THE family of murdered Crookwell district man Max Weir is considering appealing against the ‘leniency’ of a 21- year sentence handed down to his killer.
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Mark Jamie Kaye, 33, formerly of Teece Place, Goulburn, was sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday to 21 years’ prison with a non-parole period of 14 years, six months. His earliest release will be April 14, 2026.
Judge Derek Price described it as a “cowardly attack” on the elderly man.
In August, Kaye pleaded guilty to the stabbing and bashing murder of Mr Weir, 84, at his Crookwell district property, ‘Pine Walla’, on the night of January 20, 2011.
His son, Kim, who found his father in a pool of blood the following morning and gave evidence during the trial, said the family was very disappointed with the sentence. Some, including Kim, were in court on Friday as Justice Price handed down his finding.
“There is no justice in these circumstances.
As I said in my victim impact statement, it should be a life for a life,” Mr Weir said.
“The judge made mention of the need to keep the older residents of the community safe in their own homes but we felt the sentencing could have been harsher to make this point clearer.”
He said his family was especially disappointed with the penalty, given that Kaye was on parole for a previous offence at the time.
Mr Weir told the Post it was harrowing for the family listening for the first time to details of his father’s murder.
“The suffering he went through really was hard,” he said.
The court heard that Kaye was drunk, having consumed almost a full case of beer on the night of the murder. With his wallet locked in his girlfriend’s car and on a quest for more alcohol, he left a Crookwell house, still drinking, and tried to hitchhike to Goulburn.
He was seen by several landowners south of the town along the way, who refused him help.
At about 8.30pm, he walked up the ‘Pine Walla’ driveway to ask Mr Weir for a lift, Mr Kaye told the court.
He allegedly knocked on the back door, which was always kept unlocked, and Mr Weir had asked him to come in. Later he told him he “stunk like a pub” and told Kaye to leave. Kaye maintained it was at this point that Mr Weir struck him with his walking cane.
In turn, Kaye “backhanded” the elderly man over a chair, hitting him in the chin.
But Justice Price did not accept that this was the first act of violence and was satisfied that Kaye’s attack on Mr Weir was “unprovoked.”
The judge found that Kaye had armed himself with two steak knives, using one of these to stab Mr Weir in the neck and face.
“By some means of blunt forced trauma” to the neck he had also caused fractures to both sides of the thyroid bone and bleeding around his eyes.
“Although the cause of death was the combined effects of blunt forced injury and asphyxia on a background of ischaemic heart disease and emphysema, the injuries inflicted by the offender… were a substantial cause of death,” Judge Price said.
On leaving the property, Kaye dropped one of the knife blades at the back door. He stole Mr Weir’s wallet, containing $70, his walking cane, a towel and jumper before making his way over paddocks and back to Crookwell.
Police later found the latter three items beside a dam halfway between the property and the Goulburn Rd. On a nearby property they found Kaye’s thongs.
Forensics played a major role in his arrest but Kaye did not immediately admit to the murder. Later that night Crookwell police arrested him over an argument at a Crookwell home and noticed he had cuts to his hands and feet. He made no mention of his visit to Mr Weir’s home.
On January 25, 2011 police searched his home and found shorts they established as being torn on fences as Kaye left ‘Pine Walla.’
In another interview which he volunteered the same day, Kaye denied going anywhere near the Weir property on the night of the murder. He was finally arrested and charged in February, 2011.
Justice Price found that Kaye did not enter the home with the intention of stealing, assaulting or killing Mr Weir.
“It is clear, however, that having entered the home, the offender viciously attacked the deceased and left him on the floor of his home with callous disregard for his wellbeing.
“…This was a cowardly act by a younger and undoubtedly stronger man on a senior citizen in his home. In my view the seriousness of the offence is not reduced by the deceased’s advanced age or pre-existing medical conditions.”
The court heard that Kaye had a troubled childhood, had been a ward of the state, battled with alcoholism, had an extensive criminal history and suffered from bipolar disorder.
His partner also told the court that Kaye had once protected an elderly man from assault and that he had expressed remorse for Mr Weir’s murder.
Justice Price took his remorse into account in sentencing. He “strongly recommended” that that he undertake programs in jail to overcome his alcohol addiction and be seen by a psychiatrist.
Kim Weir said the case had taken a toll on his family, which included his three sisters, Suann, Lorraine and Maree. Suann died from pancreatic cancer three months after her father’s death.
“Part of my sister’s victim impact statement was that she had to tell her dying sister that Dad had been murdered,” Mr Weir said.
“The effect it had, you couldn’t put into words.” Mr Weir described his father as a man of great values who had survived World War Two and as a farmer, had endured drought and flood. He had reared his family with dignity.
He thanked detectives who worked on the case and the many expressions of community support.
