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Victorian man’s killer Sean McKinnon has been sentenced to a 15-year parole period in New Zealand for the cruel murder of the surfer, who was revived in court by his Canadian fiancee.
In Hamilton Superior Court on Wednesday, Bianca Buckley wept as she spoke about McKinnon, who died in an unprovoked attack.
“We were two of a kind. We did a love story together, ”Buckley said. “And he had a lot of life left to live.”
The couple were camping in August 2019 near the New Zealand surf town of Raglan when Hamilton’s man Mark Garson confronted them, smashing a window and demanding the keys.
McKinnon was shot in the liver and head, pleading with the 24-year-old as he searched for the keys.
“He asked, ‘How can we help him?’ Without threatening him… he tried to offer him a solution, ”Buckley said, turning to the killer.
“You said, ‘I have a gun, give me the fucking keys to your car.’
You shot him. I heard him moan … I saw his life leave its shape. “
Garson abused Buckley, who was naked, saying “yeah, bitch, he’s dead” but promised not to kill her if she handed him the keys.
“I asked for a moment to say goodbye,” he said.
“You were so cruel. You took away the opportunity to contain the heat of his body for the last time … it was a true horror story.
The Crown prosecutor said the wounded McKinnon crouched over his future wife between shots to protect her.
Buckley fled, terrified, with trees and bushes cutting her body as she ran 2.6 km through brush and roads in the dark before reaching property and alerting police.
Garson, who was driving the caravan carrying McKinnon’s body before leaving it in a nearby town, was detained after a police chase some 24 hours later.
Members of McKinnon’s family also made impact statements, both in Hamilton and via a video link from a family home in Birregurra, southwest of Melbourne.
Sister Emmeline McKinnon said that on her first trip to New Zealand after the murder, she saw broken glass from his caravan in the parking lot where he was killed.
“I have barely been able to keep my life together since then,” he said.
“The fear has stayed with me. I just hope bad news. I’m hoping that what happened to my brother will reach me and my children. “
In court, Garson sat uncomfortable as he listened to McKinnon’s family, wiping his eyes several times as Buckley addressed him.
Crown attorney Jacinda Hamilton said Garson was under the influence of methamphetamine during the “depraved” and “inexplicably violent” murder.
Representing Garson, attorney Charles Bean said “nothing could lessen the real tragedy,” but his client had a low IQ, started using drugs at age 12 and suffered from depression.
The 24-year-old also had 21 prior convictions, many for robbery, and was in possession of the loaded gun, as he expected a friend to kill him on an arranged date the night of the murder.
Garson changed his guilty plea in October of this year, one month away from a proposed trial.
Judge Christine Gordon gave Garson life in prison for murder and death threat, with a period of no parole set at 17 years.
Judge Gordon deducted 18 months from his parole period for his guilty plea and personal circumstances, reaching the minimum prison sentence of 15 years and six months.
• The title of this article was modified on December 9, 2020 to clarify that the minimum prison term is 15 years.
