Killer housemate jailed over ‘thoroughly unprovoked’ Bairnsdale murder

A man who bludgeoned his housemate to death during a drunken argument in their Bairnsdale home has been jailed for 25 years.

Sean Adrian Marshall, 35, believed Thomas Jaafar was a paedophile and thought he had been snooping through his room when things fatally escalated in March last year.

The pair were drinking and listening to music when Marshall grabbed a wooden baton that Mr Jaafar kept for protection and repeatedly hit the 62-year-old to the head.

The impact shattered Mr Jaafar’s skull into 45 pieces, some fragments up to 7cm long.

Leaving his housemate for dead, Marshall then tried to burn down the house to cover up his crime.

Justice Lex Lasry described the savage attack as “thoroughly unprovoked” and said whatever he thought about the victim was absolutely no excuse.

Marshall must spend 17 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.