Vic man jailed for killing young daughters
A Melbourne father who made his two daughters pay with their lives to inflict pain on his ex-wife has been jailed for life.
Charles Amon Mihayo, 36, must serve at least 31 years in prison for smothering four-year-old Savannah and three-year-old Indianna with a pillow during a game of hide-and-seek on Easter Sunday.
He later told police they would not understand what he had been through and providing a reason for his crime would not make a difference.
But Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry said on Thursday Mihayo's crimes were inextricably linked to his ongoing conflict with his ex-wife.
"You determined she would pay the price and inevitably so would your children - with their lives," he said.
"You decided to demonstrate to your ex-wife that she did not have the control over the children, and their relationship with you, that she thought she had.
"Your breach of parental trust is almost beyond belief. You gave in to the basest of instincts, revenge."
Charles Mihayo has been sentenced to life in jail for murders of daughters Savannah and Indianna. Will serve a minimum 31 years. #7NewsMelb
— Kate Jones (@Kate_Jones7) December 18, 2014
Justice Lasry said while Mihayo had taken responsibility for murdering his daughters, he was not truly remorseful.
"You acknowledged what you did was wrong but I am not at all sure that you actually regret what you have done," he said.
"You do not appear to me to be crushed or broken in spirit by your wrongdoing."
Mihayo separated from his wife in 2011 and the pair began feuding over child custody arrangements.
In the weeks before the April 20 murders, he told his ex-wife he was relinquishing his entitlement to see the girls.
But he texted her asking to see the kids one last time and told her she had "won".
Before they arrived at his home, Mihayo went shopping to buy the girls new dresses and shoes.
He dressed them in the frocks and filmed them dancing to the song `Let It Go' from the movie Frozen, then suffocated them.
He then bathed them and put them back in their dresses before calling police.
The family of Savannah and Indianna said the girls would be "forever missed, loved and never forgotten".
"There is no adequate punishment or jail sentence for filicide," the family said in a statement.
The Tanzanian-born Mihayo did not react in the court dock as he was sentenced.
Fathers who kill
Greg Anderson:
Luke Batty was hit with a bat and stabbed to death by his father, Greg Anderson, after a cricket training session at the oval in the small town of Tyabb, south-east of Melbourne, in February 2014.
The 54-year-old, who is believed to have suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness, was shot by police at the scene.
At the time Anderson killed Luke, police had four arrest warrants in his name, and several intervention orders, including one to protect Luke and his mother Rosie Batty.
Robert Farquharson:
Robert Farquharson is serving a life sentence after being twice convicted of murdering his three young sons following a protracted court battle.
On Father's Day, Farquharson drowned Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, by deliberately driving them into a dam in a revenge attack against his former wife.
Arthur Freeman
Arthur Freeman was sentenced to life behind bars for throwing his four-year-old daughter Darcey off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge on the morning of January 2009.
A jury who convicted Freeman of murder concluded he carried out the ultimate act of 'spousal revenge'.
Freeman will serve a minimum 32-year term before being eligible for release in January 2041.
Ramazan Acar
Ramazan Acar admitted stabbing his two-year-old daughter, Yazmina, to death, then dumping her body during an access visit in November 2010.
Before Yazmina's prolonged death there were several phone calls and messages between the confessed killer and his ex partner Rachelle D'Argent, Yazmina's mother. At one point Acar said 'Pay backs a bitch'.
He also took to Facebook, posting 'bout to kill ma kid' and 'pay back u slut'.
