Cricket bat killing: Aleisha Dawson, accessory to murder paroled
19 May, 2021 08:08 PM
3 minutes to read
Aleisha Cherie Dawson admitted being an accessory to the savage killing of Brent Andrew Bacon, 45. Photo / ODT
Aleisha Cherie Dawson admitted being an accessory to the savage killing of Brent Andrew Bacon, 45. Photo / ODT
Otago Daily Times
Three days after her husband was jailed for life for beating a friend to death with a cricket bat, the woman who helped him dump the body was released.
Nearly 18 months before 39-year-old John Collins was found guilty of the murder of Brent Andrew Bacon, 45, Aleisha Cherie Dawson admitted being an accessory to the savage killing.
Lia Bezett, sister of murdered man Brent Bacon, speaks outside court after the sentencing of John Collins.
John Collins killed his friend and father-of-three Brent Bacon with a cricket bat, and later dumped his body off a rural road. The 39-year-old appeared for sentencing before Justice Jan-Marie Doogue in the High Court of Dunedin on Friday. He will serve at least 17 years in jail.
That followed a six-day trial, in which jurors later unanimously convicted Collins, who had earlier pleaded guilty to improperly interfering with the body and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, of murder. During the trial the Crown argued Bacon was murdered at a Lock St home, which Collins shared with his wife, Aleisha Dawson, on the night of February 4, 2019.
Dunedin cricket bat killing: Brutal murder of friend brings life in prison
7 May, 2021 07:58 PM
4 minutes to read
Mr Bacon’s sister his only sibling Lia Bezett spoke of the pain of her loss. Video / ODT
Mr Bacon’s sister his only sibling Lia Bezett spoke of the pain of her loss. Video / ODT
Otago Daily Times
By: Rob Kidd
A life sentence for the man who beat her brother to death with a cricket bat will never heal his family s wounds, his sister says.
The murder of 45-year-old Brent Andrew Bacon on February 4, 2019, represented John Kenneth Collins second strike under the three-strikes legislation (his first came for indecent assault in 2016).
Cricket bat killing: Dunedin murder victim Brent Bacon loved, missed
12 Mar, 2021 07:46 PM
9 minutes to read
Brent Bacon and Lia Bezett on her wedding day. Photo / Supplied
Otago Daily Times
By: Rob Kidd
Brent Bacon came to Dunedin for a fresh start in 2018, a move that brought him closer to family and gave his life stability. But within months he was dead, beaten to death with a cricket bat. Rob Kidd looks at how the tragedy unfolded and speaks to a family left clutching the memories of a larger-than-life personality.
After John Collins was found guilty of murdering Brent Bacon, he bustled downstairs from the courtroom, refusing to look his betrayal in the face.
Lia Bezett, Brent Bacon’s sister, outside of court and supported by her husband Sam.
The grieving sister of a man killed by his friend with a cricket bat before being dumped at a rural property, has welcomed a court finding him guilty of murder. Jurors at the High Court of Dunedin on Tuesday unanimously convicted John Collins of murdering Brent Bacon, despite him claiming he killed the father of three in self-defence. Collins gave a brief smile as the verdict was read. Following the decision, Bacon’s sister Lia Bezett paid tribute her brother outside the court, saying “his blood which was spilled in an unjust death had cried out to be avenged ever since”.