Keys-in-throat killer gets 19 years
Posted 11 July 11, 2008
A man who bashed his 65-year-old neighbour and forced a set of house keys down his throat has been sentenced to almost 19 years in jail.
Forty-four-year-old Michael Barbetta pleaded guilty to murdering David Smedley on the NSW south coast in March last year.
The court heard Barbetta took a cocktail of amphetamines and sleeping pills before bashing and strangling Mr Smedley at his Fairymeadow home.
Police said the victim, who had Parkinson's disease, was found covered in blood. An autopsy found six keys on a metal ring had been forced down his throat.
Barbetta said he attacked his neighbour because he had made racist comments about his parents.
A Supreme Court judge sentenced Barbetta to 18-years-and-10-months, with a non-parole period of 13-years-and-nine-months.
Justice Howie said although the racist comments provided a degree of provocation, it was a violent attack on a fragile man in his own home by a much younger person.
He noted that Michael Barbetta has tried to get help for his drug problem.
SOURCE: ABC Net
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