In April 2015, the nation was rocked by the brutal and senseless murder of Stephanie Scott, a 26-year-old school teacher living in Leeton, New South Wales, just days before she was due to be wed.
Her killer, 25-year-old school janitor Vincent Stanford pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated sexual assault in July this year.
Today, Stanford appeared for his sentencing hearing, where the court heard his disturbing account of what happened on Easter Sunday in 2015 (Ms Scott’s body was discovered in burnt-out scrubland in Cocoparra National Park the following Friday).
As reported by News.com.au, the video interview showed Stanford saying:
“I went a little nuts.”
“I had to kill her. I was not angry or anything. I was pretty emotionless, I just thought I had to kill her.”
WATCH our coverage of Stanford pleading guilty to Stephanie’s murder earlier this year. Post continues…
Prior to this, 9News recounted that Ms Scott’s mother, Merrilyn Scott, delivered her victim impact statement, calling Stanford “despicable”.
“Did she see the knife? Did she see his fists as he beat her to oblivion?”
“We will never know what she suffered but to know that she suffered at all is difficult to bear.”
Our thoughts are with the Scott family and Stephanie’s friends during this difficult time.