say a word to anyone about what had happened. You described to him a version of events he was to give to police if asked. You said you would pay him up to $20,000. You drove to your home and changed your clothes, putting those you had been wearing in a plastic bag. You continued to drive and Fazulla disposed of the bag containing the clothes in a wheelie bin along the way. You made a couple of stops, dropped Fazulla at home, then returned to his home not long after 1pm and told him more information for the false account he was to give. You then attended a shop in Golden Square and purchased new work boots, asking that your old ones be destroyed. At some point in the afternoon, you called your mother and told her you were unable to contact your father. You also told your wife this and the two of you went to see the land you were considering purchasing at Regent Park before attending a Tavern and having a drink together.
Your mother, Helen Streeter, was concerned for the welfare of your father as he had not returned from the farm to their home in Avoca at the usual time. She drove to the farm to look for him and your uncle. She found your father, Douglas Streeter, lying outside the house in the vicinity of his motor vehicle. Your mother then went around the back of the house, and found your uncle lying on the ground near the rear alcove. Apparently believing they were both already dead, she rang 000. Each man had been shot to death with a shotgun. Leading Senior Constable Trimble of the Avoca police attended at about 6:00 pm and the saw the bodies of the two men who, to his observation, had been dead for a number of hours.
That evening, you were told there had been an incident at the farm. You were told to drive directly to the Maryborough Police Station as that is where your mother would be. With your wife driving, on your way to Maryborough, you took another phone call. This sent you into distress, you seemed to lose consciousness and self-awareness to the point that your wife called for an ambulance. The paramedics recognised signs of hyperventilation and took you to hospital. For a period of time at the hospital, you could not remember the evening’s events. Your memory slowly returned. When you were discharged, you attended the police station and in a police interview that commenced at 1.41am on 15 March 2013, you told police that you had been drenching sheep with Fazulla that day and had not seen your father and uncle. You gave a detailed description of the day you had on 14 March and concluded it by telling the police you did not know anything about what had happened.
The following day, Saturday 16 March, you commenced working on the farm with your brother Anthony Streeter. You told him you could not continue and left. You later sent him a text message saying, “I’ve gone to be with Dad and Jack. I’m up at the old water tower on the hill. Sorry, but I have to go. Look after mom, I’m sorry for what I have done.” You were found at the Water Tower with a deep laceration in your left wrist. It seems clear that you had made a serious attempt to end your life. You told your uncle Stuart Streeter who was there assisting you that it was you who had killed your father and uncle.
On Monday 18th March 2013, you were again interviewed and allegations were put to you including those that flowed from Craig Fazulla’s statement. You made no comment in answer to the questions from the police. You now maintain, to your family, to those around you including a psychologist and the prison chaplain, and the Court, that you cannot remember shooting your father and uncle.
Victim Impact Statements
Four victim impact statements were tendered on your plea. These statements came from:
· Anthony Douglas Streeter – your brother;
· Samantha Streeter – your brother’s wife;
· Elaine Odgers – the sister of the two deceased men;
· Stuart Streeter – the brother of the two deceased men.
The victim impact statement of your uncle and the brother of the deceased men was read to the Court by the prosecutor. The statement of Elaine Odgers, your aunt and the sister of the deceased men was also read to the Court. The statements of Anthony Streeter, your brother, and of his wife Samantha Streeter were also tendered. Your family has clearly been significantly affected by the loss of Douglas and John Streeter, by their murder and by their murder from one so close to them. Your actions have shattered the lives of those around you.
There is a continuing suffering for these people. The effect of what you have done will be life-long not only for you but for them. There is an air of desperate disbelief that you could have done what you did. A contented rural life has been all but destroyed for your family as a result of these events.
I have taken these victim impact statements into account in determining the sentence I should impose on you.
Seriousness of offending
This is an extraordinary case. As I have already said, your actions on 14 March 2013 are entirely unexplained by you. You now claim not to remember the events themselves and your motivation for the killing two members of your family is obscured.
I am however satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that your actions were deliberate, calculated and premeditated. The only intention for bringing Mr Fazulla onto the farm was to establish an alibi for yourself. To bring in and pay someone from outside the family to drench sheep was outside the practice of the farming business. That was an activity that you and your father would normally carry out.
Further, you left Mr Fazulla alone, without any explanation, almost as soon as you arrived at the property. You had a shotgun with you when you returned and said you had “bopped” your uncle which meant you had killed him . Of course, you did not at any stage attempt to drench any sheep. You told Mr Fazulla, not to tell anyone what had happened, gave him an alternative version of events to tell police and offered him $20,000. I am satisfied that the latest by which you had formed the intention to kill one or both of your father and uncle was from the time you picked up Mr Fazulla on the morning of 14 March 2013 but more likely when you offered him work the previous day.
After the killings, and for a period of 2 days or so, you attempted to conceal your involvement in the deaths of Douglas and John Streeter. On the day itself, you called your mother saying you were having trouble contacting your father on the phone and you said the same thing to your wife. You went about your usual business and your wife did not detect any change in your behaviour. You initially lied to police. I accept that you did not maintain this pretence for long, effectively admitting to the killings two days later. However, your conduct after the event speaks to the deliberateness with which these actions were carried out.
Personal Circumstances
You are now 31 years of age. You grew up in Avoca and had a happy family life. You report recalling your childhood fondly. You were part of a loving and caring family. There was no dysfunction. Your family was involved in community life – the church, the fire brigade, Landcare and so on. You played football. You went to school locally and left after Year 10. You attained a certificate in shearing and a qualification in wool classing. You worked as a shearer and on the family farm until you commenced working at the farm full-time in early 2013. There was some conflict with your uncle John over farming methods but this was managed and never included violence. When your father began suffering the effects of motor neurone disease, you and your family supported him and each other.
You started a relationship with the woman who was to become your first wife in about 2002. You married in 2005 and in February 2008 you had a daughter. You separated in 2009. You had issues with gambling and it seems you stole from those around you to support this habit. You have a finding of guilt for theft entered against you in 2009 that seems to be attributable to this issue. You seem to assign some responsibility for this behaviour and for the relationship breakdown to your wife suffering post-natal depression,[1] though there is evidence that your own conduct towards your wife’s family was a significant factor in the relationship ending.[2]
[1]Dr Lester Walton p3; Transcript p14
[2]Depositions p25
In 2007, you had suffered depression and saw a psychologist for a period of about 10 months. You were not medicated for this condition. Following the breakdown of your relationship and the consequences of your gambling addiction, you attempted suicide by staging a car accident. You stopped the car approximately 17cm away from a tree. Ultimately, you worked through your gambling addiction having sought counselling assistance. Thus, your criminal record consists of two court appearances. In 2009 you were dealt with in the Maryborough Magistrates Court for burglary and theft and fined without conviction. In April 2010, you were fined $1000 with conviction for indecent assault for an incident that arose while you drinking heavily. Those matters are of no significance in the sentence I will impose on you.
For the purposes of this case you were seen by psychiatrist Dr Lester Walton, who compiled a report on 7 October 2013. You told him you had a “patchy” recollection of the events, including no recollection at all of the acts of killing. You told him you were “massively” perplexed about the killings; that it was not a mercy killing and it was not for financial gain; and that you ruminate about the situation regularly. I would accept that financial gain would not have been a consideration for you. Though you had some past psychiatric history associated with a marriage breakdown, Dr Walton detected no psychotic disturbance or evidence of mental impairment in what was then a preliminary assessment. He could identify no psychiatric condition as a cause for or contributing to your actions and shared the “bewilderment” of others as to why this had happened.
Dr Walton was called to give evidence on your plea in response to an inquiry from me as to whether motiveless killings coupled with absence of memory were a phenomena known to the medical literature. In his evidence he said that none of the potential medical explanations for memory loss, such as a blow to the head, intoxication, epilepsy and so on, applied to you. He also said that patchy recollections of events which occur in states of high emotional and physiological arousal is not uncommon and this is reflected in the literature. However, given my conclusion that your conduct was premeditated and deliberate, high emotional arousal provides little explanation for your memory loss.
Dr Walton said that he had never seen a case like this – a double killing with no explanation. Looking for a positive, he suggested that the relative absence of previous worrisome behaviour is at least somewhat reassuring.
As I have earlier mentioned after hearing submissions in this matter on 2 December 2013, I requested a further report to try to solve the problem confronting me as a result of your apparent lack of motive for what you have done and your claimed lack of memory about the circumstances. On 20 February 2014 I received a most comprehensive and careful report from the consultant psychiatrist Dr Douglas Bell. I am most grateful for his efforts. His report informs me that you are cognitively intact and your mental state is normal.
Dr Bell said you do not suffer from any anxiety disorder and you are not depressed. Dr Bell is clearly dubious about your claimed lack of memory of what occurred. He referred to what he described as your “purposeful execution of a plan to commit murder and then set up an alibi”.
However, whether your claimed lack of memory is feigned as a protective measure seems ultimately to have relatively little significance and it has had no effect on the sentence I will impose on you. The Court and your family know what happened. You have pleaded guilty. On the more important issue of what drove you do this, Dr Bell cannot offer an explanation and so it remains a mystery.
Submissions
On your behalf Mr O’Connell first, properly accepted that there was a degree of planning in you committing these two crimes. I would agree with his submission that whilst there was planning it was certainly not well thought through. Yet at the same time, Mr O’Connell referred to you being close to your father and assisting him with his medical appointments for his diagnosed condition. You apparently had a more difficult relationship with your uncle however although not to the extent that anyone was concerned by it.
As I have said, the evidence demonstrates that two days after these murders, you made a serious attempt to take your own life having sent a text message which accepted responsibility for what you had done.
It was further submitted that you are genuinely remorseful and that you have been overwhelmed by the guilt, sadness and pain of what has occurred. The prosecutor indicated that the Crown accept you are remorseful. Mr O’Connell relied on the fact that you pleaded guilty at an appropriately early stage and that plea was entered once any issue regarding mental impairment had been eliminated. I accept that you are remorseful and that your plea of guilty is an indicator of that remorse. In addition, your plea has avoided the need for a trial which would have been a very difficult and traumatic experience for your family.
So far as your future rehabilitation is concerned, it was submitted, in effect, that your conduct since your arrest is something to consider on that issue.
Analysis & Conclusion
Murder is always an offence productive of human tragedy and heavy punishment. However, in this case the unusually concerning features are the fact that it is not one but two deaths coupled with your lack of apparent motivation and your claimed lack of memory of what occurred. The two killings were separated by a significant time which underlines the deliberateness of your conduct on each occasion. Your actions have imposed a complete tragedy on you, your family, people associated with your family and probably through the entire district in which you lived.
I am dubious about the genuineness of your claimed memory loss. There is no explanation for such significant memory loss covering such considered and deliberate conduct of relatively long duration. However, having said that, I could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that your memory loss is feigned and therefore I do not conclude that it results from an unwillingness on your part to accept what you have done. Indeed whilst maintaining your lack of memory you had done everything possible to accept responsibility for your actions.
I also accept that you are remorseful in the sense that you genuinely regret what you have done. Dr Walton described you as straightforwardly remorseful. A letter written by the Melbourne Assessment Prison chaplain recognises your grief and remorse. It is also evident in your correspondence to your mother that you are sorry for what you have done and the grief you have caused your family. Your attempted suicide and your plea of guilty also demonstrate your grief and remorse. Your absence of memory of the events, whether feigned or genuine, means that your regret for your actions is unaccompanied by any insight into your own behaviour and motivations. That is unfortunate.
It also complicates any assessment of your prospects for rehabilitation although in my opinion, and considering the highly unusual circumstances of this case and your personal history, your chances of re-offending after your eventual release are relatively low. Much will depend on whether you develop an insight to what occurred on 14 March 2013 and also the way in which your sentence is served. This accords with Dr Walton’s evidence that your personal history of recurring minor depressive episodes and minor history of antisocial behaviour counts positively towards your prospects for rehabilitation. However, without any explanation for your conduct, it is very hard to say this with any great confidence. I do acknowledge that you have undertaken to work with therapeutic staff to understand you emotions and motivations better and you have already undertaken courses in Coping with Change, Managing Sleep, Managing Worry, and Managing Loss.
Your moral culpability for these offences is not diminished because you had no obvious motive for what you did. Your lack of motivation also does not reduce the significance of general deterrence in the sentencing process - that is the importance of the community clearly understanding that actions of this kind will be met with very severe punishment.[3] In many senses, the horror of your crimes lies in the lack of motivation to inflict fatal injuries on two members of your close family.
[3]DPP v Cook (2004) 141 A Crim R 579
As I noted at the beginning, you pleaded guilty. To save your family and the community from a trial you could do no more than that. You entered your plea at an appropriate early stage when first presented before this court and you have made statements indicating that you were proposing to take such action as you could to accept responsibility for what you have done. Your plea of guilty is a sign of your remorse.
This is a case where the principle of totality requires me to review the aggregate sentence I will impose on you and consider whether the aggregate is ‘just and appropriate’[4] and is no more than is necessary to meet the objectives of criminal punishment[5]. Once the sentence satisfies the punitive and mitigatory sentencing objectives for your overall conduct, the sentence is then proportionate to your criminality.
[4]R v Mill (1988) 166 CLR 59
[5]R v Azzopardi [2011] VSCA 372 per Redlich JA
With those principles in mind your sentence will be as follows. On the first count of murder of John Walter Streeter you will be sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 20 years. On the second count of murder of Douglas Ivor Streeter you will be sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 20 years. I order that 14 years of the sentence on count 2 be served cumulatively with the sentence on count 1. That results in a total effective sentence of 34 years. I direct that you serve a period 25 years before being eligible to apply for release on parole.
I declare pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991 that but for your pleas of guilty the total effective sentence I would have imposed would have been a period of 37 years imprisonment with a minimum period to be served before being eligible to apply for release on parole of 28 years.
Your pre-sentence detention is 369 days including today, and I direct that this be reckoned as time already served and entered in the records of the Court.
The Crown have sought orders for retention of a forensic sample and disposal and forfeiture. They were not opposed on your behalf and I have made those orders today.
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