THE man who delivered the fatal blow to Kangaroo Flat mother-of-four Samantha Kelly received a reduced jail sentence because of an agreement to give evidence against his co-accused.
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The Bendigo Advertiser can now report that Peter James Arthur was granted a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his evidence at the committal and trial.
Peter James Arthur was jailed for 16 years for the murder, which was increased to 22 years with 18 years non-parole following an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Arthur’s original sentence was deemed “manifestly inadequate”, and the Court of Appeal found that undue importance was placed on his role as an informer.
In their reasons, three justices of the Court of Appeal believed Arthur surrendered his positions as a “true informer” by changing his story on a number of occasions.
“The fact that he has already given evidence against his accomplices means that they are aware of his cooperation,” they wrote.
“While the respondent’s undertaking to cooperate has been and remains valuable, the numerous changes in his version of events have the potential to seriously undermine the credibility of his evidence at the trial of his accomplices.”
Arthur chose to give evidence against Christine Lyons – a woman he first met when aged 17.
He proposed to her at age 18, but Ms Lyons’ family did not approve of the marriage and they lost touch, only to reconnect on social media decades later.
Ms Lyons was in a relationship with Ronald Lyons at that time, and Arthur moved in with them in Kangaroo Flat. Arthur and Ms Lyons took part in an “informal marriage ceremony”.
Arthur became aware that Ms Lyons still had greater affection for Ronald Lyons however, and it drove Arthur to “do whatever it took to maintain [his] relationship with her”, a court was told.
Samantha Kelly and her four children moved in with them in July 2015.
Ms Lyons’ inability to have her own children resulted in the “vicious, calculated and planned” killing of Samantha Kelly six months later in an attempt to steal her children.