'Murder remains murder' for 93yo who suffocated wife in 'tragic end'

Justice David Mossop's words ring true. Despite the unusual circumstances behind the murder of a 92-year-old woman, in a case of domestic violence, it is just that.

Jean Morley did not want to be killed when her husband of 69 years suffocated her, ending "a happy and prosperous life" with an act of violence.

Her murder is "the gravest denial of individual autonomy", Justice Mossop said on Monday.

Donald Morley, 93, who previously pleaded guilty to murder, watched his ACT Supreme Court sentence hand-down from his room in hospice care.

His image was beamed into the courtroom, showing what appeared to be white bandages covering skin cancers on his scalp. A woman sat in the background of the sterile room, head in her hands.

At points, the 93-year-old tried to speak but his words were indistinct.

Morley will die in custody.

"[Jean] was killed by her husband in her own home as she lay in bed," Justice Mossop said.

She was one of 64 women violently murdered in Australia in 2023.

Monday's sentence hand-down comes after tens of thousands of people rallied across the country over the weekend, calling for government action on violence against women.

About 32 women have been murdered in Australia so far this year. This includes the women killed in the recent Bondi Junction stabbing attack.

The couple had "lived the Canberra dream" before one evening in July last year, when Morley made the decision to pick up a pillow and suffocate his wife.

"[They had] a happy married life with stable employment in a home that they owned and a network of friends," Justice Mossop said.

"The death of the victim was a tragic end to the couple's long and happy life together."

Jean and Donald Morley had been together since they were 16 years old, and married at 23.

They moved to Australia from the UK in 1970 and lived "a happy and prosperous life" in the ACT for the next 45 years", Justice Mossop said on Monday.

Morley worked at the Royal Australian Mint as a master tooler, and later as a cleaner before retiring at 65.

Jean worked as an administrative assistant at an accounting firm.

The couple had no children but "were known to be very loving towards one another and did everything together".

In the later years, Jean had dementia, with her husband responsible for cooking, cleaning and transportation.

Morley had his own health problems, including skin cancers on his head which had permeated through to his skull.

The judge found Morley saw the killing "as a way of solving the problems the couple faced".

Importantly, Jean had not asked to be killed nor did she encourage her husband to do so.

It was not a murder-suicide pact, assisted suicide, or a mercy killing.

After her death, Jean was found to be in good health for a 92-year-old woman with dementia.

"Nobody, however desperate things get, is justified in taking it upon themselves to commit murder," Justice Mossop said on Monday.

"The forceful murder of one's spouse must be denounced."

In July 2023, a nurse arrived at the couple's Fisher home and observed Morley to be "sunken and quiet" as he welcomed her inside.

After a brief exchange Morley started to cry, and said, "I've done terrible thing."

When the nurse walked into the bedroom, she saw Jean in bed, her head on a pillow, blankets pulled up to her neck.

"I suffocated her with a pillow last night," Morley said.

He then sat next to the bed saying "there's my angel", while the nurse discreetly contacted emergency services.

Morley was known to call his wife "my darling" and used this pet name in a note found by the nurse.

"Please don't call this murder suicide. After 69 years married we were both afraid of the future ... this wasn't easy for me especially my darling," the note read.

In the weeks leading up to the murder, the couple had been contacted by a social worker about home care packages. Morley told a social worker: "We've lived too long".

Morley told police during an interview that before the murder, they had attended a lunch with lifelong friends.

After the gathering, Jean told her husband she had not enjoyed herself, and he replied "neither did I".

When Morley went to bed that evening he decided to end both their lives.

Jean was in the loungeroom watching television, when she came to bed 30 minutes later her life would come to a violent end.

Morley then tried to kill himself three times but was unable to do so.

A life sentence

Justice Mossop was tasked with deciding how to sentence Canberra's oldest convicted murderer.

With Morley's life expectancy estimated to be between three and six months, the case swiftly progressed through the courts.

He is terminally ill, having been diagnosed with dementia, vascular disease and malignant skin cancer which has permeated through to his skull.

Since his arrest in July 2023, Morley had refused medications and had been held at the Older Persons Mental Health Unit at North Canberra Hospital before he was transferred to hospice care.

While Justice Mossop sentenced Morley to a total of nine years in jail, the judge said it was likely to be "a life sentence" for the elderly killer.

"It may be that he simply remains in a hospital facility or hospice until he dies," Justice Mossop stated.

Morley will be eligible for parole in January 2028, but he is expected to die in care before the end of the year.