She puts her husband’s sleeping pills in crackers and then puts them in the freezer. A reason for a woman to seek revenge

Rebecca Payne admitted to killing Noel Payne in September 2020 by drugging his body with temazepam in a freezer behind their home in Walpurby, near the South Australian border.

However, she has denied killing her 68-year-old husband, saying she did not intentionally kill him.

Payne pleaded guilty to murder, and 12 jurors tried him on Tuesday.

The couple married in 2006 and have two sons together, but their relationship had been turbulent long before Payne’s death, said lawyer David Glynn. 9news.com.au.

Rebecca Payne worked as a carer for her husband, who received a disability pension.

Attorney Glynn said there was evidence that Noel Payne was a violent and highly authoritarian man. The two separated twice, once in 2008 and again in 2012, and the man lost custody of their two sons both times.

During the second episode, Noel Payne brings a young woman named Minnie into their home and begins a relationship with her. When Rebecca Payne moved back home, Minnie stayed there as well, and the man continued his relationship with both women.

Rebecca Payne was unhappy with her husband’s behavior in the years leading up to the murder, Glynn said, including the situation with Minnie and the way he treated her stepson.

“She wanted to get rid of him,” the prosecutor told the jury.

The woman was prescribed Temazepam to help her sleep, and on September 1 she crushed several pills and put them in the frosting of two cookies, the prosecutor revealed.

She said she served her husband’s biscuits with a hot drink that may have been laced with sleeping pills.

“He then wrapped him in a blanket, tied the ends with duct tape, and placed him in a freezer in the back yard,” the prosecutor said. “He then closed the freezer door, tied it with two straps and left it there. His body was found in the freezer about three days later.

The prosecutor also revealed that after killing her husband, Rebecca Payne, her two sons and Minnie went to Mildura on a shopping spree using Payne’s credit card. They bought pets including fish, birds and lizards for the children.

He told friends he took his laptop, clothes and $10,000 in cash and left them with another woman. When police asked her where she was, she moved the freezer to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor’s son opened the freezer, found her body and called the police.

The woman’s lawyer said she accepted her guilt but did not intend to kill him.