As a young girl, Melissa Ashfield watched as her brother John was murdered by her mother, Gunn-Britt Ashfield.
This morning at her mother's Sydney parole hearing, Ms Ashfield told her mother: "You're sick and twisted and you can go to hell."
Ashfield, now known as Angelic Karstrom, and her then boyfriend, Austin Allan Hughes, beat John Ashfield, 6, to death with a hammer in August 1993 at their home in Nowra in southern NSW.
Ms Ashfield was three when she and her three other brothers saw her mother and Hughes beat the boy with a hammer and a phone book over a period of several hours.
He suffered a retinal haemorrhage and extensive bruising to his whole body, and died in hospital the next day.
Karstrom was sentenced to 19 years in jail.
Today, after serving 18 years, Karstrom was granted parole by the NSW parole authority under strict conditions that will apply for 12 months following her release next month.
The conditions include being electronically monitored, prevented from attending her victim's grave and forbidden from being in the company of children under 16.
The authority said it elected to release Karstrom a year before the end of her sentence so she could be closely monitored for the next 12 months.
Ms Ashfield opposed such a decision when giving an emotional witness impact statement at the hearing today.
Karstrom was on screen via video link from jail as her daughter yelled at her.
"She can rot in hell," she said. "The day I'll jump for you is the day you drop dead. And you can go to hell."
Ms Ashfield expressed disgust as the parole board chairman read his decision, holding up a picture of her dead brother and declaring to her mother "Look what you did you f---ing dog" before running, crying from the court.
Outside the parole hearing, Ms Ashfield, her aunt Annette and other family members gathered to speak to a throng of waiting media.
Ms Ashfield said she was angry and frustrated, denying that her mother was truly remorseful.
"They say this is in the best interests of everyone, but I want her to serve her full sentence," she said.
She was haunted daily by the memories of her brother's bashing and eventual death, she said.
"The day that - way before my brother's come home from school, it was a lot of tension, a lot of yelling, a lot of flaring.
"And before you know it, my brother was the target.
"They started hitting him, punching him.
"They both took turns putting the phone book on his head, smashing it with a hammer.
"They both bashed him for 2½ hours.
"My brother's screaming, saying: 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' and she kept going.
"She could've easily said: 'Stop.'
"But it went further. She let Austin put one of my dresses on my brother and mocked him before he got, before he was dead."
A long-standing family friend Annena Hallcroft said: "The memories live day to day as new as they were yesterday, as new as the day when her little brother was killed."
Source http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/rot-in-hell-daughter-to-mother-who-killed-brother-20110729-1i39c.html?from=smh_sb
This morning at her mother's Sydney parole hearing, Ms Ashfield told her mother: "You're sick and twisted and you can go to hell."
Ashfield, now known as Angelic Karstrom, and her then boyfriend, Austin Allan Hughes, beat John Ashfield, 6, to death with a hammer in August 1993 at their home in Nowra in southern NSW.
Ms Ashfield was three when she and her three other brothers saw her mother and Hughes beat the boy with a hammer and a phone book over a period of several hours.
He suffered a retinal haemorrhage and extensive bruising to his whole body, and died in hospital the next day.
Karstrom was sentenced to 19 years in jail.
Today, after serving 18 years, Karstrom was granted parole by the NSW parole authority under strict conditions that will apply for 12 months following her release next month.
The conditions include being electronically monitored, prevented from attending her victim's grave and forbidden from being in the company of children under 16.
The authority said it elected to release Karstrom a year before the end of her sentence so she could be closely monitored for the next 12 months.
Ms Ashfield opposed such a decision when giving an emotional witness impact statement at the hearing today.
Karstrom was on screen via video link from jail as her daughter yelled at her.
"She can rot in hell," she said. "The day I'll jump for you is the day you drop dead. And you can go to hell."
Ms Ashfield expressed disgust as the parole board chairman read his decision, holding up a picture of her dead brother and declaring to her mother "Look what you did you f---ing dog" before running, crying from the court.
Outside the parole hearing, Ms Ashfield, her aunt Annette and other family members gathered to speak to a throng of waiting media.
Ms Ashfield said she was angry and frustrated, denying that her mother was truly remorseful.
"They say this is in the best interests of everyone, but I want her to serve her full sentence," she said.
She was haunted daily by the memories of her brother's bashing and eventual death, she said.
"The day that - way before my brother's come home from school, it was a lot of tension, a lot of yelling, a lot of flaring.
"And before you know it, my brother was the target.
"They started hitting him, punching him.
"They both took turns putting the phone book on his head, smashing it with a hammer.
"They both bashed him for 2½ hours.
"My brother's screaming, saying: 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' and she kept going.
"She could've easily said: 'Stop.'
"But it went further. She let Austin put one of my dresses on my brother and mocked him before he got, before he was dead."
A long-standing family friend Annena Hallcroft said: "The memories live day to day as new as they were yesterday, as new as the day when her little brother was killed."
Source http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/rot-in-hell-daughter-to-mother-who-killed-brother-20110729-1i39c.html?from=smh_sb
