Horror husband killed with drugged biscuits

A woman jailed after feeding her abusive husband drugged biscuits before stuffing him in a chest freezer has asked a court to overturn her conviction.

Rebecca Payne was jailed for 16 years in June last year after a jury found her guilty of murdering Noel Payne, 68, in the regional Victorian town of Walpeup on September 1, 2020.

At trial, Payne had claimed she didn’t intend to kill him when she gave him temazepam-laced lemon biscuits with a cup of Milo, just that she wanted to sedate him for some time out.

Mr Payne’s body was discovered by a neighbour’s son inside the freezer three days later after Payne asked to store it on their property temporarily.

Handing down a sentence that was nine years less than the standard sentence for murder, Justice Rita Incerti said Noel Payne had inflicted years of depraved sexual, emotional and physical abuse on his wife.

“The abuse was insidious … You were trapped in an abusive, violent and cruel environment for over a decade,” she said.

“This is a case that calls out loudly for the exercise of the discretion of mercy.”

Payne, now 44, appeared in the Court of Appeal on Friday as her barrister Veronika Drago launched an appeal against both the murder conviction and her sentence.

Ms Drago argued the conviction was a miscarriage of justice, raising multiple factors in the complex and “extremely distressing” trial she said had led to an unsafe verdict.

These included the testimony of an intellectually disabled woman with an acquired brain injury Noel Payne had moved into their home and also abused.

Ms Drago said the woman had given three varying accounts of Mr Payne’s death and a combination of her vulnerabilities and prosecution overreach had “hamstrung” the defence.

“You get to this stage that the best the evidence could be is neutral and the impact of unfair prejudice is so high,” she said.

“The question has to be asked what chance did Rebecca Payne, the applicant, have at a fair trial.”

Ms Drago also claimed prosecutors had made arguments about the medical evidence during their final address to the jury they were not entitled to.

The court was told Mr Payne’s cause of death could not be established and there was limited evidence on the amount of temazepam ingested.

Appealing against the sentence imposed, Ms Drago said there wasn’t a particular sentencing error she could raise, but argued her client should have received more in the way of mercy.

“There were images and videos depicting what could only be described as an absolute house of horrors,” she said.

“It is apparent from the sentencing remarks just how depraved and degrading the conduct was that took place in that house …. it was at times utterly unbelievable but for the fact there was clearly corroborating evidence.”

In response, Sally Flynn SC said it was the Crown’s position that there had been no unfair prejudice on Payne.

She said it was not accepted the witness had provided differing accounts, arguing while there were “internal contradictions” it was properly left for the jury to determine her credibility and reliability.

Ms Flynn disputed the trial prosecutor had overstated the medical evidence, reading transcripts and arguing this was the prosecutor making submissions to the jury on what they should find.

Erik Dobe, also for the Crown, submitted that Justice Incerti had already given significant mercy to Payne, imposing a sentence that was 33 per cent below the standard sentence and a longer parole period.

“Her Honour was the one who heard and saw that evidence personally and was best placed to reach a conclusion as to the extent of the impact that should have,” he said.

The court was told there was a partial defence of provocation to a murder charge that could see the offence reduced to manslaughter until 2005 when it was removed by parliament.

Justice Terry Forrest said on his reading of the evidence, he believed a jury could have delivered a “10-minute verdict” on provocation.

Justices Forrest, Stephen McLeish and Stephen Kaye reserved their decision on the appeal to a later date.

Payne will be eligible for parole in September 2030 after serving 10 years of her sentence.