‘Cookie Monster’ who drugged her husband with cookies, wrapped him in a blanket and put his body in a freezer faces up to 16 years in prison – but judge says she deserves GRACE
- Wife killed husband with poisoned cookies
- She will spend at least 10 years behind bars
A woman who murdered her husband by drugging homemade cookies after enduring more than a decade of “treacherous abuse” at his hands will face at least 10 years in prison.
Rebecca Payne, 43 – who has been dubbed the ‘cookie monster’ – was found guilty of Noel Payne’s murder earlier this year by a High Court jury in regional Victoria.
But the presiding judge said her “appeal for clemency is compelling” because of the abuse she endured over many years.
In September 2020, Payne gave her husband a lethal dose of temazepam by basting the frosting on cookies and serving them to him with a cup of Milo.
She then wrapped him in a blanket and stored his body in a chest freezer in the backyard of their Walpeup family home.
Mother of three, Rebecca Payne (pictured), was found guilty of murder but judge said she deserves ‘mercy’
At her trial, Payne said her husband Noel (pictured) had physically and psychologically abused her for 14 years
The murder came after years of coercive control and physical, emotional and sexual abuse from Mr Payne.
He cut off communication with her family and friends, did not allow her to attend her son’s funeral, and forced her to get his name tattooed 18 times on her body.
Once, after an argument over finances, Mr. Payne took her to a cemetery, grabbed her by the hair, kicked her in the ribs, and spat on her as she lay on the floor.
Supreme Court Justice Rita Incerti said it was impossible to separate the impact of the “insidious abuse” on Payne from her motive for killing him.
“You were trapped in an abusive, violent and cruel environment for over a decade,” she said.
“Your behavior and regrettable decision to kill Mr. Payne cannot be separated from your circumstances and the domestic violence you endured at his hands.”
The woman dubbed the “Cookie Monster” killed her husband by feeding him two biscuits containing temazepam at their home (pictured) in Walpeup, northwest Victoria, in September 2020.
Justice Incerti said the case “cries aloud” for her to use a high degree of mercy in determining a prison sentence.
“Your demand for clemency is compelling,” she said, handing Payne a prison sentence of up to 16 years.
She must serve 10 years before being eligible for parole.
Payne has already served two years and seven months of her sentence.