21 years for dancing caravan park killer

Updated

July 20, 2012 16:12:21

A New South Wales man has been jailed for a least 21 years for stabbing a man to death in a caravan park and dancing around his body.

Kelvin Robert Willmott, 37, pleaded guilty to the stabbing murder of Shane Curphey, 35, during a fight at the Waterfront Tourist Park near Canton Beach on the NSW central coast in October 2010.

Mr Curphey died after being stabbed with two kitchen knives in the neck and chest.

The court heard he had 105 stab wounds with minimal evidence of defensive injuries.

Justice Derek Price said Willmott had been living with his mother, Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Willmott, in a caravan since May 2010 and Mr Curphey often visited friends in the park.

He said the men got into a fight after consuming alcohol and the offender told associates, “I’m going to go and bash someone,” and “I’m going to go and fix this bloke up”.

The judge said Willmott began a “frenzied attack” on his victim who gave him limited provocation.

“The offender was seen to leap from the ground to enable him to land blows in the back of the deceased’s neck,” Justice Price said.

He said Mr Curphey fell down onto a roadway outside the caravan park.

“The offender continued to stab the deceased in the face and neck,” Justice Price said.

“The offender was heard by witnesses shouting things like ‘how does that feel?’.

“One witness noted that the offender, ‘…was laughing and dancing around the deceased and appeared to be enjoying himself’.”

‘Savage’

The court heard that at some stage Willmott started to slash the knife across the victim’s throat in a manner that witnesses described as “trying to cut the deceased’s head off”.

Justice Price said another witness heard the offender yell out to his mother, “I had to do what I had to do. Mum, forget about me. I’m dead. I love you. Mum, it’s my fault, not yours” while alternating between yelling and laughing.

He noted that Willmott’s prolonged attack on his victim was “extraordinarily savage”.

The judge said Willmott committed the murder while on parole for other offences and has limited prospects of rehabilitation, but he said he has shown genuine remorse.

He sentenced Willmott to 28 years in jail with a non-parole period of 21 years.

Willmott will be eligible for parole in October 2031.

Topics:
courts-and-trials,
murder-and-manslaughter,
toukley-2263

First posted

July 20, 2012 15:04:14



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