Brandon Peter Macgowan has had his life sentence for the murder of Mt Isa couple Scott Maitland and Cindy Masonwells in 2012 reduced from 30 years without parole to 24.
In the Supreme Court of Queensland in Brisbane on Tuesday the 6th of October, Macgowan’s lawyers appealed to Chief Justice Catherine Holmes that a sentence of 30 years without parole was too excessive.
The statutory minimum for a double murder is 20 years without parole.
Macgowan’s lawyers argued that similar cases had resulted in less harsh sentences.
While the judges did reduce the minimum period without parole, Chief Justice Holmes remained unwavering in the belief that the punishment must match the crime.
The lack of a criminal record before the murders took place also helped Mcgowan’s…show more content… Macgowan’s case has been in court since the 29th of August 2014, more than two years after the murders were committed.
It was found that at time when Macgowan committed these crimes he was under significant financial pressure following a separation from his wife.
It is believed that it was this pressure that led to a domino effect of decisions that resulted in the murder of the Mt Isa couple.
In April of 2012, Mt Isa couple Mr Maitland and Ms Masonwells travelled to Cairns for a wedding in their panel van.
The van was to be used in the wedding and the couple had taken it to a workshop, which was operated by McGowan, for restoration.
At the time Macgowan claimed that the van had been stolen while at a separate workshop undergoing a roadworthy assessment.
Mr Maitland and Ms Masonwells then went with Macgowan to a solicitor where they agreed on a settlement of $30000 to be paid to the couple, if Macgowan failed to replace and restore a panel van for them.
In July of 2012, Macgowan paid for Mr Maitland and Ms Masonwells to return to Cairns to pick up their