‘I tried to save him’: woman recalls soulmate’s death
Rex Martinich |
Janene Hall watched her fiance die in her arms after he was run over by a man visiting next door following a Christmas night argument over barking dogs.
Russell Klein, 55, was her “soulmate” and the couple had made plans to travel after their wedding.
However, their future was destroyed after an argument with Callum Anthony Padaric Cook escalated dramatically on Christmas night 2022.
It ended when Cook, 33, drove his vehicle at Mr Klein and slammed him against his own house at Millmerran, west of Brisbane.
“I tried to save him. I looked in his eyes as he took his last breath,” Ms Hall told Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday, speaking directly to Cook.
“I felt the world collapsing around me. I was shattered. Part of me died as well.”
Cook was in a backyard next door to Mr Klein and Ms Hall’s home when their dogs started barking.
Ms Hall went outside and encountered Cook on the other side of the fence.
“She said you swore at her and that you had a knife and you would either stab her or slit her throat,” Justice Michael Copley said.
Ms Hall told Cook to leave or she would alert Mr Klein and he would get his gun.
Cook drove away but then returned via two U-turns as he “wanted to have another spray” at Ms Hall.
Mr Klein pointed an inoperable shotgun at Cook but a jury found the defendant’s actions in response were not justified as self-defence.
“You had ample time to drive away. Instead you reversed and then drove at (Mr Klein),” Justice Copley said.
Cook steered his car through a narrow gap between two trees and struck Mr Klein, causing injuries that were fatal within minutes.
“You did not stay to render assistance. You fled. You did not go home and say ‘my God what have I done?’ and call the police,” Justice Copley said.
Ms Hall had to get rid of her beloved dachshunds as the sound of barking triggered flashbacks.
Christmas was “now filled with pain, heartbreak and anger because of you,” Ms Hall told Cook.
“Russell was the love of my life, my soulmate … we were planning our wedding for the following year with so much love and excitement,” she said.
“These plans were destroyed by you.”
Cook sat with his head in his hands before sentence was handed down.
He had been acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a Toowoomba Supreme Court jury in October.
He was jailed for 12 years with a requirement he spend at least 80 per cent of that time in custody.
Cook will be eligible for parole in six years and eight months due to time already served,
He was also indefinitely disqualified from holding a driver’s licence.
AAP
