The grieving husband of a mother-of-two who was stabbed to death during a home invasion has recalled the haunting moment his life changed forever.
Emma Lovell, 41, and her husband Lee spent Boxing Day 2022 baking treats and playing games with their young daughters Scarlett and Kassie before the North Lakes couple enjoyed a few cocktails and an early night.
Hours later, she was fatally stabbed in the heart after two teenagers, both 17 at the time, broke into her home north of Brisbane about 11.30pm.
Her partner of 22 years was also stabbed in front of their shocked daughters.
The teenager, now 19, who killed Mrs Lovell, had previously been convicted of 84 offenses but had not spent a day in custody until that night.
Mr Lovell has told how he was attacked in his own home – and did not realize his wife was seriously injured until his daughter saw her bleeding.
Lee Lovell has opened up about life with his beloved wife Emma, who was stabbed to death on Boxing Day 2022
“By the time I looked at Emma again, she was just lying on the floor unconscious,” he said. A current issue on Monday evening.
“And when Kassie came back, she said, ‘Mommy’s bleeding,’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’
“She’s bleeding and she looked at her left side and I know it was just soaked in blood, you know, and then panic sets in.”
While he was rushed to the hospital, other paramedics performed open-heart surgery on his wife in their front yard.
“It was a big shock to hear in the hospital that she had not survived,” he remembers.
“I was like, ‘I want to see her,’ I jumped off the bed and tried to walk through to see her without actually falling over.”
Lovell described seeing his wife’s killer in court as bizarre.
‘I hadn’t seen him before and you just expect him to look like a monster, but he doesn’t. He is an average young adult,” he said.
“For a while I couldn’t really take my eyes off him.”
Scarlett and Kassie (photo with their parents)
Police officers are pictured at the scene of the crime on December 27, 2022, the day after Emma was murdered
The teenager was sentenced in the High Court in Brisbane last week to 14 years behind bars with a non-parole period of almost 10 years.
It was one of the longest prison sentences imposed on a juvenile delinquent, but because he had not yet turned 18, he could be a free man before the age of thirty.
Had Mrs Lovell been murdered just four months later, her killer would have been facing life behind bars.
Lovell was disappointed when his wife’s murderer was sentenced to fourteen years.
“Then they start talking about how they only have to do 70 percent… well, it’s not really 14, is it?” he said
‘He’s not 13 or 14, he’s 17 and in four months he’ll be 18
‘Another four months, and we wouldn’t even have been talking about a heinous crime, or trying to get it over the line; we would have been talking straight out about a life sentence.’
The court found the teenager was a repeat burglar and car thief whose life of crime began when he was 15.
Within two years, his lengthy criminal record had grown to 84 offenses.
Sixteen previous offenses involved burglary or attempted burglary.
“It’s quite shocking to be honest, nothing has been done before or caught before,” Lovell said.
“Time and time again, crime after crime and it’s all because we have weak bail laws.
“Nobody seems to want to lock anyone up anymore and it’s innocent people who are picking up the pieces.”
Lee Lovell believes he and his daughters have been given life sentences after his wife’s killer was jailed for a maximum of 14 years
Emma and Lee were together for 22 years before her life was tragically cut short
Emma’s eldest daughter Scarlett is now 16, just a year younger than the two boys who broke into their home that night.
“I think it’s because of the way everyone was raised differently,” she told Ally Langdon.
“You know, my parents raised me to be nice and polite and not really break the rules.
“Of course every teenager wants to riot at some point and go drinking with their friends, but I know I didn’t expect it to go to the point where people were actually breaking into people’s homes.”
Mr Lovell is now on a mission to campaign for tougher sentences, more police patrols at night and better support for families affected by crime.
Lee Lovell and his daughters Kassie (left) and Scarlett (right) are pictured outside court