Rebecca Payne: Jail time slashed for woman who killed abusive husband by stuffing his body in a freezer

A woman who killed her abusive husband by feeding him drug-laced biscuits and locking him in a freezer could be out of prison in just over three years after a successful appeal.

Rebecca Payne, 45, was jailed for 16 years in 2023 after being found guilty of the murder of her husband Noel at their Walpeup home, near Mildura, in Victoria’s northwest.

She had fed the 68-year-old biscuits laced with crushed sleeping pills on September 1, 2020.

Once her husband passed out, Payne wrapped him in a blanket, secured it with duct tape and then placed him in a backyard chest freezer.

His body was discovered three days later after Payne asked a neighbour to look after the freezer, claiming it was broken and full of rotten meat.

A Supreme Court jury found Payne guilty of murder in March 2023, following a three-week trial in Mildura.

Justice Rita Incerti sentenced Payne to a maximum of 16 years behind bars, noting she was showing her mercy for the decade of abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.

That included Mr Payne forcing his wife to tattoo his name on her body, not allowing her to shower alone, and controlling her weight and household finances.

He also did not allow her to go to her son’s funeral.

Payne would have been eligible for parole after serving 10 years, but she challenged her sentence in the Victorian Court of Appeal as her lawyers claimed it was manifestly excessive.

Justices Stephen McLeish, Stephen Kaye and Terence Forrest on Wednesday agreed and re-sentenced her to 10 years’ jail with a non parole period of seven years.

The justices found Payne had endured more than a decade of “intolerable and seemingly escalating emotional and physical torment” from Mr Payne.

“Having lost her thirties in this way, she now stands to lose her forties and more as a result of the offence she committed,” their written reasons stated.

“That is no small thing, especially given that she will be separated from her children.”

The justices found the case was “wholly exceptional” and said the circumstances reduced Payne’s moral culpability and warranted a merciful sentence.

They also took into account her “excellent” prospects of rehabilitation in re-sentencing her to a lighter jail term.

She had also tried to challenge her murder conviction but that appeal was rejected.

Payne, who has already already served more than four years behind bars, will now be eligible for release on parole in about three years.

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