Apr 18 2021, 8:56 ET
A 55-year-old woman was killed by a ‘depraved and ruthless’ trucker who then moved into her home and constructed a lie about her disappearance.
The body of Julie Anne Cooper was found dumped in a gully in bushland in Ashendon, east of Perth. She’d been sexually assaulted and strangled.
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Mathew Mark Hemsley, 34, was found guilty by a jury of murdering 55-year-old Julie Anne CooperCredit: Facebook
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Julie Anne Cooper, 55, was found dumped in a gully in bushland east of PerthCredit: Facebook
The judge that convicted Mathew Hemsley of the crime described the killer as “depraved and ruthless”.
Julie had been living alone when she met the 34-year-old truck driver, at the Saint George Hotel in Innaloo, Perth.
Depraved trucker killed stranger after her good deed - then moved into her home
Kind-hearted grandmother Julie Anne Cooper, 55, offered to let Mathew Hemsley, then 33, charge his mobile in her car - the next thing her neighbours knew, she had vanished to be with her “new man”
Julie was a doting grandmother (Image: 9News)
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Julie Cooper s killer Mathew Hemsley sentenced to life in prison for depraved and ruthless murder
TueTuesday 16
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TueTuesday 16
FebFebruary 2021 at 1:47pm
Ms Cooper, 55, offered to let Hemsley charge his phone in her car after they met at a pub.
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A depraved and ruthless murderer had to be removed from a Perth court after protesting his innocence and yelling at the victim s family that she was a lovely lady and a beautiful person .
Key points:
With time already served, his earliest release date is September 2041
Ms Cooper s son said the family was happy with the outcome
Mathew Mark Hemsley, 34, was being sentenced in the WA Supreme Court after being found guilty by a jury of murdering 55-year-old Julie Anne Cooper in August 2018, whom he also sexually assaulted during his attack on her.
A depraved man who strangled and raped a grandmother before dumping her body in a bush grave has been sentenced to 23 years behind bars.
Mathew Mark Hemsley, 34, murdered Julie Anne Cooper, 55, after meeting her at Saint George Hotel in Innaloo, Perth, in August 2018.
Hemsley claimed Ms Cooper had choked herself with a dog collar as part of an erotic sexual act, but a jury last year rejected his version of events.
Supreme Court Justice Bruno Fiannaca said Hemsley subjected her to further indignity by disposing of her body in a bush grave in shrubland in Ashendon.
Mathew Mark Hemsley, 34, murdered Julie Anne Cooper, 55, after meeting her at Saint George Hotel in Innaloo, Perth in August 2018