A CONTRACT killer has avoided life behind bars for the execution of Stockton grandmother Stacey Klimovitch.
Jason Paul Hawkins will spend at least 24 years in jail for the shooting murder of the 61-year-old swimming instructor in the doorway of her Queen Street home about 8pm on June 9, 2021.
The public gallery of the NSW Supreme Court in Newcastle was packed on Friday as Justice Peter Hamill told the 48-year-old hitman his fate.
Hawkins was sentenced to 32 years in custody, with a possibility of parole after 24 years, when he will be 78 years old in 2045.
His total sentence will expire in 2053.
Justice Hamill said Hawkins had carried out a "premeditated assassination" and a "cold-blooded execution of a person with which he had no grievance" when he fired a shotgun at Mrs Klimovitch at close range.
"This is a grave example of the crime of murder," he told the court.
The court heard of Hawkins' extremely disadvantaged and traumatic background.
As Hawkins was led to the cells, he had parting words for Justice Hamill.
"I'm gonna appeal, Your Honour," Hawkins said.
The court heard Hawkins had long denied murdering Mrs Klimovitch, told a "fanciful" story during his NSW Supreme Court trial last year, and has not shown any remorse.
Mrs Klimovitch had been the victim of a targeted and "chaotically" planned murder masterminded by her former son-in-law Stuart Campbell over an ugly and ongoing dispute between the pair.
Campbell had the motive and orchestrated the hit on Mrs Klimovitch, recruiting Hawkins and another man, Stephen John Garland, into his tangled web.
Campbell was charged with murder but died in jail before facing trial.
Garland, a former Nomads bikie and the getaway driver, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison, with four-and-a-half years' non-parole, for his role in driving Hawkins over the Stockton bridge the night of the killing.
He will be eligible for parole in November 2027.
"He knew little of the planning and was kept in the dark as to the true nature of the criminal enterprise," Justice Hamill said.
He said Garland's comments in court to Mrs Klimovitch's family during the week showed "genuine" remorse, despite him trying to set up false alibis in the months after the execution in 2021.
He had told the family on Wednesday that he had made the biggest mistake of his life by travelling to Stockton the night of the murder.
"I'm so, so very sorry for my involvement in this very sad and tragic crime," he said at the time, visibly emotional.
Justice Hamill paid tribute to Mrs Klimovitch as a funny, loud, beloved "character" in her family and to the wider community, who had served many through her passion for teaching children the life-saving skill of swimming.
"Nothing I can say today can alleviate the grief and trauma this family has to endure," he said.
The NSW Supreme Court had heard from Mrs Klimovitch's family of their eternal trauma and heartbreak after their loss in such horrific circumstances, during sentencing proceedings earlier this week.
Her daughter Alexandra, who was home with her baby at the time of her mother's murder, gave a powerful statement as she stared her killer down in court on Tuesday.
"There is no replacement for what you've taken," she told Hawkins.
