Courtney Herron: Mother of woman beaten to death with a tree branch in Melbourne dealt another devastating blow when thief made off with her late daughter’s jewelery
- Courtney Herron beaten to death in May 2019
- Her jewelry was stolen earlier this month
- The grieving mother said the trauma had been reignited
The grieving mother of a woman beaten to death with a tree branch has suffered another brutal blow after a thief stole her late daughter’s jewelry on the anniversary of her murder.
Maxi Antoniou’s daughter Courtney Herron, 25, was beaten so brutally on May 25, 2019, that the undertaker was unable to reassemble her broken body.
Her killer, Henry Hammond, was found not guilty of her murder by a judge who accepted that he was mentally retarded at the time. Instead, he was ordered to serve 25 years in a mental hospital.
Now Ms Antoniou claims she has been forced to relive the horror after a brazen thief ransacked her home in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds earlier this month and made off with a gold cross and a Pandora bracelet belonging to her daughter.
Courtney Herron (pictured) was beaten so brutally on May 25, 2019 that the undertaker was unable to reassemble her broken body
Henry Hammond (pictured) was ordered to spend 25 years in a mental hospital after a judge admitted he was mentally retarded at the time
‘The value in money is not that great. But the value to myself, my family and my children is priceless,” Ms Antoniou said 7News.
“The offense is just as bad as when Courtney was (killed). I can’t describe the feeling that she’s gone and that person is taking that jewelry.”
On Monday, police released CCTV footage of a man they believe could help with their investigation.
“It is clear that the perpetrator slashed the screen and kicked in the back door to gain access to the Hopetoun Street property between 4:30 and 6:15 p.m. on 1 July,” said a Victoria Police spokesperson. .
The man who may be able to assist with police investigations is described as Middle Eastern in appearance, in his fifties, of sturdy build, with black and gray hair and a thin goatee.
He wore a fluorescent yellow and dark jacket, brown shirt, dark pants and white runners.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police immediately.
Courtney Herron’s mother (pictured visiting the scene where her daughter was killed in May 2019) said the theft of her daughter’s jewelry was an “offense…just as bad as when Courtney was killed”
On Monday, police released CCTV footage of a man they believe could help with their investigation (pictured)
Hammond killed Ms Herron after they both went to work early in May 2019 at Royal Park in Melbourne’s inner city.
He beat her to death with a branch before burying her under a pile of leaves. Her angled body was found by dog walkers later that morning.
When arrested, Hammond told police he thought he recognized Mrs. Herron from a past life and that he killed her in revenge for killing his wife.
In May, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Hammond was enjoying conjugal visits with a fellow ‘patient’ within the walls of one of Australia’s most notorious insane asylums.
In March 2021, Supreme Court Justice of Victoria Phillip Priest ordered that Hammond be moved from Port Phillip Prison to Thomas Embling Hospital under a detention order that could be reviewed as early as next year.
“He is a very aggressive prisoner. He will spit on the nurses, but he has a girlfriend he met inside and they are allowed into the matrimonial room,” a well-placed source told this publication.
Dealing with women within Thomas Embling is a known perk among murderers hoping to kill with mental disorders.
Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas – who failed his mental disability attempt – told psychologist Michael Daffern that he was eager to serve time with Thomas Embling “because there would be women there.”