In his final waking moments, Jarrad Lovison must have been terrified.
He thought he was meeting a woman to get drugs and, given their sexual text message exchanges, was hoping for something more too.
Instead, the seven-foot-tall gentle giant was ambushed by his former partner’s new love interest Andrew Price, and another man, Jake Brown.
Lovison was pulled from a car in the early hours of the morning of April 16, 2020, by the armed men in the remote Moondarra State Forest, near Moe in Gippsland.
He died from ingesting a fatal amount of GHB and while prosecutors couldn’t prove he was forced to use the drug at gunpoint it was argued his knowledge that both men were armed rendered his use non-consensual.
The men pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming they didn’t intend to kill him.
Their intention was to leave Lovison incapacitated in the bush, unable to get into town.
He was unconscious when he was left by Price and died sometime later.
It was five weeks before his body was discovered, following widespread searches by police and appeals from his family.
Price was jailed for seven-and-a-half years on Thursday by Justice Michael Croucher, and Brown for seven years.
While their prison sentences will have an endpoint, they must also live with what they’ve done.
“I expect that this will haunt them for the rest of their days,” the judge said.
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He broke down while discussing the profound impact of the men’s actions on Lovison’s loved ones.
His father and stepmother had spoken of the torment of knowing what happens to a body left in the open in the bush for five weeks.
John Lovison said he couldn’t get that thought out of his mind and hadn’t been able to say a proper goodbye to his son because of it.
He previously blasted Brown and Price as “gutless dogs” and evil men for what they did to his son.
His mother spoke of the extreme pain she feels and the expectation that it will last forever.
“Sadly I think she is right – as she said, parents are not supposed to bury their children, and not in this way,” Croucher said.
They now live in a room of grief and experience the rest of us hope never to enter, he said.
“The sentences to be imposed are not a reflection of the worth of his life or what it might be – it can’t be,” he said, pausing to hold back tears.
“Such a precious thing is immeasurable, particularly for a stranger.”
With time already served, both men will be eligible for parole in a little over two years.
Samantha Guillerme, who lured Lovison to the bush, was previously sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars for her role in his death and walked free after 15 months in prison.
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