A mother has demanded respect, love, and an end to violence against women after her daughter was brutally murdered in Sydney’s bushland and her body set on fire.
On July 14, 2020, Namja Carroll was driven by Benjamin Troy Parkes and Robert Sloan to a secluded area of Sandy Point in the southwest of the city, where she was murdered with a baseball bat, doused with gasoline, and set ablaze.
Fifteen days later, a bushwalker found her body.
Anne Carroll talked about how traumatized she was by the death of her 33-year-old daughter today.
“It’s an unusual and unanticipated occurrence,” she informed the NSW Supreme Court. “When a parent holds a newborn for the first time they never imagine that they will also have the duty of burying that child.”
Ms. Carroll spoke during Parkes’ sentencing hearing following the jury’s April murder conviction.
She described her daughter as a weak woman who battled drug addiction and abuse as a child, despite being academically talented in school.
Namja Carroll lost her car, her money, and ultimately her life in a “brutal and callous murder,” the court was informed, because she had trusted the wrong persons.
Her mother concluded her remarks with encouragement. “Najma would want us all to continue with love and hope in our hearts,” she stated.
“Hope for an end to violence against women.”
“Hope that we can begin to embrace the capacity to love, respect and nurture each other, rather than resorting to physical violence and heinous crimes.”
Justice Natalie Adams also mentioned the findings from the psychologist who diagnosed Parkes with social personality disorder and ADHD today.
She questioned the possibility that these mental illnesses had anything to do with the crime, noting that the ex-bikie’s “excessive” usage of ice at the time of the incident affected his judgment.
“He clearly wasn’t getting any sleep – he was taking a lot of ice,” she continued.
Carroll met Parkes and Sloan when they were selling narcotics out of Hunts Hotel Liverpool, which is located in the southwest of the city, the jury was told during the trial.
The jury was informed that Carroll had “invested” $8000 of her superannuation in their illegal drug operation.
The prosecution claimed Parkes made a plan with Sloan to kill her because he was concerned Carroll “knew too much” about his drug dealing.
Parkes stated that he only wanted to burn Carroll’s SUV on fire because he was afraid it might be connected to their activities, not because he intended to murder her.
When he got to Sandy Point, he claimed to have witnessed Sloan hitting her severely with a baseball bat. Despite these denials, the jury convicted Parkes of murder.
Defense attorney Nathan Steel continued to deny today that his client was the one who caused the fatal injuries.
Furthermore, he contended that Carroll’s removal from the Liverpool hotel may not have been motivated by a desire to kill her.
The discovery of cigarette butts close to the site of the bashing contradicted Parkes’ assertion that the murder happened shortly after they arrived at the bush location.
According to Justice Adams, one of these had Carroll’s DNA tested positively, proving she had time to pause and have a cigarette.
Crown prosecutor Darren Robinson contended that the forensic evidence contradicted Parkes’s assertion that he witnessed Sloan beat the woman 20 times with the bat, given that the victim had three blunt-force injuries prior to her death.
Parkes will be sentenced by Justice Adams on July 26. On Friday, Sloan will have his own sentencing hearing in relation to the murder.
