Pettiford,who referred to himself as “the Hand of Death”,bludgeoned Andrew Whyte Murray to death with rocks as the 56-year-old slept rough in a Tweed Heads park on November 22,2019.
Kevin James Pettiford boarded a bus in Surfers Paradise on November 26,2019 to travel to Sydney,but he was arrested as it stopped in Tweed Heads. He has been found guilty of murdering a homeless man days earlier. Supplied:NSW Supreme Court
shows detectives boarding a Sydney-bound bus on November 26,2019,regarding an interstate arrest warrant. That night,Pettiford confessed to killing Murray,telling police he operated by “code” and targeted men he thought “wouldn’t be missed”.
A jury in December rejected the 38-year-old’s defence of mental health impairment and for the murder of Murray,and also the attempted murder of inmate Nathan Mellows five weeks later inside Shortland Correctional Centre at Cessnock. Pettiford slashed Mellows’ throat with a weapon made of wire twist ties and razor blades.
Murray was found dead in a sleeping bag by a passing couple. His own canvas painting had been placed over his head,and his cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt force injuries.
“This was a senseless,brutal murder,” Justice Hament Dhanji said in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“The offender acted on a warped and utterly abhorrent view that Mr Murray’s life was somehow less valuable as a result of his circumstances. Those matters reflect a complete lack of humanity on the part of the offender.”
Pettiford sat in the dock,looking at the floor and stroking his beard,as he was sentenced to a maximum of 39 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 26 years for the crimes.
Pettiford had also been sleeping rough at the time of the murder and decided he would kill Murray after seeing his belongings earlier that day.
“The offender sat on a nearby bench and vacillated over whether to kill him,” the judge said. “[He] removed his thongs in order to avoid making noise as he approached the deceased.”
Pettiford struck Murray with large rocks from a sea wall before he threw them into the water and fled.
The judge said Pettiford “did not exhibit anything that could be described as remorse” as he told police he had a long-held desire to kill and made full admissions to Murray’s murder.
“If anything,he appeared to enjoy the process of being interviewed,” Dhanji said.
He said Pettiford admitted he was the author of a cryptic letter to Tweed Heads police station,in which he referred to himself as “the Hand of Death”. Pettiford also suggested the situation could have been avoided because he had disclosed homicidal ideation while in hospital years earlier.
In notes found on a pin board in his prison cell,Pettiford wrote,“You will not feel,hear,see,smell or taste me,but I can promise you this,I will kill you quickly”. He also referenced the subclavian artery and carotid artery,relating to how long it would take someone to bleed to death if they were cut.
In a January 2020 police interview,Pettiford further described himself as “calculated and controlled evil”,and said,“I love killing.”
The Crown had pushed for Pettiford to receive a life sentence. Prosecutor Brendan Campbell said the “brutal,callous killing” fell in the worst category of murders,and “represented a denial of Mr Murray’s humanity”.
Public defender Jason Watts had argued Pettiford was eligible for a discount to his sentence because of his admissions to police. The judge allowed a 5 per cent discount due to the assistance given.
The judge was satisfied Pettiford “was suffering and continues to suffer from a bipolar disorder” and that his mental health “materially contributed to the commission of both offences”.
In a victim impact statement,Murray’s adult daughter remembered her father’s “wicked sense of humour” and friendly nature. She said he died as a result of “one evil choice”.
“My father isn’t here any more,and he should have had the right to be,” she said.
The judge acknowledged the family’s “ongoing pain and loss” and said the court extended its sympathies to all of those affected by the death.
Pettiford,whose sentence was backdated to account for time spent in custody,will first be eligible for parole in November 2045. His maximum term expires in 2058.
