Murder victim left in bin was 'blind to killer's evil'
A frail and compassionate father who took in a destitute man out of the kindness in his heart was unable to see the evil inside his eventual killer, the victim's grieving sister says.
Daniel Bremner, 46, awaits sentencing after a panel of jurors unanimously found him guilty of murdering of his 53-year-old housemate in Adelaide's east in December 2021.
His body was shoved into a wheelie bin and found mangled and decomposing at the Wingfield dump four days later.
Bremner, after beating the man to death, continued to eat the victim's food, shop with his credit card and watch cricket until he was found and arrested by police in the bloodstained house.
The victim's sister told Supreme Court Justice Anne Bampton on Friday their tight-knit family had been shaken by her brother's brutal and callous murder.
"Learning how you had beaten him, broken his bones and stomped on a clearly frail and weak person who had no way to defend himself was heart-wrenching," she said, turning to look her brother's killer in the eye.
"Learning of the extent of his injuries and defence wounds made us sick as we were left wondering how terrified and helpless he would have been.
"He was kind, funny, caring. He was full of empathy and extended help to anyone that needed it.
"Unfortunately, that kindness would ultimately lead to his death. Most people would've been able to see the evil of the perpetrator. My brother just saw someone who needed help."
Bremner sat motionless in the dock as he heard himself described as a "man of violence, criminality and depravity".
"Your actions were premeditated and carried out with zero remorse," his victim's sister continued.
"So what consideration do you deserve today? From our family's point of view - none.
"We will never forgive you."
Her elderly parents, who have since passed, "were never the same" after finding out about their son's murder days before Christmas.
Her mother, who had early onset dementia, would periodically ask for her son, and each time she remembered that he had been murdered would sob hysterically, as if she were being told of his death for the first time, the court heard.
The prosecution had earlier refused to accept Bremner's guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter, arguing a prison confession was "evidence of a pre-planned killing".
His cellmate described Bremner's demeanour as "cold and very proud of what he'd done", prosecutor Jim Pearce KC told the trial in February.
"He waited for his opportunity and seized upon it when the deceased fell and that he was pleased about what he did."
Bremner's lawyer Paul Charman said his client was struggling with chronic schizophrenia and drug and alcohol abuse at the time of the murder, but had since made progress.
"He recognises fully that he's got a significant amount of time ahead of him in prison," Mr Charman said.
"He's undertaking every course he can - in numeracy, in writing - to educate himself."
But Mr Pearce disputed Bremner's prospects for rehabilitation, arguing there was little to suggest that when he is released "he will be other than a danger".
Justice Bampton will sentence Bremner later in April.
