Bobby Weaver sentenced to life prison for murder of David Thornton in Goodna freezer case
A man who killed his long-term girlfriend, buried her dismembered body in a freezer and spent weeks pretending his victim was still alive has been sentenced to life in prison.
Bobby Andrew Weaver, 31, was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for the murder of David Thornton, 58, when he appeared in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.
The packed courtroom included members of Mr. Thornton’s family, who have waited more than seven years for the case to be concluded.
Weaver, who grew up on the same street as Mr Thornton in the Ipswich suburb of Goodna and is a long-time family friend, pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year.
Judge Paul Smith said the murder was a calculated betrayal.
“This is a case where it can be clearly established that you murdered a friend in cold blood,” Judge Smith said.
“The man was in a vulnerable position.”
Mr. Thornton, a former high school math teacher, was last seen alive on January 25, 2019, after going to a lawyer’s office carrying $15,000 in cash related to a property deal. The lawyer refused to accept the money and Mr. Thornton walked away with the money.
She was later reported missing by a friend on March 12.
Weeks later police uncovered a horrific scene at Mr Thornton’s property in Goodna. The decomposing body was found in a freezer buried in the backyard.
An autopsy revealed that he was shot twice in the head with a .22 caliber firearm. His legs were amputated below the knees so his body could fit in the freezer.
Judge Smith described Weaver’s actions after the murder as a prolonged campaign of deception.
“There was a prolonged and highly manipulative campaign to deceive family, friends and neighbors,” he said.
The court was told Weaver repeatedly used Mr Thornton’s Facebook account and mobile phone after his death, sending messages to family members claiming he was “off the grid” and holidaying in Western Australia.
The deception delayed concerns about Mr Thornton’s disappearance and prolonged the family’s uncertainty.
Police became suspicious after Mr Thornton’s ex-wife arrived at the property and noticed bloodstains inside the house.
When police began investigating, Weaver claimed to have been in contact with Mr Thornton, insisting there was spoiled food in the buried freezer in the backyard.
He even helped dig out a freezer to back up his story.
However, witnesses told police that two freezers were buried on the property. Following the excavation of a second freezer, officers discovered Mr Thornton’s remains and the saw used to dismember the body.
Police also found “mud” under the house containing blood, body fluids and tissue linked to Mr Thornton’s dismemberment.
Judge Smith said Weaver repeatedly lied to investigators as evidence emerged against him.
“This was a huge case,” he said.
Police later found Mr. Thornton’s driver’s license, financial cards, disabled parking permit and thousands of dollars in cash in Weaver’s possession.
The court was told Weaver sold three of Mr Thornton’s vehicles for about $2700, gave away one of his motorbikes and spent thousands of dollars on personal purchases, falsely claiming the money came from an investment.
In one of the more disturbing details revealed during sentencing, Weaver used Mr Thornton’s Facebook account to contact his former partner and ask him to check on Weaver as he was “in difficulty”.
He went to Weaver’s house and the two later had sex.
Judge Smith said the motive appeared to be financial gain.
The court was also told that while in prison Weaver tried to recruit another prisoner to support a fabricated version of events and encouraged a plot to kill one of Mr Thornton’s daughters and stage it as a suicide.
The prisoner later gave police Weaver’s handwritten notes detailing the plan.
Judge Smith said the treatment of Mr Thornton’s body after his death increased the seriousness of the offending.
“The treatment of the body is shameful,” he said.
“It was pre-planned. He was shot twice in the head.”
Family members described the devastating impact of the murder in a victim impact statement read to the court.
“It’s been a seven-year wait,” Mr. Thornton’s daughter wrote.
“Seven years of nightmare.”
“We didn’t just lose our father when he was kidnapped…we lost parts of ourselves as well.”
Judge Smith said he considered the family’s evidence carefully.
“This crime had a profound impact on many people,” he said.
While the judge acknowledged Weaver had pleaded guilty and had no significant criminal history, he said it was difficult to accept the remorse he claimed given the years of deception that followed the murder.
Judge Smith sentenced Weaver to life in prison, declaring the 2,631 days he had spent in custody since his arrest in April 2019 as time already expired.
He will be able to apply for parole in 2039.
