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‘Evil': Man sentenced to life after Perth bondage sex murder
A dad-of two who arranged to a meet a teenager for a bondage sex hook-up was hacked to death with an axe by the depraved 19-year-old, with the slaying described as 'an example of evil'.
Former Australian beach handball coach and West Coast Eagles masseuse Patrik Weiss was killed in his Lockridge home on June 12, 2023.
The 45-year-old father had agreed to meet Alexander Mark Sutton, then 19, and was waiting blindfolded with his hands and feet bound with rope and handcuffs.
He left a key to the front door in a meter box outside, having chatted online with his would-be killer for six months on a fetish website.
Western Australia's Supreme Court heard, however, that Sutton had created a fake online dating profile with the intention of finding someone to kill.
Upon arrival he fatally struck the vulnerable Mr Weiss in the head with a pickaxe, fracturing his skull. The court heard Sutton had also fantasised about eating part of his victim.
Sutton, now 21, was sentenced life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years on Thursday after pleading guilty to murder.
Prosecutor Paul Usher read out excerpts of the diary Sutton kept before the murder to the court, revealing references to cannibalism.
'If you are reading this, either I have been caught or I have been killed,' it read.
'My mission is to kill those who are parasitic scum.
'Maybe I will eat a part of him as well to see if I like it.
'I need to get rid of my anger ASAP.'
Sutton also wrote about 'hearing voices' and mused about killing his father and sister 'with the same method'.
Katherine Dowling, Sutton's own lawyer, told the court he had carried out 'one of the most depraved and monstrous murders that this state has ever seen'.
'His behaviours were horrifying and profoundly perverse,' she said.
'This must be as close to an example of evil as one could imagine.'
Mr Weiss was born in Germany and moved to Australia in 2003, later becoming the coach of the men's national beach handball team in 2013.
He also worked as a sports physiotherapist, acting as a soft tissue therapist for AFL powerhouse West Coast.
The court heard his former wife found him dead after he failed to pick up his children from school on the day he died.
She told the court in a victim impact statement about how Sutton had 'destroyed' the lives of her children.
'This was not just a crime against one person it was a crime that fractured an entire family.'
She also read out a statement from their two kids, with one saying her father 'didn't deserve to die like that'.
In imposing a life sentence, Justice Joseph McGrath said the offending was 'extraordinarily callous' and that he did not believe Sutton was truly remorseful.
