A judge has choked back tears during the sentence of two killers who led a seven-foot-tall ‘gentle giant’ at gunpoint to his brutal death.
Supreme Court of Victoria Justice Michael Croucher had no choice but to sentence the killers of Moe man Jarrad Lovison on manslaughter charges after they were provided a prosecution deal to avoid a murder trial.
Acknowledging the pain of the victim’s parents, Justice Croucher said the sentence was not a reflection on the value of their son’s life.
‘I know there is nothing that this court can say or do to lessen the grief. It must be awful,’ he said, fighting back tears.
Jake Brown, 31, and his mate Andrew Price, 50, were sentenced on Thursday over the ‘evil’ killing of Lovison, 38, who was force fed a toxic overdose of GhB and left in the bush in 2019.
Jarrad Lovison and Angela O’Brien in happier days. It was her relationship with Andrew Price that got Mr Lovison killed
Jake Brown, 31, and his mate Andrew Price, 50, were sentenced on Thursday to four years in jail
Samantha Grace Guillerme (pictured above) pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Jarrad Lovison
Mr Lovison had been lured to his death by barista Samantha Guillerme, who last year received a non-parole sentence of just 15 months after also pleading guilty to his manslaughter and agreeing a deal to inform on the others.
Justice Croucher sentenced Price to seven-and-a-half years in jail, with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half, and Price to seven years with a minimum of four.
Brown has already served 679 days behind bars and Price 586.
Guillerme was branded ‘evil’ by Mr Lovison’s father John for tricking and luring his beloved son to his death.
The court heard Mr Lovison was abducted amid rumours he had been sleeping with his ex-girlfriend Angela O’Brien, who was in a new relationship with Price.
The court heard Guillerme had lured Mr Lovison over with dirty text messages.
When he turned up at a remote location on his bicycle, Price and Brown produced rifles and bundled him into the backseat of Guillerme’s car.
The court heard Mr Lovison’s phone was tossed out the window as Guillerme drove him into the bush.
Guillerme was told to remain in the car while the men marched Mr Lovison out into the wilderness.
His remains were located five weeks later in the Moondarra State Park, in Victoria’s southeast, after a public appeal to help find him.
Justice Croucher said while the men admitted forcing Mr Lovison to consume a large quantity of GHB, prosecutors had accepted they had no intention to kill him.
‘The director does not allege that there was any intention to kill Mr Lovison through the administration of GHB. When Mr Price left Mr Lovison unconscious it was with the intention that it would be in the bush without an ability to get back to town,’ he said.
Price, who for years maintained his silence, claimed he simply intended to ‘teach Mr Lovison a lesson’.
Brown claimed at its worst, Mr Lovison would have been ‘inconvenienced’ by being drugged and abandoned in the bush.
Barista Samantha Grace Guillerme (pictured) was accused of murdering a Moe man
The Instagram post from accused murderer Samantha Grace Guillerme (pictured above)
Mr Lovison was last spotted in Moe, Latrobe Valley. He was allegedly murdered over ‘rising tensions’ with Andrew Price
The next day Guillerme shared a photo on her social media page of her dog at the Lyrebird Forest Walk about 60km to the south of Moondarra.
Alongside the photo she wrote the caption ‘today’s adventure’.
Mr Lovison’s body was found on May 23 that year in the same area.
Justice Croucher was brought to tears when recounting the victim impact statements of Mr Lovison’s devastated parents.
He urged them to accept his sentence was not a reflection on the value of their son’s life.
‘Such a thing is immeasurable, at least by a stranger. The sentence simply reflects as they must the many a varied factors that are required by law to take into account of only one of which is the impact on loved ones,’ he said.
Justice Croucher claimed both of the accused had an ‘arguable defence’ to claims of murder, noting the death of a key witness further hampered the prosecution case against them.
During their pre-sentence plea hearing, Mr Lovison’s father described the pair as ‘gutless dogs’.
‘I don’t think you even care, I don’t think you even give Jarred a second thought,’ he said.
‘You cannot begin to comprehend the damage you have done to us. We cannot stop thinking about how our boy would have felt. The fear he would have been going through.
‘It’s so easy for scum people like you to commit a serious crime and claim a hard life, all the excuses under the sun … it’s not right and nor is it fair.’
Jarrad Lovison, 38, went missing in mid-April 2019 but his remains were discovered by detectives in Moondarra, near Moe in Victoria’s Gippsland region
Jarrad Lovison had been in an ongoing feud with Price over his ex-girlfriend Angela O’Brien
In December, Mr Lovison Snr savaged Guillerme from the witness box during her pre-sentence hearing.
‘You planned it all and he was lured by you to his death in the most evil and sinister way,’ he told her.
Mr Lovison Snr claimed Guillerme had been welcomed into his own home where she would share meals with the Lovison family.
‘He trusted you Samantha. He liked you a lot and you liked him,’ he said.
‘You used to come to our home – Jay’s home. You would talk to Di (Jarrod’s mum) and I for hours day after day. You would sleep with Jay at our home. Di and I would pick you up from your house and bring you down to our house so you could be with Jay and we would take you home, all the time.’
‘You would eat with us Samantha. Your betrayal of Jay has broken us, it’s broken our Jay and he paid for that betrayal with his life. How could you do that? How could you betray him like that without a second thought? That’s just pure evil.’
Mr Lovison Snr further condemned Guillerme for her subsequent cover-up, which saw Mr Lovison’s body rot in the bush for almost six weeks before he was found.
‘Our baby Jay was dumped like he was a piece of rubbish and that haunts us and breaks us everyday. You knew exactly what you were doing. You drove away after leaving Jay in the bush, you covered up and hid what you’d done to him. You never once gave our son a second thought,’ he said.
Mr Lovison Snr had pleaded with Justice Croucher to throw the book at his son’s killers.
‘We hope your honour sees our extreme pain and loss for what you, such an evil person, has planned and done. Put you in jail for a very, very long time for your reprehensible actions,’ he said.
Guillerme was provided a deal after agreeing to dob on her mates
Samantha Grace Guillerme will walk free from jail in months
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