A woman who helped dispose of the body parts of Jake Anderson Brettner after his murder was released on parole in August after serving three years of a five-a-half-year jail sentence.
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Gemma Elizabeth Clark, 27, was released on August 17 by the Parole Board of Tasmania, but the reasons for their decision were not published until Wednesday.
She was sentenced by Justice Robert Pearce in May after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Jake Anderson-Brettner, 22, and failing to report his killing on August 15, 2018.
He ordered a three-year non-parole-period.
Clark helped convicted murderer Jack-Harrison Vincent Sadler dispose of the body of Mr Anderson-Brettner after Sadler shot him three times at their Riverside home.
She held garbage bags open while Sadler threw in Mr Anderson-Brettner's body parts and then drove while bags were put into wheelie bins in Summerhill and Gravelly Beach.
She helped Sadler carry Mr Anderson-Brettner's torso to a car and get it out of the car when it was thrown over a bank on the Sideling.
Clark gave critical evidence in Sadler's trial in particular debunking his claim that three unnamed Victorian drug dealers shot Mr Anderson-Brettner and told him to dispose of the body.
In its remarks the Parole Board said Clark's actions were horrendous and demonstrated a substantial failing in her character and judgement.
"The crime has understandably had a significant impact on the family and friends of the victim," the report read.
"A young man has cruelly and needlessly had his life taken from him.
"The actions in disposing of the body parts of the victim, an action in which the applicant assisted, has added to the pain and anguish experienced by the victim's loved ones.
"Ultimately it was, however, the applicant, who led the police to the place where part of the body had been disposed of.
"The involvement of the applicant in these terrible events was to assist her partner's efforts to conceal the crime including, most significantly, by failing to inform the police and assisting to dispose of the body of the victim."
The Parole Board said that Clark's behaviour whilst in custody had been extremely positive and compliant, and she had been employed within the prison, and was described as a hardworker.
"She is a minimum-security prisoner. She has good case notes recording her positive engagement with staff," the remarks said.
The board said her good behaviour resulted in Clark being designated as a Red Cross peer mentor where she assisted, supported and advised new inmates to the prison environment.
"The applicant reflects on her offending with horror and regret," it said.
"This is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.
"She acknowledges and understands the pain that her actions and that of her then partner caused their victims.
"If left to her own devices the board is confident that this is not behaviour in which the applicant would ordinarily have engaged.
"The board find that the applicant does not pose a risk to the public were she to be released on parole."
Clark engaged in vocational training in prison undertaking courses in kitchen essentials, barista work, cleaning, and salon assistance.
"The applicant is future focused and is planning to engage in further education to increase her skill set and employability," the board said.
"Suitable and supportive accommodation is available to the applicant upon her release on parole."
In sentencing Clark Justice Pearce said she initially faced a real risk of being charged with murder before she cooperated with police.
He said he was initially considering an eight-year jail sentence for Clark.
"Miss Clark committed crimes of considerable gravity. It is a serious example of both crimes," he said.
"She played a significant part in concealing the crime, albeit that it was ultimately discovered.
"Her lies to the police are not an aggravating factor but indicate the absence of immediate remorse.
"Her admissions came only after the gravity of her situation became apparent to her, when the evidence of her link to the murder was clear and she faced the real risk of a charge of murder."
Justice Pearce discounted the sentence by 10 per cent for an early plea of guilty and by 20 per cent for her willingness to give evidence in the murder trial.
"In the final conclusion I have allowed a final discount of just over 30 per cent because the appropriate head sentence is imprisonment for five and a half years," he said.
Clark gave crucial evidence under the threat that if she failed to cooperate the sentence could be reviewed and increased on appeal.
Justice Pearce said the state accepted that Clark was not party to the murder itself, and did not know in advance what was intended.
"She not only failed to report his killing, but also acted with the intention of keeping the murder secret so the perpetrator may escape punishment for his crime," he said.
"Although she initially lied to the police about her involvement, on Sunday August 19 she took police officers to the place where Mr Anderson-Brettner's torso was found and then gave them further information which led to the collection of other evidence.
"The early plea also satisfies me that despite the absence of immediate remorse she came to appreciate the appalling wrong she had done and formed the intention to do what she can to make amends, although of course she can never fully do so."
Before the murder, Clark had no prior convictions.
"She comes from a good family who remain supportive of her," Justice Pearce said.
"She is well educated and has held many responsible part time employment positions while she was at school and university."
Clark will be on parole until February 17, 2024.
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