Daniel O’Shea murder: Mother tells court of ‘relentless grief’ after son's shooting death in South Yarra park

Cheryl O’Shea wanted to take her two children away from a life of crime.

“My immediate family were all criminals and 35 years ago I decided to break all contact with them,” she told the Supreme Court on Friday.

She said her kids, Daniel and Jamie, grew up without grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins.

But despite her efforts, Ms O’Shea lost her eldest son Daniel in a “horrendous” deadly shooting.

“Daniel was the glue that kept the three of us together,” she said.

“There are no words to describe the pain of waking and remembering that he is dead. My grief is relentless.”

The 41-year-old’s body found by joggers in South Yarra’s Fawkner Park, on April 26, 2019, minutes after what police at the time described as a “particularly horrendous murder”.

“It’s no secret that Mr O’Shea was involved in criminal activities,” Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper told media as he pleaded for more information in May 2019.

“We know that and he was well connected in that criminal community both nationally and internationally. Obviously it presents us with some challenges due to the criminal code of silence.”

Witnesses heard gun shots ring out of the park about 7.40pm as Mr O’Shea was shot four times, three to his body and one to his head.

Jason Milhuisen was seen in a playground about 500 metres from where Mr O’Shea’s body was found, prosecutors told a jury during his 2024 murder trial.

Two guns were found about 50m from Mr O’Shea’s body, including by a child doing an Easter egg hunt.

Milhuisen was found guilty of the murder by a jury on December 19, 2024, and faced a pre-sentence hearing on Friday where Mr O’Shea’s mother expressed her grief to him.

The 39-year-old killer watched her, quietly, as she read her victim impact statement.

“You have kids, bothers, sister, parents ... You’re very fortunate,” she told Milhuisen, between tears.

“I don’t hate you, I don’t even know you. I’m not even angry anymore, as I realise that took away from me thinking about Daniel.”

At trial his defence team argued Milhuisen, who is facing 25 years behind bars, was not the shooter.

His barrister Peter Morrissey SC on Friday said Milhuisen knew he would go to prison for many years before he will be eligible for parole, but argued he had good rehabilitation prospects.

He said Milhuisen’s time behind bars, over the past four years on remand, had been particularly difficult due to not being able to see his children.

Delays in the trial and “oppressive” conditions in prison have made remand difficult for him, Mr Morrissey argued as he asked for some discount to his jail term.

“You may find comfortably that he has done his time hard,” he told the court.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Ruddle said it was open for Justice Jane Dixon to find Mr O’Shea was ambushed, but accepted delay had been an issue in the trial.

Milhuisen was taken into custody to await his sentence at a later date.