Man who killed toddler in Narrandera loses appeal over sexualised double murder

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains details that may distress some readers. A man who murdered two people in southern NSW before taking “callous and calculated” steps to cover up his offending will stay behind bars indefinitely. Daniel Holdom, now aged in his 50s, murdered Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce Kiara Pearce in December 2008. The appeal judges noted that both murders had “sexual overtones” and that Holdom took degrading photographs of Karlie after her death, which he kept for years. Holdom murdered and sexually assaulted Ms Pearce-Stevenson in the Belanglo State Forest – a location linked with serial killer Ivan Milat’s murders – in the early hours of 15 December 2008. According to the decision, Holdom left the scene and collected Khandalyce, telling a third party that he was taking the child to her grandmother, who lived in South Australia. He also claimed he left Karlie at a bus stop. While in the NSW Riverina region, he was caught on CCTV at a Wagga Wagga supermarket purchasing body wash gel, garbage bags, and duct tape, among other items. Several days later, on 19 December, he murdered Khandalyce in Narrandera. “There was a sexual motive involved in the murder and [Holdom] was at least attempting to or planning to sexually assault Khandalyce at the time of her death,” the judgement stated. The girl’s remains were found in a suitcase near the Karoonda Highway in July 2015. Holdom was sentenced in November 2018 to life imprisonment for the murders, but later launched an appeal against the sentences. In a recent decision, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal refused him. In his appeal to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, Holdom claimed, in part, that the life sentences were unjust. The appeal judges rejected this claim. “The circumstances and facts of each of these murders placed them at or towards the very highest end of the range of seriousness for offences of homicide,” they found. “Considered together they represent a level of criminality that the court rarely encounters.” The appeal judges also labelled Holdom’s attempts to cover-up his crimes as “callous and calculated”. Holdom would send text messages to make it seem like the victims were alive, and he also told police in late 2009 that Ms Pearce-Stevenson had moved to Queensland. “The remains of the two victims were undiscovered for some years, and the applicant continued to use Karlie’s phone and bank account at least in part to cover up the offences.” The decision states that about $72,000 was fraudulently taken from Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s bank account. In his appeal, Holdom’s lawyer also claimed the initial sentencing did not give “proper consideration” to their client’s disadvantaged upbringing (as detailed in a forensic psychiatrist’s report) and his guilty pleas. The appeal judges rejected these grounds. They said it was “reasonably open” to Justice Hulme to reject the psychiatrist’s opinion, which identified a link between Holdom’s upbringing and the offending. “The sentencing Judge provided an extensive summary of the evidence of the applicant’s background… Despite the powerful subjective case, the terrible abuse and neglect the applicant suffered as a child and its impact on his moral culpability, it remained reasonably open to the sentencing Judge to conclude that [the need for a life sentence] was satisfied.” The appeal judges also found that Justice Hulme did consider Holdom’s guilty pleas, referring to them three times across his sentencing remarks. In their decision, the appeal judges ultimately rejected his appeal. “[During the initial sentencing,] his Honour was nevertheless satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant’s culpability was “extreme” and that the murders he committed were at the top range of objective seriousness; they were aptly described by his Honour as falling within the “worst case” and “of very great heinousness”. “In these circumstances, it was open to the sentencing Judge to impose a life sentence.” Their decision means Holdom will remain in prison. If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732, while Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero. Source: Region Riverina

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