'Sadistic and brutal': Couple handed life sentences for murder of Tia Landers
John Edward Harris and Linda Eileen Appleton have received mandatory life sentences for the murder of 28-year-old Brisbane woman, Tia Landers.
Queensland man John Edward Harris, 43, was sentenced to life with a non parole period of 27 years in Brisbane's Supreme Court on Friday.
His partner, Linda Eileen Appleton, was also sentenced to life with a non parole period of 23 years for the torture and murder of Tia Landers.
In court, Justice Jean Dalton read her sentencing remarks. She said, Tia Landers' death was a "...protracted, sadistic, and brutal torturing..."
Tia Landers' mother said in court, "There are no words that can sufficiently describe the pain I feel". She said she fears her daughter's children will one day be able to get a copy of Tia's autopsy report.
Tia Lander's brutally bashed body was found in a shallow grave at Beerburrum State Forest in 2014.
Harris and Appleton had denied the killing for more than two years after Ms Landers' body was found, but on Friday October 14, reversed their plea.
Neither accused showed any emotion or said anything other than "guilty" when the murder charge was read out in the court, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.
The backflip follows gruesome evidence of Tia's final moments at the couple's home.
The court had previously heard Ms Landers was so severely beaten at the couple's Brighton home she lost all her teeth and was barely recognisable because of facial swelling.
During the trial, the court played phone conversations. "I'm going to f*** that bitch ... I'm going to f***ing smash her f***ing skull in," the jury heard Appleton tell Harris in the audio.
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