FAMILY MEMBERS DEMANDS FOR COMPENSATION ORDERS AGAINST THE RESPONDENT FOR MURDERING KAREN CHETCUTI
Chetcuti & Ors v Cardamone [2021] VSC 194 (21 April 2021)
In this matter, there are three applications for compensation orders. The applicants are the ex-husband, son, and daughter of Karen Chetcuti (the ‘deceased’) who was murdered by the respondent.
Facts:
Sometime in the evening of 12 January 2016, the respondent physically attacked the deceased at her residence. He restrained her and then drove off in her vehicle with her inside. She was still alive when he later transferred her into his own vehicle and left for the Lake Buffalo area in the early hours of 13 January 2016. The respondent injected her with drugs, including xylazine and methylamphetamine, and with battery acid. He inflicted severe injuries to her head and torso. He then doused her with petrol and set her alight. He also drove over the deceased’s body in his four-wheel drive vehicle, causing various fractures. He then abandoned her body at that location.
On 30 June 2017, the respondent pleaded guilty before this Court to the murder of deceased
All three applicants submitted that they suffered injury as a direct result of the respondent having murdered the deceased and that the circumstances of her death are so aggravating that they bear significantly on the assessment of damages for grief and trauma.
Issue: Should the court grant the compensation in favor of the applicants?
Law:
Analysis:
Applications for compensation are governed by S.85B of the Act, which provides that the Court may make a compensation order against an offender in favor of a person who suffered injury as a direct result of the offense. It is not required that the compensable injury arose solely due to the offense, but only that the offense had a significant role in causing the injury
All three of the applicants are ‘victims’ within the meaning of S.3 of the Act and for the purpose of these applications. Although personal grief or trauma cannot be measured in any ledger, it has been accepted that factors relevant to assessing compensation in relation to grief or trauma include: the circumstances in which the death occurred; the effect on the person of hearing of the event causing loss; the closeness of the relationship between the person and the victim; the age of the person; and the extent of grief and psychological suffering experienced as a result of the loss.
Having regard to S.85A of the Act, the court is satisfied that each of the three applicants has demonstrated they have suffered injuries as a direct result of Karen Chetcuti’s murder and are entitled to compensation. The compensation ordered must reflect the genuine effect of the offense on those entitled to be compensated.
Each of the three applicants has suffered significantly as a result of the death of Karen Chetcuti. Each of them will carry the effect of that event with them for the rest of their lives. The two children have a particularly long road ahead so far as that is concerned.
The maximum amount of compensation is not limited by statute nor the financial resources of the respondent. No evidence of the respondent’s financial position was submitted to the court, although there is at least $149,000 currently held by the ACO.
Conclusion: Pursuant to s 85B of the Act, the appropriate orders for compensation that should be made against Michael Cardamone are as follows: (a) $288,986.00 to Jack Chetcuti, (b) $288,165.00 to Kate Chetcuti and (c) $240,000 to Tony Chetcuti.
