Colleen Wilson: Family grieves mother killed by son in 'act of greed' on NSW Central Coast

On the day her sister was murdered, Janice Fowler attempted to call her phone multiple times.

She did not know her sister was already lying dead on the floor.

“Sometimes I don’t know how to get on with my life,” she wrote in a victim impact statement read aloud in court on Thursday.

“I miss you, my darling sister, and my love never strays.”

Colleen Wilson was killed at her home in Tumbi Umbi on the NSW Central Coast after her son lobbed a pot plant at her while experiencing heroin withdrawals.

After killing his mother, David Andrew Mapp pawned her TV and whipper snipper for $200, and used the money to buy heroin.

While admitting to the killing, he denied it amounted to murder.

But a NSW Supreme Court jury disagreed, finding him guilty of the 82-year-old’s murder in October 2024.

In a pre-sentence hearing on Thursday, Ms Fowler’s daughter read the statement authored by her mother.

The pair sat side-by-side in the witness box, where Jenny Toohey held a tearful Ms Fowler’s hand.

“To my sister, Colleen Wilson ... you were taken in an act of greed,” she said.

“What happened to you was a selfish and unimaginable way to die.”

The last time Ms Fowler saw her sister was when she identified her at a morgue.

“I will never forget what I saw,” she said.

“The only feeling I get from your death is that you are finally at peace.”

Three facts remained in dispute at the time of the hearing.

These included Mapp’s motivation for the offence, whether he applied pressure to her neck, and if he had the intention to kill.

The killer before trial had offered to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter but prosecutors maintained it was murder.

Crown prosecutor Carl Young argued Mapp was fuelled by the desire to feed his heroin addiction and intended to kill his mother.

“There were ways to disable his mother that did not include a 15-kilogram pot plant to the head,” Mr Young said.

His intent to kill was also supported by Mapp’s alleged attempts to apply pressure to his mother’s neck while she was lying down, Mr Young told the court.

But this was disputed by Mapp’s barrister.

There was an absence of DNA found on the victim’s neck to support this action, Sarah Talbert said.

The defence also argued Mapp’s heroin withdrawals were exacerbated by his generalised anxiety disorder and COVID-19 symptoms.

Ms Talbert said the offence was spontaneous and impulsive, as evident in his choice of weapon.

Obtaining money for drugs was not Mapp’s motivation for the offence, she said.

“He had previously been in need of funds, but had not assaulted his mother,” she said.

“There was no real reason or necessity for Mr Mapp to do what he did to obtain funds.”

She argued it was a culmination of factors that built tension in their relationship over many years.

Justice Ian Harrison is due to sentence Mapp on May 29.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14