Tara Brown murder: Lionel Patea pleads guilty to killing former partner | Crime - Australia

November 2022 · 4 minute read
This article is more than 6 years old

Tara Brown murder: Lionel Patea pleads guilty to killing former partner

This article is more than 6 years old

Twenty-four-year-old killed after Patea ran her car off a Gold Coast road then bludgeoned her to death with a fire hydrant cover

Lionel Patea has been jailed for life after admitting the murder of his former partner Tara Brown as the victim’s mother denounced him as a “monster” in a packed courtroom in Brisbane.

Brown, 24, was killed after Patea ran her car off the road in the Gold Coast in September 2015 and then bludgeoned her to death with a fire hydrant cover while she was trapped in her overturned vehicle.

Patea, 25, a former Bandidos bikie, had been expected to stand trial for a week.

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But as dozens of Brown’s family and friends filled Brisbane supreme court on Monday, Patea changed his plea and admitted murder.

Dressed in a blue suit and black tie, with his wrists handcuffed together, he remained emotionless as Brown’s mother Natalie Hinton told the court of the “monster” who claimed her daughter’s life.

“Tara was empathetic, warm and trusting,” Hinton said. “She was a lover of life from a very young age.”

Hinton said Patea constantly sought validation from Brown and used domestic violence tactics like gaslighting to destroy her self-confidence.

“The monster was now in control, she feared him,” Hinton said. “He took full advantage of her vulnerability.”

Natalie Hinton (centre), mother of Tara Brown, arrives at the supreme court in Brisbane on Monday. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Brown, originally from New Zealand, had been hiding from Patea at a safe house and friends’ homes since taking out a domestic violence order against him.

On the day of the attack, she had dropped off her three-year-old daughter Aria at day care when Patea chased down her hatchback in a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Witnesses saw the pair reaching speeds of more than 100km/h and Patea banging on Brown’s driver’s side window with both fists when she had to stop at red lights.

Patea eventually rammed the back of her car, forcing the vehicle down an embankment where it overturned, trapping her inside.

He used the metal slab weighing 7.8kg from the side of the road to repeatedly bash her in the head, causing “non-survivable” brain injuries.

Nearby residents who heard the crash originally thought Patea was trying to free Brown and helped him break a window to get to her.

It was not until they heard her crying out that they realised what he was doing and tried to stop him, but he fought them off.

A triple zero call made by Brown earlier captured the sounds of a dozen “thumping” sounds as well as her crying out “Lionel, stop. Please help me.”

Hinton said when she was told her daughter was in hospital, she knew that Patea had found her and hurt her.

“I was oblivious to the extent of his sickening actions,” she said. “My whole world caved in around me as this misogynistic narcissist murdered my baby girl.”

In handing down a life sentence for murder, Justice Debra Mullins said she hoped Patea had listened carefully to Hinton’s statement that showed the impact of Ms Brown’s death was “much greater than words can express”.

Patea said he pleaded guilty with the full support of his family, who had encouraged him to face up to his actions.

In a statement read outside court by his solicitor Campbell McCallum, Patea said: “I do not wish to cause Tara’s family any further pain nor delay their need for justice. I accept without reservation the punishment imposed upon me by the justice system today, I will also be ultimately be judged by God.

“I know Tara will never be forgotten, nor will I ever be forgiven. I just hope that I can today stop any further potential pain and suffering for Tara’s family.”

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