Vincent Stanford has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of Leeton High School teacher Stephanie Scott.
Justice Robert Hulme told the room that this was a case of “great heinousness”, and Stanford‘s culpability was “so extreme” that it could “be met with only one response”.
The judge spoke of Stanford‘s completely blank demeanour when telling police how he brutally raped and killed Scott, citing this as proof that he “clearly demonstrated a lack of emotion”.
CONTENT WARNING: This video contains graphic descriptions of rape and murder.
Stephanie Scott Murderer: Can you tell me how you knew that she was deceased? “She stopped breathing and moving” – Vincent Stanford. #7News pic.twitter.com/DPtLniqkeg
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) October 11, 2016
“There was not the slightest hint of remorse,” he said, telling the court that Stanford was a “very disturbed individual”.
He sentenced the former school cleaner to 15 years for aggravated sexual assault, but didn’t impose a non-parole period as there was “no utility”, seeing as Stanford now has a life sentence for murder.
Courts heard Stanford‘s confession to police, where he described how he killed the teacher after sexually assaulting her, and says he doesn’t know why he did it but he “went a little nuts”.
The room also heard a number of different examples of Stanford‘s scary actions and tendencies even before the murder:
#BREAKING Court hears Vincent #Stanford stalked three other females before the murder. He had 1805 images of one 12 yr old. @9NewsSyd
— Kelly Fedor (@KellyFedor) October 12, 2016
Channel 9 also reports that Stanford had regularly searched on the internet for violent rape, hard-core porn and murder, and soon after beginning work at Leeton High School, he made a number of internet searches relating to brides, including ‘bride rape’ and ‘bride kidnapping’.
He had ordered handcuffs and a “half-sword” through a security company, and an expert medical report said Stanford revealed thoughts of killing people since the age of seven or eight.
Stanford’s identical twin brother Marcus Stanford was released from prison last month – he served 15 months for selling Scott‘s rings and burning her driver’s licence after the murder.
Source/Photo: 9 News.
