Australia - Hannah McGuire, 22 homicide staged as suicide, Ballarat, Apr 2024

[drsleuth]

Parents break down in court giving evidence in murder trial

Hannah McGuire's mother has broken down in court while recounting the desperate messages she sent her daugh...

www.9news.com.au

Ms McGuire's mother Debbie on Monday told the Victorian Supreme Court she woke about 3.40am on April 5, 2024 to a text purporting to be from her daughter.
It stated Hannah was sorry and she thought it was the right decision.

"I tried messaging Lach but he doesn't want anything to do with me now," the message shown to the jury continued.
"Please check in on him - this is going to break his heart."
Debbie McGuire's series of responses were shown to the jury, where she repeatedly asked where her daughter was and urged her not to do "anything silly".
"You can't live the way you were living - being spoken to like and treated like crap," her messages said.
"Remember why you left (Young) in the first place."

Mrs McGuire broke down as she read aloud some of her responses, telling the court Hannah's messages "didn't feel right".
The mother said she immediately jumped in her car and went to the property in Sebastopol that Young and her daughter owned together.
Mrs McGuire knocked on the door and bedroom window several times to no response, only to see Young and his father approaching from down the road.

 

[Trooper]

Parents break down in court giving evidence in murder trial

Hannah McGuire's mother has broken down in court while recounting the desperate messages she sent her daugh...

www.9news.com.au

Ms McGuire's mother Debbie on Monday told the Victorian Supreme Court she woke about 3.40am on April 5, 2024 to a text purporting to be from her daughter.
It stated Hannah was sorry and she thought it was the right decision.

"I tried messaging Lach but he doesn't want anything to do with me now," the message shown to the jury continued.
"Please check in on him - this is going to break his heart."
Debbie McGuire's series of responses were shown to the jury, where she repeatedly asked where her daughter was and urged her not to do "anything silly".
"You can't live the way you were living - being spoken to like and treated like crap," her messages said.
"Remember why you left (Young) in the first place."

Mrs McGuire broke down as she read aloud some of her responses, telling the court Hannah's messages "didn't feel right".
The mother said she immediately jumped in her car and went to the property in Sebastopol that Young and her daughter owned together.
Mrs McGuire knocked on the door and bedroom window several times to no response, only to see Young and his father approaching from down the road.

He really knew what buttons to press , ey... and the neat twist trying to make out she wanted to come back to him. but he, displaying his long suffering nobility refusing her offer.. what a nasty petty liar he is.. he had to destroy everyone, not just murder Hannah.

She was only 22 her whole life ahead of her... he was a non entity in the big picture...

';and his father approaching'..... suspicious

 

[drsleuth]

He really knew what buttons to press , ey... and the neat twist trying to make out she wanted to come back to him. but he, displaying his long suffering nobility refusing her offer.. what a nasty petty liar he is.. he had to destroy everyone, not just murder Hannah.

She was only 22 her whole life ahead of her... he was a non entity in the big picture...

';and his father approaching'..... suspicious

Yes it's all so sad. I'm sick of all these types

 

[Marg944]

 

[HoneyBunOne]

You would not want to be his Barrister... what a burden... He probably will not take the stand in his own defence, his barrister would be dead against it for sure, but you just never know, sometimes the real crazy takes over and up they get, full of their ridiculous story, firmly believing they can pull it off, ... it's astonishing how many klllers just will not take advice and sit this one out....

A la Erin Patterson. That didn't work out so well for her.

 

[Trooper]

A la Erin Patterson. That didn't work out so well for her.

It would not surprise me to see him pull up his pants and trot on up to the stand.. Erin thought she had a good story to tell... Lachlan is a bit of a story teller, too.....he seems to have a terrific capacity to project his fantasies under pressure...

I mean, he murders Hannah, drives her car and her body ( if we believe this bit ) to the bush, gets out his trusty flamethrower and sets fire to the car, THEN sets about composing letters to various entities, pretending to be Hannah, being him, being the man in the moon, playing a probably well rehearsed part of his overall plan that he dreamed about, how he drugs her, how he sets her up behind the wheel of her car, how he sets it rolling, boy that oughta teach her

....., then the brilliant touch, use her phone to send messages to folks laying out the strategy that he is the one who does the leaving and not the one who is left .....

What a pity he was not caught at this violent stalking, the 129 messages in one day stuff, the hitting in the car, the following in the months leading up to this repulsive vicious murder.....

 

[Trooper]

In today's testimony , the bright spark who after a bit of persuasion, agreed to assist Lachlan in his plan to burn Hannah's car spoke fulsomely of the activities he and Mr Young toiled away at in the hot warm autumn night.. He says, he did not see Hannah's body in the car.. that he advised Lachlan just to dump the car, but no, Lachlan had a dream... a burning car... a burning Hannah...

In a gesture of fiscal extravagance Mr O'Keefe charged Lachlan a whole $45 .00 for the effort.

Man tells court Lachlan Young planned to 'roofie' Hannah McGuire

A supreme court jury has heard from a man who unwittingly helped dispose of Hannah McGuire's body after her ex-partner Lachlan Young planned to drug her, "put her in her car and roll her down a hill".

www.abc.net.au

'
Giving evidence today, Mr O'Keefe, 23, told the court that Mr Young asked him to convoy with him into bushland so he had a ride home after planning to crash Ms McGuire's car with her, unconscious, at the wheel.

"He wanted to put her in her car and roll her down a hill … because she was leaving him and she was going to take the house and other things," Mr O'Keefe told the court.
"I was supposed to meet him at 12 at night on the corner and follow him in the car, then give him a lift home."

Mr O'Keefe said he told Mr Young he could not do it, and tried ignoring his messages, but after a few requests, agreed. ''''

( there is a pic of Mr O'Keefe in this article )

 

[Trooper]

Man tells court Lachlan Young planned to 'roofie' Hannah McGuire

A supreme court jury has heard from a man who unwittingly helped dispose of Hannah McGuire's body after her ex-partner Lachlan Young planned to drug her, "put her in her car and roll her down a hill".

www.abc.net.au

The Safety Officer at the school where Hannah worked was delegated to put in place a plan to detect any sign of Lachlan on the premises, due to his persistent stalking and following of Hannah,,,

'''
Danielle McCann, safety officer at Delacombe Primary School where Ms McGuire was an educational support worker, told the court that whenever Ms McGuire was outside with children, the school monitored entry points on CCTV, locked external doors, and ensured Ms McGuire stayed close to buildings.

Ms McCann told the court the school was aware Ms McGuire had obtained an intervention order against Mr Young after he pursued her in a car, tried to run her off the road, and punched the car window.

After the intervention order was served, Ms McCann said Ms McGuire continued to receive "threats" from Mr Young.

"I asked, 'Are you safe?' Her reply was, 'I don't know'," Ms McCann told the court.''''

 

[Trooper]

Man tells court Lachlan Young planned to 'roofie' Hannah McGuire

A supreme court jury has heard from a man who unwittingly helped dispose of Hannah McGuire's body after her ex-partner Lachlan Young planned to drug her, "put her in her car and roll her down a hill".

www.abc.net.au

and Lachlan didn't sequester his literary talents by merely texting folks pretending to be Hannah, he also conjured up a scenario at the same time, that someone had taken Hannah from him, against her will, and they had better pony up with the truth and hand Hannah back to him, he all the time knowing he had murdered her and burned her body....

'''
The court also heard how Mr Young phoned and messaged Ms McGuire's friends repeatedly in the hours after she was killed, accusing them of hiding Ms McGuire and causing her death.

"When I spoke to him, he was asking me where Hannah was … he was quite accusational that I had Hannah at my house and was hiding her from him," Abby Simpson, another of Ms McGuire's work colleagues, told the court during evidence.

The court was shown Ms Simpson's phone logs, which indicated Mr Young attempted to call her dozens of times between 5 and 6am the morning Ms McGuire was killed.

He also sent Ms Simpson multiple messages stating: "Where the f*** is she?… F*** me, if someone has done something to her, I will end their life."

The five-week trial continues.

( Pitifully, Lachlan playing the tuff guy, ready to spring to Hannah's defence etc... in his imagination he was the crusader of Clunes.... faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap etc , you know how it goes....)

 

[Trooper]

MSN

 

[Deleted member 367982]

With a few pertinent questions in court and some corroborative evidence, wouldn't Mr O'Keefe be an accessory to murder and not merely an unwitting accomplice to the crime IMO

 

[Trooper]

Where was the local copper in all this??

With a few pertinent questions in court and some corroborative evidence, wouldn't Mr O'Keefe be an accessory to murder and not merely an unwitting accomplice to the crime IMO

One would assume so.... Hard to work out , apart from the conclusion that Ballarat is where chivalry goes to die, even allowing for that, surely it's a crime to assist someone in attempting to cause bodily harm with no way of discerning exactly how MUCH harm one can cause by rolling someone unconcious in a car downhill.'' Surely this o'keefe creature could have WARNED Hannah of the plans being made??

....where was the local copper in all this violence and mad stalking , scbools having to take out safety plans , parents rescuing daughters from a crazed suitor , work mates being hunted and accosted.... didn't anyone sit Lachlan down ,, firmly, with a bit of grunt and explain to him what is what and what is not>??

 

[Trooper]

With a few pertinent questions in court and some corroborative evidence, wouldn't Mr O'Keefe be an accessory to murder and not merely an unwitting accomplice to the crime IMO

Also... how frightening is it that it only took $45 to persuade this O'Keefe to do it?? that is 3 lattes, 2 pairs of shoelaces, 1/2 packet of tobacco (15mg), 5 / 3 litres of milk, 2 peices of scotch fillet....

 

[Deleted member 367982]

IMO sometimes people don't deserve to get their day in court to present evidence that may make the defence case come unstuck or hope the defence make a legal mistake and the case gets postponed or cancelled.
I'm not praising the police work in this matter by bringing this wretch to court with so much evidence against him that's he's obviously guilty because if the police were diligent in the first place Young would be in jail already by now on another charge other than murder and Hannah would be alive and well.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

So, the accused has admitted to killing Ms McGuire and dumping her body in bushland, but denies he did so with murderous intent. (as per the article below)

Man tells court Lachlan Young planned to 'roofie' Hannah McGuire

A supreme court jury has heard from a man who unwittingly helped dispose of Hannah McGuire's body after her ex-partner Lachlan Young planned to drug her, "put her in her car and roll her down a hill".

www.abc.net.au

His initial idea was to "roofie" her, put her behind the wheel of her car, and roll her down a hill. How does one go about doing so, without murderous intent? It stands to reason that if an unconscous person is placed in a vehicle traveling in a downward trajectory, gathering speed as it goes, that the eventual impact will not be pretty, and death could quite easily be the outcome?

Good luck with that one LY.

 

[Trooper]

Court hears how Lachlan Young says ex-partner Hannah McGuire died

A jury hears the man accused of murdering his ex-partner told a friend she was already dead when he torched the car containing her body.

www.abc.net.au

'''A friend of the man on trial for the murder of Clunes woman Hannah McGuire has told a jury the accused admitted she was "suffocated" and already dead when he torched a car containing her body.

Lachlan Young, 23, has admitted to killing his ex-partner and dumping her body in bushland, but denies he did so with murderous intent.

He has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to Ms McGuire's murder after an offer to plead guilty to manslaughter was rejected.

Over two days, the court heard what Mr Young's work friend, Benjamin O'Keefe, 23, saw, heard and did in the days after Ms McGuire's death in April last year.

Mr O'Keefe told the Ballarat court Mr Young asked him to bring an extra car so Mr Young had a lift home after he planned to drug Ms McGuire, "put her in her car and roll her down a hill".

Mr O'Keefe said he followed Mr Young in his vehicle to nearby bushland in Scarsdale, where he saw him ram Ms McGuire's car into a tree and set it on fire, before being paid $45 for his help.''''

 

[Trooper]

Court hears how Lachlan Young says ex-partner Hannah McGuire died

A jury hears the man accused of murdering his ex-partner told a friend she was already dead when he torched the car containing her body.

www.abc.net.au

( seems that Mr O'Keefe had a crisis of conscious .. thinking things thru , perhaps... )

''''Mr O'Keefe told jurors he never saw inside the vehicle Mr Young was driving that contained Ms McGuire's remains, and after learning Ms McGuire was dead, had a conversation with Mr Young over a beer.

"I went up to him and said, 'Hannah better not have been in the car,'" Mr O'Keefe said.

"He said she was, she was already deceased. She was suffocated … I said, 'Why would you get me to do something like that? … you implicated me in a murder.'"

 

[Trooper]

Court hears how Lachlan Young says ex-partner Hannah McGuire died

A jury hears the man accused of murdering his ex-partner told a friend she was already dead when he torched the car containing her body.

www.abc.net.au

The court heard about a second face-to-face conversation between the two the next day, when Mr Young allegedly changed his story and told Mr O'Keefe that Ms McGuire was found dead in a different vehicle.

"Lachie told me that she wasn't in that car and that she'd killed herself in a different car," Mr O'Keefe told the court.

Mr O'Keefe said he had little sleep because it "didn't make sense" and decided to tell his friends "everything" on a camping trip the next day, including his concerns that he was "implicated in a murder".

"[They said] that I should probably go to police," Mr O'Keefe said.

( Mr O'Keefe appears to be a slow thinker....)

 

[Trooper]

Mr O'Keefe was arrested the following day.

He is not facing any charges.

During cross-examination by Mr Young's defence lawyer, Glenn Casement, Mr O'Keefe was repeatedly questioned about his evidence that he did not know Ms McGuire was in the car he helped dispose of and watched go up in flames.​

"You realise how ridiculous your story is," Mr Casement told the court.

"You don't say, 'How'd she get suffocated, Lachlan?' … You don't say, 'Why'd you do that?'"

The defence has offered an alternative version of events about how Ms McGuire died and what Mr O'Keefe's involvement was in her death.

Mr Casement told the court that Ms McGuire died when she hit her head during a physical argument with Mr Young.

He also alleged that Mr O'Keefe saw Ms McGuire's body inside the house, discussed with Mr Young how to dispose of the body, suggested Mr Young burn the car and then torched it himself.

Mr O'Keefe rejected it all.

The five-week trial continues.

 

[Trooper]

Hannah McGuire murder trial: accused killer claims ex-partner hit her head during argument

Workmate of accused murderer Lachlan Young tells a jury he did not know 23-year-old was inside ute set on fire in remote bushland

www.theguardian.com

He claimed Young told him McGuire was already dead as she had been suffocated.

Under questioning from defence barrister Glenn Casement, O’Keefe repeatedly denied he knew McGuire was in the Triton.


Detectives arrested O’Keefe on 7 April but he was never charged over McGuire’s death.

O’Keefe admitted he did not contact police, instead deciding to drink with Young and then go on a camping trip with friends. ( !!!! ...... So he collected his 45 dollars and went camping... )

Something is very wrong in AUstralia.....