A South Australian judge has given Jason Alexander Downie 35 years in jail for the merciless slaughter of a teenage girl and her parents, saying the crime was made more chilling by the young man's ordinariness.
The 20-year-old Downie stood calmly as he was sentenced to life in the South Australian Supreme Court, while people in the packed public gallery screamed abuse at him.
Downie had pleaded guilty to stabbing 16-year-old Chantelle Rowe and her parents Andrew and Rose at least 112 times. The crimes happened in the town of Kapunda in November 2010, when he was 18.
In passing sentence today, Justice John Sulan said the circumstances of the crime were all the more chilling because Downie had an unremarkable childhood, no criminal history and no signs of instability.
He said words could not describe the horrors of the crime scene after Downie's "cold-blooded" and "merciless" slaying of three members of the Rowe family.
The judge said Downie, who lived in the same town as his victims, 80km north of Adelaide, had become sexually obsessed with Chantelle and was jealous of a friend who was dating her.
He broke into the Rowes' home, killed Chantelle's father Andrew, then her mother Rose, and then raped Chantelle as he stabbed her to death. He stabbed Chantelle more than 33 times, Andrew at least 29 times and Rose more than 50 times.
Downie's lawyer Greg Mead said his client didn't remember everything that had happened.
But he said Downie didn't break in intending to kill them - only to confront Chantelle's boyfriend in the mistaken belief that he was staying there.
Justice Sulan said he didn't believe that.
"You went there to satisfy your desire to have a sexual relationship with Chantelle Rowe," he said.
"The crimes you committed were truly horrific."
There was anger and distress among those in the gallery after the judge revealed new details about the rape of Chantelle.
One of the Rowes' family had to leave the court, shaking and crying.
Justice Sulan said the emotional victim impact statements submitted by Chantelle's brother, other family and friends showed the impact of Downie's crimes would last forever.
Downie had paid tribute to the Rowes after the killings, and had consoled Chantelle's boyfriend, until samples of his DNA and semen led to his arrest. He was 18 at the time.
Justice Sulan sentenced him to a mandatory life in prison with a 35-year non-parole period.
The judge said he would have given Downie 42 years had it not been for his early plea and his youth.
