Having waited three years for the man who killed her husband to confess to his crime Marlene Wilton said she was “happy” with the progress of his court proceedings and was looking forward to his sentence being handed down.
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Mrs Wilton was present in Newcastle Supreme Court this week as Kaine Geoffrey Jones pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting to killing Orange man Graeme Wilton on the Central Coast in December, 2013.
Speaking outside court Mrs Wilton said seeing justice done after such a long wait was pleasing.
“It has taken him three years to admit his guilt to this matter,” she said.
“I am quite happy with the outcome and I look forward to His Honour handing down his sentence.”
The agreed facts said that immediately after punching the victim Jones drove to a friend’s house and told him he had “just hit a bloke down the road. The guy tried to stop me. I got out of the car. The guy was in my face and I hit him’’.’
In the following days, Jones altered the appearance of the ute by removing a sticker from the back window and removing a black plastic covering on the roof, changing it from black to white.
By January, police were monitoring Jones’ mobile phone as left Mannering Point for Coonabarabran following the breakdown of his relationship.
After hearing his former partner had told police she was the owner of the utility but didn’t know who was driving it when it was involved in the incident with Mr Wilton, Jones told her: “you’ve just f---ed my whole life … I f---ing told you what to say when it happened’’.
He also told his mother in another call: “might as well go and f---ing own up to it with all these c---s dobbing me in’’.
Jones walked into Coonabarabran police station the following day and was arrested.
He told police he was the person who had punched Mr Wilton, that his car was really loud and “[Mr Wilton] was obviously angry that I went past him with the loud car … I’m assuming’’.
“The offender, when talking to police, falsely sought to paint the deceased as the aggressor in the incident,’’ the facts said.
“He also told police that he was “pissed off” that the deceased had spoken to him about his manner of driving as he passed the driver’s side window.
“Also in the interview the offender asked police to tell the deceased’s family he was sorry and stated: “I wish I could trade positions with him’’.
Jones was due to face a murder trial on Monday before his guilty plea to Mr Wilton’s manslaughter was accepted by prosecutors.
The sentencing hearing with continue in December.
