A "chilling and callous" woman has been sentenced to nine years in jail for killing a Queensland mother, whose body was kept in a cupboard for two days before being set alight on the side of a northern NSW road.
Within two weeks of the killing, Rachel Angala Wheatley, 30, and co-accused Jason Mundy, 31, were recorded by police making "sick jokes" about barbecues.
Wheatley and Mundy were sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday after pleading guilty last month to offences relating to the manslaughter of Sabrina Bremer, 34, in August 2016.
Wheatley was sentenced to nine years for manslaughter and 18 months, to be served cumulatively, for interfering with Ms Bremer's corpse.
Mundy admitted interfering with a corpse and being an accessory after the killing of Ms Bremer.
Judge Helen Bowskill said Ms Bremer's killing was not premeditated or planned but Wheatley was "cold, chilling and callous".
The court heard Wheatley and Mundy kept Ms Bremer's body in a cupboard in their home for two days before disposing of it.
Wheatley even offered Ms Bremer's 15-year-old daughter help to find her mother while the corpse was in the cupboard.
Addressing Wheatley during sentencing, Judge Bowskill said she had looked Ms Bremer's daughter in the eyes and feigned concern for her mother.
The judge said Wheatley's conduct was despicable and disgusting while Mundy's was abominable.
There was evidence of animosity between Wheatley and Ms Bremer in text messages before the killing, crown prosecutor Jodie Wooldridge told the court on Monday.
Ms Wooldridge said Ms Bremer appeared to be disgruntled over money Wheatley owed her for heroin.
Wheatley restrained Ms Bremer during an altercation, putting an arm across her neck.
When Ms Bremer stopped moving, Wheatley realised the woman was dead.
She woke Mundy, who was upstairs in the unit, and the two dragged Ms Bremer's body to the cupboard.
Ms Wooldridge said Wheatley's children and visitors had been at the house while the corpse was hidden away.
Wheatley used Ms Bremer's money, bank card and driver's licence before borrowing a vehicle to dispose of the body.
Wheatley and Mundy drove to Pollards Road, North Tumbulgum, on August 18, 2016, where they put the body wrapped in blanket on the ground, doused it with fuel and set it alight.
Mundy was given a head sentence of six-and-a-half years for his involvement but is eligible for parole due to time already served.
Wheatley will be eligible for parole on March 3, 2022.
A third co-accused, Jade Rodney Nielsen, 42, was sentenced to two years' jail for attempting to pervert justice, but was released on parole.
Ms Wooldridge said the cause of death was not clear because the body was so decomposed.
"It was not immediately apparent to those who located (the body) that it was human remains," she told the court.
Australian Associated Press
