An ice-affected Bacchus Marsh ‘vigilante’ who stabbed a man 21 times over suspicions he had burgled his house, has been sentenced to 19 years behind bars.
Daniel Parry, 37, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to murdering Garry Coulson in July last year.
Parry told police Mr Coulson had stolen “heaps of stuff” during a burglary on June 25 last year, including televisions, laptops and an iPad … but he didn’t have any evidence to back his claims.
The court heard Parry started looking for Mr Coulson on July 5, and enlisted the help of a friend to confront Mr Coulson.
Later that day, Parry and three accomplices arrived at Mr Coulson’s Werribee home where Mr Coulson and his girlfriend were sleeping.
“[The girlfriend] woke to a ‘tinging’ sound and saw two males in the bedroom, both wearing dark clothing with hoodies pulled down over their faces,” the prosecution submitted.
“[The girlfriend] saw you striking Coulson with the baseball bat. [She] saw the second male standing behind you in the doorway. A knife was produced. You stabbed Coulson with a knife several times.”
Mr Coulson was alive when paramedics arrived, but died en route to hospital. The court heard he had 21 stab wounds, including wounds beneath his jaw and upper neck, his chest and abdomen.
Parry handed himself to police on July 6.
He told detectives about the violent confrontation in a statement tendered in court claiming he and Mr Coulson exchanged words and a fight broke out.
“He got up out of bed and I, I looked and he, he had a knife in his hand and, yeah, we’ve struggled over the knife, and so I don’t really know what happened.”
Supreme Court Judge Christopher William said he believed Parry did not go to Mr Coulson’s house with “murderous” intent, but he was: “satisfied by the evidence and by your plea, that you stabbed Coulson deliberately, repeatedly ”.
“You went armed [to Coulson’s home] with a baseball bat. You were affected/disinhibited by ice when you barged into his bedroom … you decided to take the law into your own hands …you acted as a vigilante, with all the risks that entails.”
