An Australian man has been jailed for 24 years for murdering an uncle who he and other family members allege was a serial paedophile.
Jethro Curtis, 45, beat and strangled Stephen Curtis, 63, to death in their home in the town of Maffra, 220km east of Melbourne, on January 18, and pleaded guilty to murder in July.
He appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday, where Justice Rita Incerti sentenced him to 24 years of imprisonment with a 17-year non-parole period, after taking into account his mental health issues, traumatic upbringing, remorse, and good prospects of rehabilitation.
The court heard that Jethro, his mother Victoria, Stephen’s former partner Kim Ryan, and her son Arron Ryan (who Jethro once found hanging in a shed after attempting suicide), all described being physically and sexually abused by Stephen.
Victoria, who had a childhood Justice Incerti said was “marked by extreme deprivation”, claimed that Stephen routinely sexually abused both her and her sister Sandra Curtis, and the court heard that Sandra corroborated the allegations in a statement.
The court heard Jethro also claimed to have been sexually abused by both Stephen and Ms Ryan as a child, and by some of his mother’s friends, and told psychiatrist Dr Danny Sullivan he was “made to do things to other people”, and was left feeling “worthless, damaged, [and] unlovable”.
His allegations against Stephen were never proven, but the psychiatrist indicated in his report that “he believes them to be plausible”, Justice Incerti told the court.
Dr Sullivan also diagnosed Jethro with “complex PTSD, moderate personality disorder with borderline pattern and negative affectivity, recurrent depressive disorder, and cannabis, stimulant and nicotine dependence”.
The court heard that Jethro, who had moved into a bedroom set up in Stephen and Victoria’s garage after losing his job, began discussing the sexual abuse allegations in text message exchanges with Ms Ryan beginning on January 2, stating at one point that Stephen’s days were “numbered and few”.
On the night of the murder Jethro smoked cannabis, used methamphetamine and took some of Arron’s medication, including an antipsychotic drug, and sent Ms Ryan a message stating “tonight I’m doing this”.
Hours later he entered Stephen’s bedroom, punched him in the face, knocked him off the bed, punched and kicked him in the head, covered his mouth with electrical tape, and fatally strangled him with a telephone cable. Justice Incerti noted Stephen was physically frail and suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
Jethro then transferred himself $5,500 out of Stephen’s bank account, sent $1,000 to an ex-partner, took a train to Pakenham, called another ex-partner and his mother and confessed to the murder, and took a taxi to Seaford while making more admissions to his stepfather on the phone.
He gave the taxi driver $250 cash and told him “I’m going to jail, I beat my uncle to death”, stayed with friends, and was eventually arrested while riding a bike in the Seaford area on January 20.
He told police he “made sure [Stephen] was dead”, said he “snapped” because “a lot of things have hurt my feelings”, and said he believed his uncle was a child molester.
The prosecution submitted that the murder was planned, premeditated, “violent, prolonged and torturous in nature”, and was aggravated by the vigilante-style nature of the attack and the post-killing theft.
But Justice Incerti said she was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that “the offending can properly be characterised as vigilantism” or “the product of a settled plan or substantial premeditation”, noting that in his police statement he said “I didn’t plan to kill Steve” and that he “snapped”.
She also took into account Jethro’s guilty plea at the earliest reasonable opportunity and full admissions to police, which she said entitled him to a “meaningful sentencing discount”.
Header image: Left, Jethro Curtis. Right, Stephen Curtis (supplied).
