A Sydney woman — who murdered her partner with an axe before smoking a cigarette and catching a taxi to the police station — has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Gina Kennedy — a pseudonym allocated by the NSW Supreme Court — pleaded guilty after striking her partner in the head with an axe in a St Mary's bedroom in September 2020.
The 36-year-old was recorded on CCTV smoking a cigarette outside the home as she waited for a taxi to take her to a police station.
Ms Kennedy then confessed to killing her partner of 10 years— referred to as "Joseph" by the court.
On Friday, Justice Natalie Adams took into account Kennedy's guilty plea and noted their relationship was "volatile and at times marred by domestic violence" while handing down the sentence.
However, Justice Adams wasn't satisfied it was the motivating factor, as Kennedy claimed, but rather was prompted by feelings of jealousy and seeking revenge.
"I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the motivation for the murder was blacking out and striking him while thinking of all the violence he had inflicted on her," Justice Adams said.
"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the motive for the murder was jealousy and revenge for him leaving the relationship.
"He complained to his mother about Kennedy's jealousy in 2016 and told their case worker he was scared to leave her in 2020, only months before his death."
In the evening of the murder, CCTV footage shows Kennedy called a taxi to Bunnings, asked the driver to wait, as she went inside to purchase a Trojan brand axe.
The next day, CCTV vision shows she went to the police station confessing to the murder, but told "a number of lies", including the amount of times she struck him, and the timing of his death.
In her sentencing, Justice Adams described the attack as a "very grave case of murder" and that "no sentence could possibly ease the grief of those that were close to him".
Justice Adams read a victim statement offered by the man's aunt, which detailed the family's devastation.
The relationship between Joseph and his mother was described like "two peas in a pod". She died earlier this year.
Kennedy appeared via video link in court, showing little emotion during the sentencing.
Police had previously been called to multiple disturbances between the two, according to the agreed statement of facts.
The victim had been convicted three times for domestic violence perpetrated against Kennedy.
In August 2020, he made a triple-0 call to report Kennedy injuring him with a meat cleaver, while a month prior she Googled "how to poison someone" and "the five top poisons".
The man told his mother that Kennedy often accused him of having affairs, and the day before his death she sent him text messages angrily accusing him of infidelity, court documents revealed.
Kennedy will be eligible for parole in 2039.
