Joshua Wright jailed for 2023 Hunter Valley murder of John Simpson
John Simpson's body was found in a shallow grave on a property in the New South Wales Hunter Valley about a month after he was declared missing from Laguna, south-west of Cessnock.
On Friday his killer Joshua Wright faced the Supreme Court in Darlinghurst for sentencing.
The court heard Wright became angry when he came home on April 13, 2023 and found his two Rottweilers had been taken by the RSPCA after the property owner raised concerns about their condition.
The owner, who was at the property at the time, asked Mr Simpson to give the RSPCA the address while she was on the phone.
When Wright returned home he confronted Mr Simpson, 34, in a shed and shot him twice.
Justice Richard Cavanagh told the court he could not say whether there had been an altercation between the pair.
"I do not accept the offender's version, but the Crown has not established what happened in the minutes before Mr Simpson was killed," he said.
The prosecution alleged the killing was planned and methodical but the defence argued that Mr Simpson also had a gun and that the two men struggled before the shooting.
Justice Cavanagh said he could not determine exactly what happened in the moments before Mr Simpson's death due to unreliable evidence.
The court heard the relationship between Mr Simpson and Wright had been "acrimonious" for a month prior to the shooting because Wright was not paying his rent on time.
Justice Cavanagh told the court that issue had resulted in an argument between the pair in April 2023, when Mr Simpson told the offender he should move out.
"Mr Simpson said, 'I'll get a gun and shoot you,'" Justice Cavanagh said.
On April 13 the RSPCA attended the property while Mr Simpson and Wright were out and took the two dogs.
The court heard when that Wright came home and went out to the shed to confront Mr Simpson.
Justice Cavanagh told the court that about half an hour after Mr Simpson was killed Wright came back into the house to tell his other housemate what had happened.
"I've done it, I finally shot the c***," Justice Cavanagh quoted Wright as saying.
The court heard Mr Simpson's body was placed into a wheelbarrow wrapped in a tarpaulin on the property until he was buried at a neighbour's place.
The court heard a psychologist's report from March 2025 found Wright suffered from persistent depressive disorder.
Justice Cavanagh told the court this did not validate his actions, but said Wright's substance abuse since the age of 13 could impact his degree of responsibility.
Justice Cavanagh said Wright showed empathy when speaking to the psychologist about the murder, but told the court that the second shot fired at Mr Simpson was deliberate.
"The offender accepts he shot Mr Simpson deliberately and intended to kill him," Justice Cavanagh said.
He applied a 25 per cent discount for Wright's early guilty plea and sentenced him to 17 years and three months behind bars with a non-parole period of 12 years.
Wright will be eligible for release in August 2035.
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