A grieving mother has described how her husband tore open a body bag to see the charred remains of their murdered daughter.
Lynda Quinlan told the Victorian Supreme Court her husband Wayne would be haunted for life after ‘he saw what was left of our daughter.’
Simone Quinlan, 33, was beaten and tortured by her boyfirend, then shot in the head and dumped in a mine shaft at Kangaroo Flat, near Bendigo, in August 2015.
Wayne Quinlan (centre) ripped open a body bag to see if his daughter’s remains were inside
Simone Quinlan, 33, was bashed, shot, dumped in a bush mine shaft and her body set alight
Two men including Simon Quinlan’s boyfriend Brendan Neil have been jailed for her murder
Brendan Neil, 31, pleaded guilty to her murder, and a jury found his friend Wayne Marmo, 26, guilty of the same offence.
Neil and Marmo have been sentenced to 26 and 24 years in prison respectively.
Mrs Quinlan spoke on Thursday at a pre-sentence hearing for another man, Luke Marmo, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder.
The mother told the court of a distressing moment when her husband delivered a coffin to the funeral home where Ms Quinlan’s body was being held.
Mr Quinlan saw a body bag and felt compelled to see proof it was his daughter inside.
‘Against the advice of staff, he ripped open the staples of the bag Simone was in,’ Mrs Quinlan told the court.
‘I later learned that she was unrecognisable, reduced to a skeleton after she was set on fire.
‘That will haunt us for life, especially Wayne, as he saw what was left of our daughter.’
Simone Quinlan’s parents Lynda and Wayne (at right) outside the Victorian Supreme Court
Mother-of-two Simone Quinlan (left and right) was dumped in a bush mine shaft near Bendigo
Mrs Quinlan said that sometimes her husband headed out to the bush with flowers to sit and drink by the mine shaft where his daughter’s body was found.
‘There have been times when late at night he needs to go to the mine shaft and sit,’ Mrs Quinlan said.
‘He drinks to numb the pain and our neighbour has driven him many times.
‘Grief is deeply personal and it has made us feel very lonely.’
Neil bashed Ms Quinlan, hit her over the head with a hammer and taped her mouth shut, while telling her she looked beautiful.
He was punishing the mother-of two for telling police he had previously hit her with a baseball bat.
Family and friends of murdered mum Simone Quinlan wear red, her favourite colour, to court
Simone Quinlan’s father Wayne (in sunglasses) is haunted by seeing his daughter’s body
During the assault, Wayne Marmo sat in the kitchen, filing the barrel of a rifle as he smoked ice with friends.
The pair then loaded Ms Quinlan into Marmo’s ute. It is unknown whether she was already dead.
Marmo then drove her to the mine shaft, stopping on the way to shoot Ms Quinlan in the head about five times.
‘So many people were involved in the murder of Simone,’ Mrs Quinlan told the court.
‘And we cannot understand why none of them tried to save her.’
Luke Marmo saw Neil’s assault on Ms Quinlan and purchased the fuel that was used to burn her body.
He also helped sand the floor of the Melton home where the mother-of-two was attacked, removing the blood stains to conceal the crime.
The 26-year-old will be sentenced at a later date by Justice Jane Dixon.