ONE of the state's most violent inmates, Windale man Richard Reay, has been jailed for a maximum of 30 years for the "callous and sadistic" strangulation murder of his cellmate at mid-north coast correctional centre.
More than two years after 52-year-old Geoffrey Fardell was found dead in his cell there are still no answers as to why he was placed with such a notoriously violent inmate.
And it is still unknown why Reay - who for the past two decades and across two states has established an almost unparalleled reputation for random and unprovoked acts of extreme violence, mayhem and bizarre behaviour behind bars - decided on the night of June 10, 2019, that he would place something around Mr Fardell's neck and strangle him.
"To kill a person by manual ligature strangulation involves an effort that is at least as deliberate but is more sustained than most other forms of killing a living being," Justice Robert Hulme said.
"The perpetrator has the choice of desisting at any point but must choose to continue until the victim is lifeless.
"That is what I am satisfied Mr Reay chose to do.
"One can only think he must have had absolutely no respect for the sanctity of human life to kill a person in such a callous and sadistic way."
Reay had pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter and faced a two-week judge-alone trial in Port Macquarie Supreme Court in March.
He gave evidence that he was acting in self-defence when he killed Mr Fardell, who he said had attacked him over the volume of the television, a claim Justice Hulme labelled "entirely implausible" when he found Reay guilty of murder.
Justice Hulme said Reay, who has since been moved to the High Risk Management Correctional Centre (HRMCC) at Goulburn, was not remorseful and did not have good prospects of rehabilitation.
He sentenced Reay to a maximum of 30 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 22 years and six months.
To kill a person by manual ligature strangulation ... one can only think he must have had absolutely no respect for the sanctity of human life to kill a person in such a callous and sadistic way.
Justice Robert Hulme said of Richard Reay.
