When Robert Whitwell let his granddaughter into his house to look at photographs of her and her brother as children, he didn’t expect her to stab him to death
Court documents reveal just how Brittney Jade Dwyer, 19, callously killed the 81-year-old in a plan to steal his life savings while her friend and accomplice, Bernadette Burns, waited in the car and applied make-up.
“Mr Whitwell invited the accused [Dwyer] into his home and they looked at photographs and videos of the accused and her brother when they were children,” a case summary stated.
WATCH: Mr Whitwell’s family talk about the shocking crime outside of court.
“The accused then sent a text message to Ms Burns saying she could not go through with the plan.”
Burns insisted she kill her grandfather since “they had come all this way”, telling her to “just ‘harden up’ and do it”.
When five to ten minutes later, Dwyer told her grandfather she had to leave, he walked her to the front door and “she pulled out the knife she had brought with her and stabbed him in the neck,” according to court documents.
“Mr Whitwell turned around and put his hands on her shoulders.
“The accused then stabbed him in the chest, and again in the neck.”
Mr Whitwell asked his granddaughter why she was doing it, but she ignored his questioned.
Heartbreakingly, he then staggered back to the kitchen to grab a band-aid which his granddaughter helped him apply to his bleeding wound.
The 19-year-old then calmly did the dishes while he passed away, the summary states.
“The accused then sent a text message to Ms Burns saying ‘it’s done’.
It was then that Burns came into the house, and the pair donned gloves to search his house for Mr Whitwell’s money.
They stole $1000 from his wallet, some coins and two digital cameras, but failed to unearth the $110,000 in life savings he had hidden in his shed.
Earlier this year, Mr Whitwell’s family gave their victim statements in Supreme Court after Dwyer plead guilty to the crime.
In his statement, Mr Whitwell’s “very close” brother outlined what happened in the wake of his death.
“We welcomed you into our home, embraced you and comforted you, all the while you wept with your fake tears and made comments like ‘my poor poppa’,” he said to Dwyer.
“I now know that I had been embracing and comforting my brother’s killer. You are a master of deception, I will give you that.
“I will never forgive you. You’re a cruel, deceitful person with no regard for human life — I believe you are dangerous and evil and deserve the highest penalty.”
Tonya Dwyer, who is Dwyer’s mum and Mr Whitwell’s daughter, said she feels “like I’m drowning in life” after the shocking events of May 2nd last year.
“Since this crime has taken place I have been on a rollercoaster of emotions, shock, grief, anger and sadness,” she said.
“I feel like I am drowning in life. I can’t concentrate through the day and I can’t sleep at night.
“The images of what my father went through in his last minutes of life consumes me with sadness.”
