More pain for victim's family

Every time Brenda Thorne walks out her front door, she brushes within metres of the horrific scene where her younger sister was stabbed 21 times.

Every day, Ms Thorne walks through her front gate and down the road to the spot where Stacey Thorne died after staggering to a neighbour's front lawn.

For two years after her pregnant sister's death, Ms Thorne was unable to return to live at her home in the same small block of units where her sister was attacked.

But Ms Thorne has since vowed she will never leave the modest flat.

Walking out her front door also allows her to pass by a humble but proud monument to Stacey's life - a rock with a plaque in memory of her sister and her unborn niece.

Her daily stroll includes a routine of pausing at the spot where Stacey met her death, asking her sister to walk with her into the small town of Boddington.

"I have got to be close to her," Ms Thorne explained.

More than five years have passed since Stacey Thorne was murdered on December 9, 2007, but the grief is still raw for her family.

That grief and the painful memories of Stacey's death have been forced back to the surface since the family learnt of a bid for a fresh appeal by Scott Douglas Austic, the man convicted of Stacey's wilful murder and sentenced to a life term with a minimum of 25 years jail.

Austic is awaiting a decision by Attorney-General Michael Mischin on his petition, drafted by WA Governor Malcolm McCusker before his appointment, for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Mr Mischin has put his decision on hold pending a Corruption and Crime Commission probe into allegations raised in the petition, including claims that key evidence was "planted, withheld and misrepresented" during his 2009 jury trial.

But the Thorne family, who travelled to Boddington from Armadale and Bunbury to talk to _The West Australian _, are united in their belief that Austic is responsible for the murder.

A popular teacher's assistant at the local school, Stacey was 35 when she was murdered.

She was 5½ months pregnant, excited at the prospect of having her first child.

Her pregnancy was the result of a "secret" relationship with Austic, a man she had known since childhood. Ms Thorne's family said they were aware of the relationship, despite Austic's belief that it was a secret liaison.

Sentencing Austic in 2009, Justice Peter Blaxell said Austic's "very purpose" in murdering Ms Thorne was to extinguish the potential life of his unborn baby so he would not suffer the "inconvenience or embarrassment" of the birth.

Shedding tears as they discussed the loss of Ms Thorne, her family said she was a private person who would never have opened the door of her flat to a stranger.

The family described a community split over the death and said their children were taunted every time there was publicity over the case.

They spoke about the intertwined lives of the Thorne and Austic families before the tragedy, with two younger siblings who were close friends at school.

Older sister Hayley Thorne said her father died six months after the murder, never having recovered from the loss of his daughter.

Convinced that the justice system got it right, the family want an end to the "recurring nightmare" they experience every time the case is revisited. "We just want it over," Hayley Thorne said.

We just want it over. "Hayley Thorne