A brave sister locked eyes with her brother’s killers as she read out her victim impact statement in the Launceston Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Holly Mason-White was addressing the sentencing submissions of Nathan Thomas Smith and Belinda Leone Colbran – the two people guilty of murdering her brother, Aaron Matthew Monaco.
Ms Mason-White described the irreversible change her brother’s murder had on her and her family’s lives.
“The sight of my mother weeping at her son’s grave is something I will never forget,” Ms Mason-White said.
“How could someone want to do this to another human being.”
The loss of Mr Monaco has prevented Ms Mason-White from participating in work and normal life and she has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder since his death, she told the court.
Ms Mason-White said she continually imagines her brother’s final moments and the pain he suffered, so she started seeing psychologist and that was when she received the diagnosis.
She told the court the sight of knives and the sound of ambulance sirens are triggers for her.
Ms Mason-White said she will forever feel guilt about not being there for her brother in his final moments.
She also told the court her two-year-old daughter never had the chance to meet her uncle.
“I feel the impact of Aaron’s loss, not just for me but for my daughter,” she said.
The family submitted another two victim impact statements to Justice Gregory Geason.
Mr Monaco was stabbed six times after getting into a verbal argument with the couple at unit owned by Smith.
Throughout Colbran’s trial, the court heard the couple was angry at Mr Monaco for overstaying his welcome, having no regard for Smith’s property and not paying rent.
The couple had been drinking and smoking cones at Colbran’s Ravenswood home prior to catching a taxi to Smith’s Parua Road unit at Newnham.
An argument broke out between the couple and Mr Monaco shortly before the murders stabbed him multiple times.
The sight of my mother weeping at her son’s grave is something I will never forget.
- Holly Mason-White
During sentencing submission the court heard Smith and Colbran struggled with alcohol and drug addictions from young ages.
Lawyer Evan Hughes told the court his client, Smith, started drinking alcohol at age 11 and was exposed to heroin at 13 years old, beginning a more than 20-year battle with addiction.
Mr Hughes said those weren’t mitigating factors, instead an insight into Smith’s background.
Smith had many years of being sober and had met Colbran in a rehabilitation facility in New South Wales about five years ago, Mr Hughes told the court.
Rehabilitation is “not lost” on Smith, with the court hearing about his farm work in jail, and desire to access rehabilitation programs and study horticulture once he is sentenced.
Mr Hughes told the court it would be naive to say Smith couldn’t access substances while in custody, but his client has chosen to sustain from using and drinking.
Smith pleaded guilty to murder on the day he was due to stand trial alongside Colbran.
Mr Hughes said this was mitigating because it was an acknowledgement of guilt, but Justice Gregory Geason told the court it was a very late plea.
Smith confessed to killing Mr Monaco when he gave evidence at Colbran’s trial.
The court heard Smith admitted to stabbing Mr Monaco because he wanted to ensure his girlfriend was not blamed for wielding the knife he had.
Colbran’s lawyer Todd Kovacic painted a picture of his client’s past as one tainted by addiction and family violence.
The former NSW woman was married and had her first child at 19 and her second child a year later, the court heard.
Mr Kovacic said there was a history of family violence from her husband towards Colbran and their children.
The two children were put into state care after Colbran began “excessive substance abuse” after her husband committed suicide, the court heard.
Colbran suffered psychiatric episodes, which Mr Kovacic said was due to her excessive drinking.
Smith and Colbran have been in a relationship for about three years and they moved to Tasmania for a fresh start, the court heard.
In his sentencing submissions, Crown Prosecutor John Ransom said the state’s position was Smith’s assertion Mr Monaco appeared at the unit with a knife and Colbran remained on the couch while the stabbing took place should both be rejected.
Shortly before adjourning the matter to Thursday, Justice Geason said the only certainty was both the prisoners are looking at very long sentences.