A man described as a “runner” working for his boss dealing drugs out of a western Sydney hotel has been jailed for the violent murder of a woman whose body was then set alight.
Robert Sloan, 61, pleaded to murdering Najma Carroll alongside a co-accused before setting her on fire in a remote part of Sandy Point in Sydney’s southwest on July 14, 2020.
The 33-year-old’s body was discovered by a bushwalker 15 days later.
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“The deceased was isolated before her death, then taken to remote bushland where she had no chance of escape, then killed,” said Justice Natalie Adams on Friday.
“It must have been an absolutely terrifying experience for her.”
The NSW Supreme Court judge sentenced Sloan to a maximum 25 years and two months in jail, backdated and expiring on July 3, 2047.
His non-parole period of 17 years and six months will expire on November 3, 2039.
Sloan was given a lower sentence than his 46-year-old drug-running boss Benjamin Troy Parkes who was sentenced last week for the murder.
He faces a maximum jail sentence of 31 years, with a non-parole period of 21 years and six months.
Justice Adams found that Sloan looked up to Parkes who often ordered his subordinate to do his “dirty work” for him.
“Mr Sloan assisted Mr Parkes out of a sense of misguided loyalty to him,” she said.
The motive for the murder belonged solely to Parkes who worried that Ms Carroll knew too much about their drug running, did not want to return $8500 that she had “invested” in the illegal business, and was concerned she could go to the police, Justice Adams found.
Sloan, who has previously gone under the alias Ronald Joseph Sladden, also entered into an agreement to kill Ms Carroll at a later time than Parkes.
In sentencing the 61-year-old, the judge took into account his early guilty plea, highly disadvantaged upbringing and his physical health, including pain issues after he was shot in the leg in a motel room around 25 years ago.
She noted he had been threatened and assaulted in custody since his arrest for the murder in November 2020, saying this could have been because of his involvement with The Heathens in Melbourne 10 years ago.
Sloan’s criminal history spans decades and involves run-ins with the law in NSW, Victoria and South Australia over crimes such as armed robbery, false imprisonment, threatening a witness, drug possession and motor vehicle theft.
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He was a long-term drug user and was taking “ice” at the time of Ms Carroll’s murder, Justice Adams said.
Sloan watched the sentencing proceedings from Silverwater prison, and shook his head, muttering “not true” as the judge considered whether he had assaulted Ms Carroll, causing her a black eye days before she was killed.
The judge aired her suspicions but could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he caused the injuries.
She found Ms Carroll was a heavy drug user at the time who could have hurt herself instead.
Justice Adams noted the significant effect the murder had on mother Anne Carroll who was told the shocking news by police that a burnt body found in bushland was that of her daughter.
“On behalf of the court, I extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends Najma Carroll,” she said.
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