THE devastated family of Bendigo newsagent Garry Angus, who was fatally stabbed last year by a mentally ill man who was off his medication, have revealed the heart-breaking impact of his death to Victoria’s Supreme Court.
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Mr Angus, 49, was found dead in the kitchen of his NewsXpress newsagency in Pall Mall in October 2011.
His wife made the grim discovery just after midnight on October 18 when she went to collect him from work.
He had gone to the premises to catch up on some bookkeeping.
A postmortem found that Mr Angus suffered 30 stab wounds that a pathologist deemed were inflicted with “severe force’’ to his torso, hands and face, along with a deep cut to his throat.
Antony John Duguid, 47, was last month found not guilty of his murder by reason of mental impairment.
Prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, read out the family’s emotional victim impact statements before Justice Elizabeth Curtain ruled that Duguid receive a custodial supervision order for a 25-year nominal term under the Crimes Mental Impairment (Fitness to be Tried) Act.
Mr Angus’s wife, Jenny, wrote “my life changed forever’’ the night she found her husband dead.
“My world just shattered. My heart feels broken to pieces, just hurts... I will never forget what I saw that night.’’
She said her husband had enjoyed life, “always had a smile on his face’’ and loved to laugh.
She detailed how difficult it had been for her to close down the family’s newsagency, but said it had been too hard going back there each day knowing what had happened.
Timothy Angus said he felt “angry and hurt’’ about his father’s untimely death.
He said he had enjoyed being taught by his father the runnings of the family business and had dreamed about one day taking over the newsagency.
“Closing the shop and pulling it apart tore my heart out,’’ he said.
“He was more than a dad for me. He was a teacher of life... No one deserves to die the way dad did and no one deserves to have their life taken away,’’ he said.
Duguid, who showed no emotion throughout the hearing, will now remain at Thomas Embling Hospital pending a future review of his mental health.
The court has previously heard that he had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia for more than 20 years after experiencing drug-induced psychosis in 1992.
He has since been hospitalised several times due to his recurring symptoms and was off his medication when the planned, fatal stabbing took place. ?
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