The man who raped and killed Israeli exchange student Aiia Maasarwe has been avoided a life sentence after the court was told about the killer’s traumatic childhood and warped perception of the world.
Codey Herrmann, 21, bashed Ms Maasarwe over the head with a metal pole as she was walking home from the tram in Bundoora, Melbourne, on January 16.
Herrmann dragged her into bushes before raping her with such ferocity that she was left with horrendous injuries, including a broken bone in her neck from where he throttled her.
When he was finished, he bashed over the head again with the pole. He later doused her body in WD-40 and set her on fire with a barbecue lighter in a clumsy attempt to destroy his DNA.
Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth imposed a non-parole period of 30 years in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Codey Herrmann, 21, bashed Aiia Maasarwe over the head with a metal pole as she was walking home from the tram in Bundoora, Melbourne, on January 16
Aiia Maasarwe, 21, was beaten with a metal pole, raped, murdered, and set on fire with a barbecue lighter and WD-40
Prosecutors wanted the 21-year-old killer be jailed for life for the ‘vicious and violent and depraved’ attack which showed a ‘complete and utter disregard for the humanity of the victim’.
But Herrmann’s lawyer previously told the court the young man deserved some leniency because he had a personality disorder stemming from a severely traumatic childhood and this had warped his view of the world.
He may have done a monstrous thing but he was not a monster and had led a life of extraordinary disadvantage, Tim Marsh said.
Justice Hollingworth said Herrmann, who had been diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis and severe personality disorder, had a life of ‘profound chaos and despair before the murder’.
‘By your first birthday, your mother had abandoned you to a relative whose own children had been taken by court order,’ Justice Hollingworth told the court.
‘About six months later, you were taken into care and hospitalised with scabies.’
Herrmann was aged three when he was put into foster care in Perth, where he remained until he was 18.
Justice Hollingworth ruled Herrmann’s life of disadvantage and personality disorder reduced his moral culpability and considered his age, medical condition and early guilty plea in her sentencing decision.
Herrmann departs the Supreme Court of Victoria after being sentenced to 36 years behind bars on Tuesday
The 21-year-old was homeless at the time of offending and Justice Hollingworth said it seemed he was living a better life in prison.
‘Your counsel informed the court that you were finding a safe place to sleep, three meals a day, a hot shower, and the prospect of being able to undertake courses, better than living on the streets,’ Justice Hollingworth said.
‘That is a rather bleak reflection of the circumstances in which you were previously living.
During sentencing, Justice Hollingworth said ‘any expression of remorse [from Herrmann] has been limited and recent’.
Members of Ms Maasarwe’s family, including her father Saeed, were in court to hear the sentencing and sobbed as details of the killing were recounted.
When Herrmann was finished, he bashed over the head again with the pole. He later doused her body in WD-40 and set her on fire with a barbecue lighter (pictured Ms Maasarwe’s father Saeed arriving at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Tuesday)
Ms Maasarwe had just stepped off the tram when she called her sister Ruba Maasarwe (Ms Maasarwe’s other sister Noor Maasarwe pictured)
‘It was a savage attack with a crude but effective weapon which immediately rendered her unconscious,’ the judge said, noting Ms Maasarwe was alone, small in stature and unsuspecting.
‘She had no opportunity to flee or escape.
‘(You) tried to destroy the evidence by setting Ms Maasarwe alight … treating her body in this way showed utter contempt of her dignity.
‘Women should be free to walk the streets alone without fear of being violently attacked by a stranger.
‘Not only did you take away her life you deprived a family of their precious daughter and sister.’
Justice Hollingworth said: ‘Women should be free to walk the streets alone without fear of being violently attacked by a stranger’. Pictured: Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe
Saeed Maasarwe (centre right), the father of murdered exchange student speaks to media outside Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Tuesday
Outside court, Mr Maasarwe called for change in a bid to make sure women are safe to walk alone at night. ‘We don’t focus about the revenge,’ Mr Maasarwe told reporters
She also compared Herrmann’s offending to the brutal rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon, who was attacked by stranger Jaymes Todd as she walked home in June 2018.
Todd was sentenced for life with a non-parole period of 35 years for the premeditated attack but has filed an appeal against his sentence.
Outside court, Mr Maasarwe called for change in a bid to make sure women are safe to walk alone at night.
‘We don’t focus about the revenge,’ Mr Maasarwe told reporters.
‘This is not our compass, this is not our focus, but to care for the society, for the people, for the ladies [to be able to] go out and go back home.’
Through his tears, the father said he remembered Ms Maasarwe for how she treated people.
‘She looked at the people — it doesn’t matter which religion, which nation, which colour — she looked at the people on the same level [with] the same eyes,’ he said.
Aiia’s father Saeed Maasarwe arrives at court for sentencing on Tuesday
Herrmann is led away after sentencing. He will spend at least 30 years locked up
Ms Maasarwe had just stepped off the tram when she called her sister Ruba Maasarwe.
Ruba had only just picked up the phone when she heard a blood-curdling scream and her sister shouting ‘You piece of s***’,’ in Arabic.
Then the phone went silent as Herrmann carried out his sickening attack.
At Herrmann’s pre-sentence plea hearing earlier this month, prosecutor Patrick Bourke claimed Herrmann had ‘complete and utter disregard for the humanity of the victim’.
‘It strikes at the liberty of all, but of course in particular women, to do no more than walk down a public street in peace and safety,’ he said.
‘Don’t give into hate like I did’: Herrmann’s apology letter directed at Aiia’s devastated parents
Herrmann himself has been unable to explain why he murdered Ms Maasarwe, and a grovelling letter of apology to her parents failed to provide any answers.
‘I’m sorry, your daughter didn’t deserve such a terrible and tragic thing to happen to her,’ the killer’s handwritten letter read.
‘I didn’t expect any forgiveness as I will never be able to forgive yourself and I will be trying to make amends for the rest of my life.
‘There is no excuse. I truly apologise, I will pray for you and your family every day.
‘Don’t give into hate like I did.’
Pictured: Israeli exchange student Aiia Maasarwe, who was murdered in Melbourne in January
Herrmann dragged Ms Maasarwe into bushes before raping her with such ferocity that she was left with horrendous injuries, including a broken bone in her neck from where he throttled her