A severely-drunk man who fatally stabbed and bludgeoned his co-resident at a Endeavour Hills boarding home has been jailed up to 22 years.
Jamefil Wal, 40, had been drinking red wine on the night he “brutally murdered” his friend and neighbour in “shocking” circumstances, Supreme Court judge James Elliott said in sentencing on 18 March.
“By your vicious assault … through multiple acts of aggression, you have brutally taken the life of a friend with the use of weapons.”
The two ‘friends’, neighbours and refugees were known to get loud when drinking together and would accuse each other of stealing from each other.
On the night of 25-26 February 2023, Wal variously armed himself with a timber picket and a hammer, yelled threats and repeatedly struck the victim’s door.
“Where’s my money? Give me my money, I kill you,” Wal allegedly said.
About 1.49am, the victim left his room.
Wal approached him and attacked him with a hammer to his stomach and head.
During a struggle, the victim fell to the floor with Wal on top of him.
While holding a hammer, Wal produced a knife and stabbed the victim four times to the chest, and then further to the head and body.
As the victim lay motionless, Wal struck him several more times with the hammer.
Justice Elliott noted several residents walked past the victim but didn’t check on him that morning.
Nearly eight hours after the attack, the home’s caretaker checked for signs of life and called emergency services.
Paramedics pronounced the then-40-year-old victim dead at the scene. An autopsy report stated that he’d died from multiple stab wounds.
Wal was arrested by police in his room.
Born in South Sudan, Wal had “survived the atrocities of a brutal civil war” as well as seven years in a refugee camp in Egypt, Justice Elliott noted.
Wal arrived in Australia as a young adult. He lacked family support, had no long-term employment, suffered a traumatic brain injury during an assault, abused alcohol and drugs and developed a 13-year criminal history of violence and drug offences.
A forensic psychiatrist stated Wal at the time of the murder was in an “actively psychotic state” and severely intoxicated.
Justice Elliott said Wal’s moral culpability was reduced due to his schizophrenia and major neurocognitive disorder as well as his mixed-substance use disorder from ongoing use of alcohol, cannabis and meth.
On the other hand, Wal’s rehabilitation prospects were “guarded”, particularly given his lack of insight into his disorders and his intent to continue excessive drinking in the future.
He was likely to be deported after his jail term, the judge noted.
Wal was jailed for 22 years, with a non-parole period of 16 years. His term includes 751 days in pre-sentence detention.
