‘He was taken by an act of pure evil’
The family of murdered man Samuel Hunter Thompson have shared heartbreaking victim impact statements after his killer was sentenced to life behind bars.
ROBERTO Boscaino has been sentenced to life behind bars for the 2017
murder of Samuel Hunter Thompson.
Justice Ann Lyons said the convicted murderer had arranged to do a $30,000 drug deal the day he died.
But less than an hour after meeting Boscaino and Syrian fighter Ashley Dyball, he was dead.
“Your actions took the life of another man, by your own evidence he was your friend,” she said.
“He was ultimately beaten or strangled to death...
After his death you took part of an extraordinary cover up... you lied to police but concerningly... you went about your daily life as if nothing had happened. Your girlfriend noticed nothing different...”
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday, Mr Thompson’s father Bruce Thompson said he “resented” and “hated” Boscaino.
“Sam came into this world as an act of pure love and was taken from this world by an act of pure evil,” he said.
The father told the court his wife had “gone through so much” to bring their child into the world, who was eight weeks premature.
“Did he know he was going to die? What were his last thoughts... no one in this court room will never know Sam’s last moment, but you,” he said.
The man’s sister Courtney Thompson told the court: “When you killed Sam you killed part of me too. You took away my life and turned it into my worst nightmare. I no longer feel happy like I used to. The only way I cope is to pretend like this isn’t real, acting like everything is fine because I’m afraid of the person I would turn into if I come to terms with what happened to Sam.”
“Our family can never be repaired, you broke us. I’m too young to feel this depth of sadness. There are places I can’t visit anymore because you have tainted those memories,” she said.
“Sam was my big brother... he had a heart of gold, he cared about me so much.
“I always knew if Sam was by my side I was going to be OK.
“I miss him so much... there will always be an empty chair where he once sat.
“All of my pain is real, I feel it every day of my life... this is what I have to live with forever. You may be the one in jail but we are the ones serving the life sentence.”
Mr Thompson’s mother Debbie Thompson said her son would give the “shirt off his back, no question”.
“No mother should out last her son,” she said.
“... I will never be able to pick up the phone and talk to my son. I will never again hear his voice or feel his hugs. I will never again hear him say: ‘I love you Mum’.”
Boscaino has already served more than 900 days behind bars.
Category: | The Courier Mail