Articles by Tara Cosoleto And Emily Woods

Technology

Killer who threw dead teacher in bin gets 10 years jail

A killer who threw his housemate's body into a bin and refused to face his victim's family in court will spend a decade behind bars. English teacher Annette Brennan's cause of death could not be found, because her remains were so badly mutilated when she was found at a tip in Melbourne's north, in July 2024. The man she had let move into her home four weeks earlier, Stephen Fleming, had killed the 67-year-old woman, put her in a bin and swapped bins with a neighbour. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday. He will need to serve just seven years before he can apply for release on parole. Fleming pleaded guilty to manslaughter weeks before his Victorian Supreme Court trial was due to begin. The 48-year-old refused to face his victim's family and friends in court at his pre-sentence hearing in September. His sentence was due to take place on October 29, but was adjourned to Thursday at 9.30am, however Fleming again refused to board the prison van and the matter was delayed to 11am. Fleming moved in with Ms Brennan on June 6, 2024, after she advertised on flatmates.com.au to fill spare rooms at her Coolaroo rental. Ms Brennan had told friends "he needs to go" as he had not paid rent and had been contacting their landlord behind her back. He killed her on July 1 and put her body in a green waste bin before cleaning the inside of their share house to destroy evidence and moving into another home about three days later. His DNA was found on the handles of the bin, which he had placed outside a neighbour's house for collection. Australian Associated Press