A Perth woman who beat her boyfriend to death has been jailed for life with a non-parole period of almost two decades.
In an ‘explosion of anger’, Brittany McCulloch hit, whipped and bit Jordan Chas Caine dozens of times using a rake, extension cord, scissors, a broken mop and a skateboard.
Western Australia Supreme Court Justice Stephen Lemonis said what Mr Caine has suffered was a ‘serious form of domestic violence’, The West Australian reported.
The ‘prolonged and brutal attack’ took place in July 2022 at the couple’s home in the coastal Perth suburb of Alkimos.
It’s not known how long the assault took or what McCulloch’s motive was, with her own lawyer Seamus Rafferty SC admitting that his client had ‘told too many lies’ and that ‘specifically what happened’ may never be known.
The lies started when McCulloch called Triple-0 and said she had found Mr Caine, 34, on the floor with cuts to his wrist.
When paramedics arrived to the home, they were suspicious and called the police.
An officer heard McCulloch, now 30, tell someone on a phone call that Mr Caine had taken his own life.
Brittany McCulloch will spend at least 19-and-a-half-years behind bars
She told a different officer her partner, who she later described as a ‘soft, nurturing, shy and kind-hearted … loving person’, had killed himself.
The couple had been together for just eight months at the time of the murder.
The court heard that McCulloch told the police she had gone for a walk to the beach at 3am because she couldn’t sleep and when she got back at 6am she found Mr Caine in the garage.
She said her boyfriend suffered from anxiety and depression and had committed suicide.
McCulloch denied there had been any domestic violence issues, but neighbours told the police they often heard loud arguments at the house and that she was the ‘aggressor’.
McCulloch described her boyfriend Jordan Chas Caine (pictured) as a ‘soft, nurturing, shy and kind-hearted … loving person’
She eventually admitted assaulting Mr Caine but that she hadn’t meant to kill him.
She was charged with grievous bodily harm causing death which was then upgraded to manslaughter.
When a post-mortem found Mr Caine had suffered more than 50 separate injuries, the charge against McCulloch was upgraded again, to murder.
Mr Caine had injuries to his head, back, arms, legs and abdomen, with his cause of death listed as multiple soft tissue injuries and extensive blood loss.
At a court hearing in June, McCulloch was asked her plea to the charge of murder and replied ‘I am guilty’.
Her lawyer said she accepted she deserved to be punished and was ‘truly sorry for ending the life of someone she loved’.
In an ‘explosion of anger’, Brittany McCulloch hit, whipped and bit her boyfriend dozens of times
Mr Rafferty said she never though she could be responsible for the death of someone in such a violent way and had a complete lack of understanding of her own personality.
The court heard McCulloch had anger issues, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder due to her difficult childhood.
The barrister said she had not planned to murder her boyfriend, that it ‘was a pure explosion of anger.
‘She reacted to a situation, whatever it may have been, it was descending into the red mist, a complete loss of control, a fit of anger and rage.’
Her victim’s family and friends were devastated by his death, with his mother writing in her victim impact statement that she felt more agony knowing how her son suffered.
Though Mr Caine was unconscious by the time he died, he would have been terrified and suffered pain before that, the court heard.
Justice Lemonis took McCulloch’s late guilty plea, the fact the murder was not premeditated, and her remorse into account in deciding on a sentence.
She got a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years and six months.
