Keep-at-home mother kills husband by lacing his favourite cookies with sleeping drugs

It’s a weird crime that tore via a sleepy regional city in Victoria, Australia.

A stay-at-home mother was discovered responsible of drugging and killing her husband by lacing his favourite lemon cookies with sleeping drugs.

The outback city of Walpeup in northwestern Victoria, Australia was torn in half after 68-year-old Noel Payne was killed inside his own residence by his spouse Rebecca Payne in 2020.

“I used to be completely devastated,” Noel’s daughter Tracy Payne advised 9’s A Present Affair via tears.

The Paynes gave the impression to be a standard nation household from the skin.

However these closest to them say their marriage was removed from blissful.

Noel first met Rebecca when she lived subsequent to his daughter Tracy in Gorokan, New South Wales.

Tracy stated she thought Rebecca was dangerous information and he or she by no means needed a romance to blossom between the pair.

She stated her neighbor and her father hit it off they usually rapidly married earlier than organising a brand new life collectively in nation Victoria the place they shared healthful holidays with buddies.

However neighbors stated the connection was marked with violence and allegations that Noel beat his spouse.

Household good friend Barry advised A Present Affair he noticed “bruises on her arm and … chest” too.

“I consider he used to punch her,” Barry stated.

In court docket, prosecutors alleged Rebecca needed to get out of her marriage — that she was upset about one other lady Noel had dwelling of their house with them, and had additionally had sufficient of being crushed.

The court docket heard that Rebecca had dreamt of drugging her husband for months and whereas testifying, she advised the jury she simply anticipated him to simply “really feel sleepy and go to mattress” the evening she lastly enacted her plan.

Barry stated Rebecca was a very good cook dinner and Noel preferred her biscuits.

“[They] at all times had biscuits and desserts,” Barry stated.

On September 1, 2020, Rebecca baked a giant batch of lemon biscuits and crushed up some temazepam drugs with a mortar and pestle.

She used the powder to lace the icing of 1 cookie and set it apart for Noel, which she served to him that evening with a cup of Milo.

He by no means awakened after that.

Rebecca admitted that when she discovered her husband with no pulse she didn’t attempt to resuscitate him and he or she didn’t name and ambulance both.

She claimed she panicked and rapidly wrapped the physique in a blanket earlier than tying every finish with duct tape, dumping him in a chest freezer and strapping the freezer door closed.

A number of days later Rebecca dragged the freezer to a neighbor’s yard.

Shortly after, a resident wrenched the lid open, known as police and Rebecca was arrested.

She admitted manslaughter and claimed she didn’t imply to kill her husband, however the jury didn’t consider her and he or she was discovered responsible of homicide.

Medical examination of Noel’s physique couldn’t decide whether or not he died by drug overdose or suffocation and Tracy has questioned whether or not her dad was nonetheless alive whereas within the freezer.

“Did he get up, was he attempting to get out?” she stated.

Now Tracy has nightmares about what occurred and says she’s been left with nothing however his ashes. “She robbed me of my father, not with the ability to say goodbye to him,” she stated.