‘Truth is out’: relief over gruesome murder acquittal
Tara Cosoleto and Emily Woods |
A woman acquitted of a gruesome murder says she is “absolutely stoked” the truth has finally come out.
Jodie Hill, 45, broke down into sobs and mouthed ‘thank you’ to jurors as they returned their not guilty verdict in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday.
She had always denied killing 72-year-old John Hunter, whose mutilated body was found at his western Victorian home in January 2023.
“It’s the truth and it’s finally come out after three years,” she told AAP after walking from court.
“I’m absolutely stoked.”
In his final weeks alive, Mr Hunter required an oxygen pump to help his breathing because he was being treated for lung disease.
When police found his body he was covered in a bunched-up curtain with a T-shirt pulled over his head, prosecutor Nadia Kaddeche told the jury during the murder trial.
She alleged a box cutter was used to “carve into the deceased’s body” with his genitalia removed, and his eyes gouged out.
Ms Kaddeche said Hill and co-accused Thomas Clarke had killed Mr Hunter in the kitchen of his Dimboola home and dragged his body to a spare bedroom.
She alleged DNA evidence had linked Hill to the scene, but Hill’s barrister Tim Marsh raised issues with the evidence during the trial.
He said claims his client made to an undercover police officer, while she was in a holding cell after being arrested for the murder, were lies.
This included Hill claiming the killing was “the biggest rush ever” and boasting it “fulfilled one of my fantasies and only the start of my fantasies”.
“That’s nonsense, she’s talking herself up in the environment of the cells,” Mr Marsh told the jury.
He called Hill as a defence witness and she gave evidence to the jury in the final days of her trial.
Hill said she watched Clarke beat Mr Hunter to death using a hammer and denied she took part in the attack.
“He’d just gone into an absolute rage,” she told the jury, saying Clarke yelled “pedophile” at the victim.
“I was just standing there gobsmacked.”
Hill admitted she touched Mr Hunter on the leg and arm, and then left and went back to her caravan.
Jurors were given the option of finding Hill guilty of murder or manslaughter by unlawful act, or acquitting her of the charges.
A jury of 14 was whittled down to 12 who retired to deliberate on their verdict on December 12.
They returned on Friday morning and found Hill not guilty of Mr Hunter’s murder and manslaughter.
She broke down into sobs as she learnt she would walk out a free woman.
Outside court, Hill told reporters she planned to return to regional Victoria.
“The city’s scary to me, I’ve only been here five times in my life,” she said.
“So heading back to the bush and the fresh air where you can just be safe and free and start a whole new life.”
Clarke entered a guilty plea to murder in July and will face a pre-sentence hearing at a later date.
AAP
