Pig farmer Keith Cini was killed in 2014
An ice-addict who brutally beat a Sydney pig farmer to death with a pick handle in a violent home invasion has been jailed for at least 36 years.
Ryan David Evans, 29, was found guilty in May of a string of offences related to two home invasions including the murder of Keith Cini, 69, at his Badgerys Creek home in the early hours of May 30, 2014.
In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Robert Allan Hulme set a maximum term of 48 years describing the murder as a ‘cowardly, violent and shameful attack’.
Formerly a showjumper who won a scholarship to study horse management, Evans developed a drug habit that saw him consume 2 grams of ice every day.
New South Wales Supreme Court sentenced Ryan David Evans, 29, to 36 years behind bars
Evans developed a drug habit that saw him consume 2 grams of ice every day, the court heard
‘Drugs took over my life,’ Evans told the NSW Supreme Court during his sentencing hearing. ‘I hate myself for it. I’m ashamed of it.’
During his trial, the jury heard that Mr Cini was a former employer of Evans, and Evans broke into his home ‘knowing that there would be between $10,000 and $20,000 locked in a safe’, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Evan told his psychologist that he wanted to kill himself because he was so ‘disgusted’ with what he had done.
‘I’m horrified,’ he told his psychologist. All because I was a crack head. I see myself as the biggest piece of s… in the world. I was an enabler. No excuses. I hit no one but I didn’t stop it.’
Evans father revealed that the tried to get his son help for his addiction, but he left the clinic
His father told the court that he was once admitted to a rehabilitation clinic, but checked himself out after only a fortnight. Evans has been estranged from his parents during the trial.
While Justice Robert Allan Hulme said he understood the offender was remorseful he also stressed he had taken part in two violent home invasions where, ‘victims were met with quite unnecessary, gratuitous and brutal violence’.
‘Drug abuse has been the underlying feature of the offences. There is no suggestion of the offender being predisposed to involvement in violent conduct when not abusing drugs,’ Justice Hulme said.
Prior to his murder trial in May 2017, Evan pleaded guilty to to six charges against him, including the murder of Cini who he beat to death with a pick handle.
Mr Cini’s partner Ms Boldi, who also was attacked, told the jury of the terrifying moment when she was forced to play dead to avoid being beaten to death by a masked intruder in their Badgerys Creek home.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Boldi’s daughter Leanne Adam asked: ‘How could someone lock the doors that night, go to sleep in their own home and be bashed to death for money?’
Prior to his murder trial in May 2017, Evan pleaded guilty to to six charges including murder
Keith Cini’s daughter Leanne Adam after her father’s killer was pronounced guilty in May 2017
Ms Boldi woke in the early hours of May 30, 2014 to see her husband Keith Cini being attacked by Evans in the hallway of their Badgerys Creek home in Sydney.
She described the terrifying moment she was forced to play dead in her own home to avoid being beaten to death. She said a person in black with their face covered came towards her so she quickly shut her bedroom door.
‘I put my back to the door trying to hold the person out but I wasn’t strong enough,’ she told court during the hearing in May. ‘I got hit on the head and then the person … kept hitting me,’
Keith Cini’s partner Ms Boldi explained how Evans forced his way into their home in 2014
Ms Boldi has described the terrifying moment she was forced to play dead in her own home
Photographs supplied by the NSW Supreme Court show the mess Evans left in Mr Cini’s home
Evans also plead guilty to the assault of Brett Delamont, who suffered brain damage during a violent home invasion. Mr Delamont, whose partner Alana Bush and daughter were tied up during the assault, was reportedly known to Evans.
Mr Delamont suffered brain damage and has no recollection of the attack, but his wife testified to seeing him with a bloodied head as he lay convulsing beside her after she was woken by masked intruders in their bedroom.
Mr Delamont’s partner Alana Bush, who also was attacked, told the jury of the terrifying moment when she was forced to play dead to avoid being beaten to death by a masked intruder in their Badgerys Creek home.
Brett Delamont’s partner Alana Bush, who Evans also attacked, departs NSW Supreme Court