The young children of murdered woman Dannyll Goodsell say the man who murdered their mother stole their 'whole world'.
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Scott Charles Henry Cameron stabbed Ms Goodsell with a knife up to 55 times in a 'savage and sustained attack', put her body under a bed and attempted to set fire to her Mt Pleasant house on October 5, 2018.
Cameron, 37 faced the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Monday for a plea hearing, charged with one count of murder.
Ms Goodsell was 33-years-old when she was murdered at her Kenworthy Place home.
The mother of two, who had moved to Ballarat from NSW about five years ago, had been in a relationship with the accused for about three months.
Crown prosecutor David Glynn said Ms Goodsell had told friends she was 'scared' of Cameron and feared for her life in the days leading up to her death.
She had said via text messages she was 'not allowed to go anywhere without him' and was with him because she was 'scared to leave'.
Six victim impact statements were tendered to the court and two were read in person by Ms Goodsell's parents.
"My internal organs are ripped out," the partner of Ms Goodsell's mother Sonya said.
"The pain is so extreme. My head can't comprehend the agony that swells inside."
She said there were many nights she could not sleep, wondering if she could have 'changed the outcome of Dannyll's demise'.
"Her death has damaged the very core of our family," she said.
"Our grandchildren are left orphaned... We are trying to help and guide them through their grief.
"One day the children will be adults and privy to the information (details of their mother's death) and that breaks my heart."
Ms Goodsell's birth-mother Donna said she could not sleep and had thoughts of her daughter lying in the coffin with lacerations to her body.
"The day I found out our daughter passed away was the day my life came to an end," she said.
"There are times I wish I was not here as I feel I can no longer go on.
"Her boy has just started high school this year. Dannyll is missing out on watching her children grow up."
Ms Goodsell's daughter was 13-years-old when her mother was murdered.
She said she had nightmares, sleepless nights, could not hold regular conversations without thinking of her mother and struggled at school.
"The day that man stole my mum is the day my life ended," she wrote.
"I miss her being around me and just having a hug."
Ms Goodsell's son, who is now 12, said he partly blamed himself for his mother's death.
"I blame myself for staying with grandma... maybe if I had gone home this would not have happened," he wrote in his statement.
The boy said he did not talk to his friends about his struggles and felt angry talking to a psychologist when he 'thought about the man who killed her and stole my whole world'.
CCTV footage shows Ms Goodsell was waiting for a bus with a backpack the day before her murder when she spoke to a friend and said she wanted to leave 'before he came back' and was 'scared of what he could do to her'.
The court heard Ms Goodsell boarded the bus and the friend later saw her get off the bus at a stop where Cameron was waiting.
Ms Goodsell later went to a friend's house to have some 'time alone' and showed the friend messages from Cameron stating he would 'kill himself' if she didn't come back. He then turned up at the house and told Ms Goodsell to come home.
Mr Glynn said Ms Goodsell spoke to a friend via phone about 11.40pm on October 4 and sounded 'distressed and 'out of breath'.
Ms Goodsell told a neighbour Cameron had put his hands around her throat a week ago and she was 'afraid of what he would do to her'.
The court heard Cameron visited a friend's house in Ballarat Central with a backpack and said he had slashed his arms and asked for help.
Mr Glynn said Cameron showed the friend a yellow-coloured hatchet and a knife and used the friend's mobile phone to call Goodsell.
Messages show Cameron said 'I promise I won't f*ck up again', 'I love you' and asked to come home.
Goodsell replied 'it is not okay', 'if you love someone you would not harm them or control them'.
The court heard Cameron returned to Kenworthy Place and Ms Goodsell exchanged messages with another friend between 3.45am and 5am on October 5.
At 4.56am Ms Goodsell wrote she was 'scared of Scott'.
Mr Glynn said shortly after, Cameron intentionally stabbed Ms Goodsell with a kitchen knife.
She suffered 55 incised injuries to the face, neck, scalp, hands and arms, with a deep injury to the left side of the neck and her cheek.
The court heard Cameron attempted to clean the scene with bleach, placed her under the bed, tried to burn down the building by setting a fire inside a cabinet next to the bed and left on foot.
At 7.50am he attended the same friend's Ballarat Central address he visited earlier and said 'I have done the worst thing possible... I have killed Dannyll... I have done the worst evil'.
Cameron said Dannyll had attacked him while he was asleep and he 'lost it'.
At the same time, Ms Goodsell's friends visited her home to check on her and saw and smelt smoke, yelled out to her, entered the house and found blood in the room.
Firefighters attended to extinguish the small fire in the cabinet and found Ms Goodsell under the bed.
Police attended, found the bloodstained knife and arrested Cameron at the Ballarat Railway Station at noon on October 6.
During a police interview, Cameron said he had arrived at the Kenworthy Place address at 3.30am and got into bed with Ms Goodsell.
Cameron said they had an argument about going to get more drugs when Ms Goodsell hit him on the head with a hatchet three times and he grabbed a knife that was near the bed.
Analysis showed DNA from the deceased was found in blood samples from the knife.
An analysis of the hatchet found at the friend's Webster Street address showed blood of the offender was on the head and the handle.
My Glynn said the prosecution did not accept the offender's version of events and claim of self-defence.
He said CCTV from police cells show Cameron repeatedly banged his head in the cell one hour prior to examination that could explain the marks and swelling on his head and he had handled the hatchet after cutting his arms.
"Even if there was something that prompted him to act the way he did, nothing could have justified his actions," Mr Glynn said.
"This is a serious example of murder, it was a sustained and savage attack... by her domestic partner in her own home."
This is a serious example of murder, it was a sustained and savage attack... by her domestic partner in her own home.
Cameron pleaded guilty to murder in February, 2020, after previously pleading not guilty at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court.
In defence submissions, barrister Anthony Lewis submitted Cameron was remorseful, 'distraught' and 'grief-stricken', had nightmares and heard the voice of the deceased calling him to join her in death.
Justice Andrew Tinney said Cameron claimed self-defence but the reality of the crime did not sit well with that claim.
He questioned the defence about the plausibility of Cameron's claim Ms Goodsell had hit Cameron with a hatchet before he stabbed her.
"There is clear evidence set out in the days and hours leading up to her death she was frightened of him, to the extent of telling a number of friends of that fact," Justice Tinney said.
"In those circumstances, the account Cameron gave of her having struck him repeatedly has a very implausible ring to it."
Justice Tinney said the reported injuries to Cameron's head were 'exceedingly modest for someone who is hit in the head with a hatchet'.
"His track history for truthfulness in this case is not good," he said.
In prosecution submission, Mr Glynn said there was insufficient evidence to find there was any assault, with or without a weapon, by Ms Goodsell before the murder.
Mr Lewis said the use of the hatchet was a factual dispute with the prosecution and the defence submitted it was not an unprovoked murder.
Justice Tinney said he rejected Cameron's claim he had been attacked first and there was no explanation why he killed her.
"She was 59kg, not a large person by any means. He is male, armed with a knife, stabbed her 55 times causing significant injury and he suffered almost no injury himself," he said.
Justice Tinney said he struggled to accept the defence submission Cameron felt remorse.
In providing details of personal circumstances, Mr Lewis said Cameron's parents had separated when he was young and he was exposed to physical and sexual abuse, drug use and family violence as a child.
He said Cameron left school at grade 9, had worked in his early years but had not worked since being in a motorcycle accident when he was 28-years-old.
Mr Lewis said Cameron had a 'shocking history' of illicit drug use, four children he had no contact with and was isolated in prison, with no visits or contact with his siblings, except one who was also in prison.
The court heard Cameron had a long history of depression and anxiety, suffered post traumatic stress disorder from the murder and had antisocial personality disorder.
Mr Lewis submitted Cameron had some prospects of rehabilitation, shown by his positive conduct in custody where he had assisted a prison official who was a victim of assault, had completed courses and was working in prison.
Justice Tinney will sentence Cameron on Friday.
Cameron has spent 604 days in custody. The standard sentence for murder is 25 years imprisonment.
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