A West Australian FIFO worker who was suffering psychosis when he killed a colleague because he wrongly believed he was a paedophile has been sentenced to more than seven years in jail.
Troy Adam Hausler, 32, was working at the Pilbara Metals Pilgangoora site south of Port Hedland in November 2019, when he followed 40-year-old Toby Richter into a tunnel and attacked him.
The Supreme Court was told the two men wrestled before falling to the ground, and when Hausler felt for Mr Richter's pulse, he could not find one.
Hausler wrapped Mr Richter's body in a tarpaulin and secured it with ropes before going to to get a four-wheel drive.
Other workers then came across the scene and found Mr Richter was dead, but Hausler said to them "it's rubbish" and "it's shit, we have to get rid of it".
He asked them to help load the body into the vehicle, but they refused and called the police.
Hausler was immediately arrested and charged with murder.
He had been due to stand trial last month, but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
The decision was made because it was believed there were no reasonable prospects of a conviction on the murder charge, including insufficient evidence to prove an intent to kill.
Hausler believed he was told by ASIO to 'deal with' victim
The court was told a post-mortem examination found Mr Richter had suffered bruising to his head, neck, torso and limbs, consistent with "a significant and substantial assault".
But the injures were not found to be the cause of his death, and the examination had also found he had widespread hardening of the arteries and indications of a previously unknown coronary condition.
Psychiatrists who examined Hausler found that at the time of the killing, he was suffering a psychotic episode and he believed his colleagues were with ASIO and were communicating with him telepathically, telling him to "deal with" Mr Richter.
He also falsely believed Mr Richter was a paedophile and was going to harm his children.
Justice Joseph McGrath described Mr Richter as "a loved family man who was innocently going about his daily work".
He said his death had devastated each member of his family and their grief was "palpable".
Direct link between mental health and killing: judge
Justice McGrath described Hausler's treatment of Mr Richter's body as "a most callous act" but he said he had to take into account that he was mentally impaired at the time.
The judge also accepted that there was a direct causal link between Hausler's mental health and the killing itself, which reduced his moral culpability.
"Your mental impairment has significantly impaired your ability to exercise appropriate judgement and to appreciate the nature of your conduct." he told the 32-year-old.
Hausler was given a 15 per cent reduction in his sentence for his plea of guilty, and Justice McGrath also accepted that he was remorseful and now had insight into his mental health issues.
He sentenced Hausler to seven years and three months in jail, backdated to the time he was taken into custody after the murder in November 2019.
He was made eligible for parole, so with time already served he will first be eligible for release in February 2025, after serving five years and three months.
