A man who strangled his former partner in a Gold Coast hotel room made a “pathetic” attempt to revive her before fleeing the scene, a court has heard.
According to a report by AAP, New Zealand mother Mary Benedito, 25, died in hospital after being violently assaulted by Reo Te Whetu Marama Marsh at a Gold Coast apartment complex on November 27, 2021. Marsh, 39, appeared in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty to murder.
The court heard Benedito suffered blunt force assaults and died from a brain injury caused by manual strangulation. “She had significant bruising to [her] arms, forearms, shoulders and fingers referred to as defensive injuries,” Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said, as quoted by AAP.
The couple had separated and were arguing over Benedito’s plans to move to New Zealand and her seeing other men. “It's no explanation for his conduct,” Crane said.
CCTV footage showed the pair swimming and shopping earlier during their Gold Coast holiday. After fatally injuring Benedito, Marsh fled the hotel room and travelled to a Brisbane suburb while trying to avoid police. “He attempted to run a short distance from his arrest,” Crane said, AAP has quoted.
Crane said Marsh pleaded guilty to murder on the basis that he assaulted Benedito intending to cause grievous bodily harm.
In a victim impact statement, Benedito’s cousin Josiah Benedito-Taotafa described her as someone who brought warmth and compassion wherever she went. “She was humorous, totally confident in her values and deeply compassionate,” he said.
He told the court the family endured agonising days as she lay in intensive care before life support was withdrawn. “My family has seen their faith shaken, their health decline and a collective struggle to navigate grief, shock and trauma,” he said.
Benedito’s sister said she never imagined burying her younger sibling. “Her greatest achievement was being a mum, and he took that from her,” she said, as quoted by AAP.
Her aunty Maria, who helped raise her, said the family would always carry the heartbreak. “Seeing her black and blue with tubes keeping her alive broke our family into pieces,” she said.
According to AAP, In a letter to the family, Marsh expressed remorse, saying he lived with daily regret and self-hatred. “The unfairness of my actions are too severe to ask for forgiveness,” Marsh said. His barrister said the guilty plea spared the family the trauma of a trial and that he was genuinely remorseful.
Sentencing Marsh, Justice Lincoln Crowley said he had dragged Benedito back to the hotel room and made a “pathetic” effort to revive her before fleeing when paramedics arrived.
“You used substantial force to do so. You smothered her at the same time you strangled her,” he said, according to AAP.
“All this happened because you became angry... You sought to control her life,” as quoted by AAP.
Marsh was sentenced to life imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in under 16 years, taking into account the time already served in custody.
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