See the moment a killer admits her fingerprints are all over a brutal murder scene – after she beat her ‘boyfriend’ to death with a frying pan
- Narelle Fiona Smith murdered her 77-year-old neighbor
- She used a frying pan to kill Peter James McCarthy
- Smith admitted that her fingerprints were everywhere
In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, a woman has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison after beating her elderly neighbor to death with a frying pan.
Narelle Fiona Smith, 48, was found guilty of murdering 77-year-old retired attorney Peter James McCarthy in South Coogee in December 2020.
Bodycam footage from an officer at the scene shows the moment Smith denies killing Mr McCarthy, while another officer tells her she has been arrested.
“I didn’t kill my friend. I have my fingerprints everywhere. I didn’t kill my friend. I was there until late afternoon for dinner,” Smith said.
He was found dead on the floor of his two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a public housing block where he had lived for 12 years.
A bent frying pan was found near his body, which was draped with a tarpaulin.
Narelle Fiona Smith, 48, admitted her fingerprints were all over the place her neighbor was found dead
77-year-old retired lawyer Peter James McCarthy was beaten to death by Smith in 2020
Smith was charged in January 2021, first identified as a person of interest after her fingerprints were found on the door of Mr McCarthy’s unit.
She was found guilty by a jury in November 2022.
NSW High Court Judge Mark Ierace on Friday sentenced her to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years.
She will be eligible for parole for the first time in September 2036.
Justice Ierace said Smith committed the murder in an “explosive and sustained” fit of rage.
“The brutality and brutality of the perpetrator’s attack was extreme,” he said.
Mr. McCarthy was killed in his own home, which was ransacked, and Smith took his credit cards and Opal card with him.
It was an escalation of Smith’s recent pattern of violence, characterized by explosive outbursts of bodily harm and property damage, which she knew was caused by her drinking, the judge said.
Smith was first identified as a person of interest after her fingerprints were found on the door of Mr McCarthy’s unit
Smith is sentenced to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years
“It is clear that the perpetrator needs intensive psychiatric and drug and alcohol abuse therapy,” said Judge Ierace, who remained uncertain about her prospects for rehabilitation.
Smith was exposed to extreme neglect and abuse in her childhood, diagnosed with PTSD and borderline personality disorder, which reduced her moral guilt, but she still hadn’t accepted responsibility, the judge wrote.
It was submitted on Smith’s behalf that she was nonetheless upset by Mr McCarthy’s death and became emotional during the evidence at trial.
“That evidence was necessarily graphic, which visibly upset the jury as well,” Judge Ierace said.