Kyla
10-15-2004, 08:32 PM
Life in jail for backpacker death
By Kevin Meade
October 16, 2004
A MAN was jailed for life yesterday after a jury found him guilty of murdering English backpacker Caroline Stuttle by hurling her from a bridge in the Queensland town of Bundaberg.
After seven hours of deliberation the Bundaberg Supreme Court jury also found Ian Douglas Previte, 32, guilty of robbing her with violence.
Sentencing Previte, Justice Peter Dutney told him: "Miss Stuttle should have been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime.
"Instead, your act of throwing her off a bridge in the dark in a strange country for a miserable few dollars killed her in the most dreadful way."
Like thousands of backpackers before her, Stuttle, 19, was looking for work when she arrived in the sugar town in April 2002.
Temporary jobs in the local fruit and vegetable fields, good beaches and plenty of budget accommodation had earned the town, famous for its rum, a reputation as a backpackers' paradise.
But in recent years, Bundaberg, with its balmy climate, had also become a magnet for drug addicts, itinerants and small-time criminals living on the fringes of society.
The two worlds came together with horrific consequences on the Burnett River Bridge on the night of April 10, 2002, when Previte, a drug-addict on a methadone program, attacked Stuttle, wrenched her satchel-style handbag from her grip and hoisted her over the railing to her death.
The petite, vibrant teenager from York had just called her boyfriend in Britain from the Bundaberg Post Office and was walking back across the bridge to the caravan park where she was staying when Previte attacked her at about 9.30pm.
Still clutching the strap of her bag, she plummeted 10m from the bridge, hitting the ground head-first with such force her skull was fractured in several places, her spinal cord severed and her neck dislocated.
The jury heard that despite an intensive investigation in which 270 men in Bundaberg were DNA-tested, police did not find a suspect until 10 months after the murder, when Previte confessed to a fellow prisoner in Rockhampton jail he had robbed and killed Stuttle.
Previte, in prison for driving while his licence was disqualified, later admitted to police in a recorded interview he had confronted Stuttle on the bridge and tried to snatch her bag, but claimed she had resisted and fallen over the railing without him touching her.
But prosecutor Peter Feeney argued this was physically impossible, illustrating his point by showing the jury a photograph of a policewoman the same height as Stuttle standing on the bridge, with the top of the railing reaching as high as her neck.
Previte was also sentenced to 10 years' jail for the robbery - to be served concurrently with the murder sentence.
Stuttle's father Alan and brother Richard, who travelled from England to watch the trial, breathed deep sighs of relief when they heard the verdict and clutched each other's hands.
Previte showed no emotion and shook his head when asked if he had anything to say.
The Australian
By Kevin Meade
October 16, 2004
A MAN was jailed for life yesterday after a jury found him guilty of murdering English backpacker Caroline Stuttle by hurling her from a bridge in the Queensland town of Bundaberg.
After seven hours of deliberation the Bundaberg Supreme Court jury also found Ian Douglas Previte, 32, guilty of robbing her with violence.
Sentencing Previte, Justice Peter Dutney told him: "Miss Stuttle should have been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime.
"Instead, your act of throwing her off a bridge in the dark in a strange country for a miserable few dollars killed her in the most dreadful way."
Like thousands of backpackers before her, Stuttle, 19, was looking for work when she arrived in the sugar town in April 2002.
Temporary jobs in the local fruit and vegetable fields, good beaches and plenty of budget accommodation had earned the town, famous for its rum, a reputation as a backpackers' paradise.
But in recent years, Bundaberg, with its balmy climate, had also become a magnet for drug addicts, itinerants and small-time criminals living on the fringes of society.
The two worlds came together with horrific consequences on the Burnett River Bridge on the night of April 10, 2002, when Previte, a drug-addict on a methadone program, attacked Stuttle, wrenched her satchel-style handbag from her grip and hoisted her over the railing to her death.
The petite, vibrant teenager from York had just called her boyfriend in Britain from the Bundaberg Post Office and was walking back across the bridge to the caravan park where she was staying when Previte attacked her at about 9.30pm.
Still clutching the strap of her bag, she plummeted 10m from the bridge, hitting the ground head-first with such force her skull was fractured in several places, her spinal cord severed and her neck dislocated.
The jury heard that despite an intensive investigation in which 270 men in Bundaberg were DNA-tested, police did not find a suspect until 10 months after the murder, when Previte confessed to a fellow prisoner in Rockhampton jail he had robbed and killed Stuttle.
Previte, in prison for driving while his licence was disqualified, later admitted to police in a recorded interview he had confronted Stuttle on the bridge and tried to snatch her bag, but claimed she had resisted and fallen over the railing without him touching her.
But prosecutor Peter Feeney argued this was physically impossible, illustrating his point by showing the jury a photograph of a policewoman the same height as Stuttle standing on the bridge, with the top of the railing reaching as high as her neck.
Previte was also sentenced to 10 years' jail for the robbery - to be served concurrently with the murder sentence.
Stuttle's father Alan and brother Richard, who travelled from England to watch the trial, breathed deep sighs of relief when they heard the verdict and clutched each other's hands.
Previte showed no emotion and shook his head when asked if he had anything to say.
The Australian