"One of the worst types of murder one can imagine" : Judge
A Mullewa-reared man a judge has likened to an animal has been jailed for life.
Lesley Jonathan Cameron, 20, will be 51 before he can be considered for release on parole for murdering Maureen and Tamara Horstman four days after Christmas in 2013.
Nicholas Horstman, Mrs Horstman’s son and Tamara’s twin brother, said he was happy with the sentence – one of the longest given in WA for what was described as “one of the worst types of murder one can imagine.”
“However, no sentence will ever be long enough,” he said.
“To my family, close friends and the wider community, thank you for your support over the last 16 months. I am truly thankful.”
Cameron, who admitted he was a ‘walking time bomb’, murdered the pair in their Warwick home on a Sunday morning after he spotted an open sliding door from a laneway near the house.
He hit both women in the head with a hammer, covered their faces with clothing and a doona cover and raped Tamara, while she was either unconscious or dead on the floor.
The frenzied attack ended with Cameron stabbing his victims with a pair of scissors and stealing Tamara’s car, which was found parked near the home of the then 19-year-old’s pregnant girlfriend.
Supreme Court Justice Eric Heenan said the women were peacefully going about their lives at home when suddenly confronted by a hammer-wielding man.
“It is the kind of offence which every member of the population dreads, because it shows the insecurity and vulnerability of everyone in the community to random and serious crime,” the judge said. “Cameron goes back and violates the body of the first victim in what can only be described as bestial conduct.”
After he was arrested, Cameron told police he was a heavy cannabis user and had used crystal methamphetamine and speed in the lead-up to the attack.
He watched Mrs Horstman walk outside and put a bag of rubbish on her veranda before he armed himself with the hammer and walked into the house.
Prosecutor James Mactaggart said Cameron intended to burgle the house but ended up going on a “killing spree” after he laid eyes on Tamara.
“It does show an element of sadism,” Mr MacTaggart said.
“It is violence for violence sake. These ladies must have been aware, in their final moments, that they were dying a very violent death.”
Defence lawyer Dominic Brunello told the court Cameron had a disadvantaged upbringing and no ‘accessible memory’ of parts of the slaying.
