THE VIOLENT intruder that stabbed young mother Teah Rose Luckwell to death inside the "sanctity" of her own kitchen was Jesse Leigh Green.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Justice Stephen Campbell told the court on Monday the only rational conclusion was that the 30-year-old man "violently attacked" Ms Luckwell inside her South Tamworth home in the early hours of March 28, 2018.
The act of murder was proven at the end of the long-running special hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, but Justice Campbell found Green was not criminally responsible for the stabbing due to mental impairment.
He read a summary of his more than 100-page long judgement to the court and members of Ms Luckwell's family, and said the special verdict did not mean Green would walk free.
The Crown case was entirely circumstantial, but Justice Campbell said the evidence needed to be looked at as a whole.
READ ALSO:
"Mr Green was at all times armed with a knife that was capable of inflicting the stab wounds," he said.
Justice Campbell said Green had little but adequate time that morning to "creep" at Ms Luckwell's house - or attempt to break in through her front door - and knife her in the neck and back when she "disturbed him".
The scream that was heard by neighbours was Ms Luckwell crying out as she was stabbed. Forensic evidence from a fuse box nearby linked Green to the area only minutes before.
Justice Campbell said Green knew Ms Luckwell and was her neighbour in the Robert Street social housing units for weeks, just a few months before her death.
He said he accepted Green had a "hostile state of mind" when he was seen in the area that night.
He rejected the defence case that there were other people of interest and said there were no other reasonable hypotheses available on the evidence that were "consistent with the innocence" of Green.
The defence had argued the crime scene did not show a "creep gone wrong" because Ms Luckwell was found dressed, with cake and margarine out in the kitchen.
Justice Campbell said that didn't seem unusual based on the evidence.
He told the court a lack of forensic evidence at the scene could be explained by the killer wearing gloves.
"At the time, Mr Green suffered from a very serious mental health impairment," he said.
The same special verdict of act proven but not criminally responsible was handed down for the further charges of break and enter and using an offensive weapon.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News