R v Butler [2009] VSC 630

Supreme Court of Victoria|2009-12-15|Before: KING J

Murder, body destroyed, sentence 23 years, minimum of 20 years.

1 Lawrence Alexander Butler, you have been found guilty of the murder of Trevor John Tascas at Whittington, between the 5th and 12th day of October 2005. You pleaded not guilty and a trial was conducted. The matter was adjourned until 30 November 2009, at the request of your counsel, to enable a psychological report to be prepared.

2 You are currently aged 46 years of age, having been born on 17 October 1963 and your last occupation was as a safety consultant / trainer and you were residing at No.4 Thatcher Court in Whittington, the scene of the murder.

3 The deceased man, Trevor Tascas, was born in Geelong in January of 1978, the only son of Pamela Tascas and Joe Van der Weel. He went by the name of both Trevor Tascas and Trevor Van der Weel.

4 After leaving secondary school in Geelong, he went to Queensland for approximately a year, before returning back to Victoria and living mainly in the Geelong region. He began a relationship with a woman, by the name of Nicole Riley and together, they moved into a residential property at 338 Anakie Road in Norlane. That was a property owned by Trevor Tascas' uncle, Neil Grayson.

5 The circumstances under which they moved into the premises were, that the premises were being purchased by Neil Grayson and he was making the repayments on the mortgage. Trevor Tascas and Nicole Riley were to take over the repayments and continue to pay off the property, which they did for a while. After a period of time, Trevor Tascas became unemployed and the relationship with Nicole Riley broke down and he ceased making repayments on the mortgage.

6 The first that Mr Grayson became aware of this failure to make the repayments was, when he received notification from the bank that they intended to repossess the home. After a considerable deal of argument, between the deceased and Mr Grayson, his uncle reluctantly agreed to pay him a sum of around $30,000, for him to vacate the premises and allow his uncle to resume occupation of the premises, which was done ultimately, by his uncle's daughter.

7 It was around August of 2005 that he left those premises in Anakie Road and moved into premises, occupied by you, at 4 Thatcher Court in Whittington. You were residing there, in your mother's house, although your mother was not living there with you at the time.

8 In 2005 you began a relationship with a woman by the name of Jodi Harris, also known as Jodi Toulmin. Harris was her married name, having married Troy Harris in approximately March of 2004. That relationship had ended and during 2005 she commenced the relationship with you. You assisted Trevor Tascas to move into the premises at Whittington. Other friends of his and Jodi Harris were also present at the time of the moving.

9 The money paid to Trevor Tascas by his uncle, Neil Grayson, was paid in different amounts, over the period of time up until his death. Trevor Tascas moved into Thatcher Court, and at around the same time, he purchased a new motor vehicle, a 1994 Holden Calais sedan, which was maroon and silver. He purchased that from a man by the name of Abdul Allouche, and he was very attached to that vehicle. He was even more attached to his dog, a Jack Russell Cross which went by the name of "Lulu". Lulu, whilst originally belonging to Nicole Riley, was constantly in his presence and moved with him to Thatcher Court.

10 The weekend of the 7th, 8th and 9th of October, being the Friday, Saturday and Sunday in 2005, was the Bathurst weekend and on that weekend, on the Saturday, Jodi Harris came to visit you. When she came in she was wanting to have a shower, as she had stayed overnight at friends and had walked around to your house. She entered the premises and said that she wished to use the shower. You told her to wait a minute, which she did, but she eventually followed you down into the bathroom, where she saw, a white hessian type bag, which was in the shower recess, which you moved into the bath. She noticed that, there was blood coloured fluid leaking from the base of the bag. There was one white hessian type bag on the bottom and another had been placed over the top. They were recycling bags, similar to the ones, later found in your garage. You initially told Jodi Harris, that a mate had been fishing and the bag was full of fish.

11 After showering and drying herself, she left the bathroom and walked up the hallway, towards the bedroom that you shared with her when she was staying over.

12 In doing so, she walked past the bedroom of Trevor Tascas and noticed a bloodstained sheet, half on and half off his bed. After dressing, she went outside, out the front. She said, she had become concerned, with what she had observed. You also came out the front of the premises and you spoke to her. Her evidence of the conversation she had with you at this time, could be described as a little vague and hesitant, but she indicated that you had said to her, that there had been some sort of physical confrontation between you and the deceased and that it related to his non-payment of rent.

13 The deceased, at that stage, owed you some weeks rent payment. She made a comment to you along the line of "Is that Trevor in the bag?", to which you responded, "Well if you think that, you can come and help", or words to that effect. She then observed you, drag the bag out of the bathroom and into the yard at the rear of the premises, put the bag into a large barrel, which was in the backyard on the concrete. The barrel was similar to a 44 gallon barrel, with rusted parts around the area of the base, with holes in those rusted parts.

14 She initially said, she saw you attempting to light the article in the drum, by lighting some form of cloth, but later said, that she could not distinctly remember that occurring. She also noticed, in the area leading out to the back, a hacksaw that appeared to be bloodstained. She saw some smoke coming out of the barrel and she left the premises not long after that.

15 A couple of days later, Ms Harris returned to the premises and helped you empty the material, that was in the barrel into plastic bags. Her part was, sweeping up fragments of ash and bone, that were around the base of the drum, that had leaked or fallen out through the rusted holes in the base. She observed you place, what appeared to be the material in the barrel, ash and bone type material, into plastic bags. She saw you take the barrel and those plastic bags and place them into the boot of Trevor Tascas' car, which was still at your premises. Some of the other plastic bags, containing the ash, had been placed in the garbage bin at your premises.

16 After the barrel and bags were placed in the boot, you took Ms Harris home and then continued on, leaving her at her premises. You returned some hours later and she saw no further evidence of the barrel.

17 Some short time after this had taken place, a matter of a couple of weeks, you, together with Jodi Harris, drove to Queensland in the vehicle belonging to Trevor Tascas. On the way to Queensland, near the border, the vehicle broke down and a man, by the name of Wayne Patterson, came to assist you to get the car working again. He got the car going and you travelled in that vehicle with Jodi Harris, following Wayne Patterson to his premises in Queensland. You stayed there for a matter of a day, or days and when you left, you gave the vehicle to Wayne Patterson.

18 A matter of some weeks after you left, the vehicle, that you had given to Wayne Patterson, was involved in a motor car collision and was written off. That vehicle was the vehicle belonging to Trevor Tascas.

19 Subsequent to this, around July of 2006, Jodi Harris and her ex-husband, made two withdrawals from the account of Trevor Tascas, in the sum total of, approximately $11,000. That sum was, the amount that had been paid into Trevor Tascas' account by way of his pension payments, from the time he was last seen on 7 October 2005, until the date of the withdrawal, in August of 2006.

20 The dog, Lulu, the very close companion of Trevor Tascas, was given by you, to a woman by the name of Nicole Donaghy, in late 2005, with you telling her that Trevor Tascas had gone and would not be coming back, so she could keep the dog. You also gave away and sold, his furniture.

21 It is clear from telephone records, bank account records, Medicare records and many other checks made by the police, over the period that Trevor Tascas has been missing, that Trevor Tascas, has not been sighted or used any service since 7 October 2005, that is, the Friday before the Bathurst weekend. You gave away his dog, you sold his furniture, you gave away his car and, when interviewed by police, you told them a number of lies, in relation to what happened to Trevor Tascas, what happened to his furniture, what happened to his dog, his car, and similar matters.

22 You did not give evidence in the trial, and the evidence of Jodi Harris remains uncontradicted, in respect of her observations.

23 In relation to these matters, I am unable to say precisely how you murdered Trevor Tascas, in that there were no witnesses to the matter. There was no confession that was given in court and, the body of Trevor Tascas, I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt, was burnt and disposed of, preventing any forensic testing or examination of his remains.

24 It was submitted by your counsel, that I was not in a position to know precisely the circumstances in which you murdered Trevor Tascas and I would have to accept, that this was a murder at the lowest end of the spectrum, as a result. I do not agree. For a murder to be at the lowest end, of the range of murders available, there would have to be material that is put forward, that mitigates the actual murder itself. As an example, the mercy killing of a person in their nineties, who was but an hour away from death.

25 Equally, it cannot go at the highest end of the scale of murders, because I am unaware of any particular aggravating circumstances, such as, by way of example again, the murder of a child in a planned execution.

26 In my view, I must sentence you as though this is a murder, where there are neither mitigating nor aggravating factors, to the actual killing itself. The circumstances of the treatment and disposal of the body, post the murder are matters of aggravation, in terms of penalty.

27 You have no prior convictions, but your counsel has pointed out to me that you have a subsequent matter, which was the 9th September 2008, at the Magistrates' Court at Melbourne, for a count of theft, for which you were fined $250. That offence occurred in the company of Jodi Harris. That has no real significance and will not have any impact upon the sentence I impose today.

28 In terms of your personal circumstances, you were the fourth child of your father Victor, who was a widower with three children, prior to marrying your mother, Louise. Those children range in age from four to ten years older than you. Two years after your birth, your parents had another daughter, Katrina, who is your sister.

29 Your father died in 2007 aged 80 years and you did not have a particularly positive relationship with him. You believed he favoured his older children. Your two older brothers, Rodney, 53 years of age and, Paul 56, you described as, bullying you when you were younger.

30 You had a better relationship with your other half sister, Caroline, who is 50. Your sister, Katrina, is a single person and remains close to you.

31 You were educated at Drysdale Primary School and went to Queenscliff Secondary College before completing your Trade School course at Geelong Technical School, as a fitter and turner.

32 You had been actively involved with football and the scouts whilst growing up and although not having a particularly good relationship with your father, you said that you had a much older family friend, Francis Davies, who provided you with that nurturing male role.

33 You began your apprenticeship in Year 11 and you won awards in your first two years. By your third year you had started smoking cannabis and your results dropped off. You completed your four year apprenticeship at Brinton's Carpet Manufacturing business.

34 You met and married Danielle, a hairdresser and artist and together had three children. Tegan, aged 22, Callum, aged 20 and Leilani, aged 18. Your eldest son is a qualified chef, a second son is in the second year of his apprenticeship and your daughter has just completed her VCE.

35 You left Brinton's Carpet Manufacturers when you were around 25 years of age and went to Western Australia, on the basis that, you needed more money to support your family.

36 You returned to Geelong and worked as a contract fitter and turner for a period of time and then you became employed at Alcoa. You became a team leader there and ultimately worked your way into the area of environmental health, that is, Occupational Health and Safety.

37 After some 11 years at ALCOA, you moved into a business working in that area of environmental health. You left that business after two years and when you did, the business failed shortly thereafter.

38 This would have been the period 2000 to 2002 and since about 2003 you have worked on an on again, off again, basis with protracted periods of time on social security benefits.

39 After about 13 years in your relationship with your ex-wife Danielle, that relationship began to fail, you drifted apart, had a trial separation and never reconciled. She re-married approximately three years ago.

40 Although you have a reasonably good relationship with your children, there have been times, when you have had very little to do with them. There was a point in time in which you became quite heavily involved with amphetamine.

41 Unfortunately, on the plea, nothing was put to me about your drug use or its impact on you, as a person, at the time of the offending, prior to the time of the offending, or subsequent to the time of the offending.

42 The only real reference I have in respect to this is contained in the report of Michael Crewdson, psychologist where it states, at p.9, "The manic drive gave way to a deep depression, 'I just couldn't get out of bed. There wasn't a clean dish in the place. I had no motivation and I just wanted to sleep. Eventually, I saw a doctor, started on a round of anti-depressants.' He told me, he also started on amphetamines and 'they probably lifted me more than anything.' He said he worked 'sporadically as a sub-contractor, often supervising plant shutdowns and other maintenance.' He had a short-term contract at Karratha in Western Australia, but said that, he 'took up poker machines like another drug'. He said that for a couple of years up to 2004 he, 'Just didn't remember things. I know I spent a lot of time sitting in the pub till late at night.'"

43 I am aware that you had some fairly substantial involvement in amphetamines and potentially other drugs, which was material excluded from the evidence of Jodi Harris. As I have no further information provided, other than what is in the report by Mr Crewdson, I am unable to act on the basis of any real knowledge about your drug taking or drug involvement.

44 All of this is very concerning, when attempting to look at your prospects of rehabilitation. The only material available to me indicates, that this killing occurred in relation to your anger about the money owed to you by the deceased man, for rent. Whilst I am unaware of the precise manner in which you killed him, I am satisfied that subsequent to that killing, you cut the body into pieces and that you burnt those pieces and subsequently removed and distributed the ashes and bone, in a manner such that, they have not been found.

45 I have also had the advantage of observing the record of interview that you conducted with the police. It is chilling to watch. It indicates quite clearly that you were playing word games and attempting to outwit and, to a degree, patronise, the officers that were interviewing you, over this very serious matter. That interview does not assist you, in any way. It does not give me great comfort for your future, in terms of your rehabilitation.

46 The report of Mr Michael Crewdson indicates a past history of polysubstance abuse and one major depressive episode of some years ago, and that you are currently experiencing significant levels of anxiety and depression, which are reactive to your current situation. It would appear that you suffer from no psychological problems. Despite having no prior convictions and achieving the age that you have, before committing this offence, I am not very confident about your chances of long-term rehabilitation. There is no real explanation as to why you murdered Trevor Tascas and your behaviour, both immediately after the killing, with the destruction of his body, and the contemptuous manner in which, you used and dealt with his possessions, gives me real concerns as to your ability to change or modify your behaviour.

47 Whilst, when looking at the lack of prior convictions, this behaviour would appear to be out of character, it persisted for some time and without explanation.

48 There are four Victim Impact Statements in this matter, one from Trevor Tascas' mother, two from his sisters and one from his father. One of the features of anguish that they all talk about is, the inability to feel that this matter is over, as there is no body, no way of saying goodbye to Trevor. A memorial service has been held, but has failed to give the closure that any form of burial or interment would.

49 Nothing that this court does will ever replace the son and brother that these people have lost, but I will take into account their statements when determining the appropriate sentence.

50 As well as those factors personal to you, to which I have referred, I also have to take into account general and specific deterrence, both of which, in my view, have a great deal of relevance to this case. There is also the need to impose a just and appropriate sentence and to ensure that the sentence imposed is not crushing.

51 Taking into account all of those matters and the others to which I have referred, you are convicted on the one count of murder and sentence to be imprisoned for a period of 23 years.

52 I direct that you are to serve 20 years before becoming eligible for parole.

53 I declare the amount of time spent in pre-sentence detention is 524 days and that such be noted in the records of the court.

At a glance

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Judgment (55 paragraphs)

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