The ruthless leader of a vigilante gang who threatened an innocent father with a chainsaw while trying to force him to confess to crimes he did not commit has been sentenced to life behind bars.
Father-of-eight Bradley 'BJ' Lyons, from Lakes Entrance, Victoria, was tortured and executed after being betrayed by his meth-addicted wife Jana Hooper. She falsely accused him of sexually abusing her daughters.
On Monday, Lyon's 58-year-old executioner, Albert Thorn, was told he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
If he's lucky, Thorn will be in his 90s when he ever enjoys his freedom again, with Victoria Supreme Court Justice Andrew Tinney imposing a 32-year non-parole period.
He has already spent 1,727 days behind bars awaiting justice.
The countdown to execution when Bradley Lyons was kidnapped, tortured and then murdered
Video obtained by Ny Breaking Australia shows Hooper leading her husband to his death after he “gave the nod” to Thorn and his comrades to enter their home near Victoria and attack him in December 2018.
Mr Lyons was subjected to horrific torture that left him on the brink of life.
Aided by another friend, Alec Harvey, and Thorn's drug-addicted lieutenant, Nicholas Stefani, Mr. Lyons was kidnapped from his bedroom and taken to Thorn's property in the trunk of a car..
During Stefani's sentencing in December for his role in the crime, the court heard that a chainsaw was among the gang's torture devices.
“A chainsaw was held over his head to make him talk, he was beaten, hot water from a kettle was poured over him and Deep Heat was applied to his body,” the court heard.
Stefani later told one of Hooper's own daughters that a chainsaw was held over Mr Lyons at the farm and they kept giving him 'p**s'.
“You said you and others held a chainsaw over Lyons' head in an attempt to get him to confess, and he had to piss himself,” Judge Andrew Tinney said.
“You told one of the girls that you expected Lyons to have the tattoos of the girls' names cut off and 'a couple of knuckles down' before the end of the night.”
“You told one of the girls that what you 'had to do' made you sick.”
Sentencing Thorn, Judge Tinney described the killer as 'heartless'.
“Your helpless and vulnerable victim was attacked in his own bedroom, in his own home and subjected to a prolonged and shocking series of attacks,” he said.
“It was a premeditated, callous crime that would shock any right-thinking member of the community.”
Bradley Lyons' wife, Jana Hooper, falsely told a meth-addicted group of so-called 'pedophile hunters' that her husband had impregnated her daughter
Jana Hooper (left) was jailed for seven and a half years last year and will be eligible for parole after serving just four and a half years.
Judge Tinney said if Thorn died in prison it was his own fault.
“If the consequence of that is that you move forward from today with the expectation that you will probably die in custody, then that is an inevitable consequence of your heinous crimes and the age at which you committed them,” he said.
Judge Tinney described Thorn and his crew as mindless criminals determined to uphold civil justice.
“The fact (their actions) were committed in the context of organized vigilante action by a gang of violent and vengeful criminals is a significantly aggravating feature,” he said.
“You showed not the slightest trace of remorse or remorse and between then and now… you deliberately and callously took his life. Before you do that, you subject him to a truly gruesome ordeal over a long period of time.
'I am convinced that you were at the heart of the entire enterprise and that your influence on others, who were much younger than you, was crucial to the proceedings.'
Thorn had been the leader of a vigilante gang with a very specific hatred of pedophiles.
Thorn's disgust for child molesters was so great that he tattooed the gang's name, Australian Freedom Fighters, across his back and posted photos on Facebook.
It was false information from Hooper, who shared three biological children with Lyons, that lit Thorn's fuse.
In December 2018, Hooper told Thorn she believed Mr Lyons was the father of her 16-year-old daughter's child and that he had also gotten her 14-year-old daughter pregnant.
The court ruled that it was an outright lie.
On Sunday December 2, 2018, Thorn and his gang raided Mr Lyons' home in what would be an idiotic attempt to force a confession from him.
Albert Thorn shot the innocent father in the knee and the back of the head after he was forced to dig his own grave
Thorn had the gang's name, Australian Freedom Fighters, tattooed all over his back
Harvey hit him with a metal pole and Smith lashed out while holding a cigarette lighter between his fingers as brass knuckles.
Stefani shoved the barrel of the shotgun into Mr Lyons' mouth and threatened to kill him if he did not confess to the sexual abuse allegations.
CCTV footage showed Harvey and Smith running from the house, while Smith fell from the getaway car driven by yet another friend, Jayden Ball.
Mr Lyons was eventually dragged from the boot of Thorn's car to an old shed on his property, where things went from bad to worse for the terrified father.
The court heard Thorn was dizzy with excitement.
“I could see Bert getting really excited and kind of enjoying it,” Ms MacFarlane told the jury.
What happened next isn't exactly clear through the cloudy haze of meth-induced stories that followed.
CCTV footage from a neighbour's property showed Lyons following his wife to their home, unaware of the horrors that were about to befall him.
He would not be seen alive again after being stuffed into the trunk of his would-be killer's car and driving away.
“The cat's in the poke,” Albert Thorn told the girlfriend of his co-accused Jordan Bottom, who, along with Rikki Smith, was found not guilty of Mr Lyons' murder in June.
Mr Lyons was tied to a massage table in a shed at the top of this image, where he was tortured
CCTV footage shows Harvey and Smith running from the house, while Smith falls from the getaway car driven by yet another friend, Jayden Ball.
A shotgun shell was found at Brad Lyons' cemetery
In one version, the men sawed off Mr. Lyons' hand.
When they were done, without extracting a confession, Mr. Lyons was put back in the trunk of Thorn's car.
With towels taped to his head and his hands tied, Thorn, Smith and Bottom drove into the wilderness along a dirt road near Double Bridges.
There Mr Lyons had to wait while a shallow grave was dug.
When it was done, Thorn shot Mr. Lyons in the leg with a .410 shotgun cartridge.
While on his knees, another shot was fired into the back of his skull.
Bottom would later lead police to the cemetery, where a large piece of wood was dragged over it.
One shotgun cartridge remained at the scene.
The court heard the men had celebrated their crime by holding a party on the Thorn property, attended by Mr Lyons' wife and children.
“It looked like they were celebrating,” Ms MacFarlane told the jury.
“Jana was drinking but I thought – it was a bottle of whiskey or something and they were (cheering) like – yeah.”
Hooper was jailed for seven and a half years last year and will be eligible for parole after serving just four and a half years.
Smith, 26, and Bottom, 25, were found not guilty of Mr Lyons' murder, but the pair were found guilty of his assault and false imprisonment