Man who murdered housemate with frying pan and mop jailed

A man from Adelaide, Australia, who used a frying pan and a mop to murder his sleeping housemate has been jailed for more than two decades. The South Australian Supreme Court heard Peter James Freyer, 49, attacked Joe Triulcio last August at a house at Parafield Gardens after the man had threatened, purely as a joke, to kill Freyer's uncle at a time when he was in a bad mood about family matters. The court heard Mr Triulcio, 42, had no warning of the attack to be able to defend himself.

While the threat to kill Freyer's uncle was never meant seriously, the killer took that remark that way. Justice David Lovell said Freyer, 49, had stewed for several hours before deciding to act against his housemate. "Your motive to commit this murder was to make a pre-emptive strike, given your perception of the threats made by the deceased," he said. "The prosecution maintained there was objectively no danger [from the threat]." Mr Triulcio was asleep in the living room when Freyer grabbed a frying pan and bashed the victim up to 15 times. The man did not die immediately.
The court was told he made a gurgling sound for about 45 minutes until Freyer got a mop and shoved it down the victim's throat to suffocate him. Before the killing, Freyer had watched a home movie with deceased family members in it. Justice Lovell said the murder was horrific and Freyer had been significantly affected by alcohol. "The number of blows and the force with which you inflicted the head injuries ... make this a particularly callous and gruesome murder," he told Freyer. "I'm not confident about your prospects for rehabilitation."
Mr Triulcio moved in with Freyer and two other people to their property after a relationship ended. After brutally killing his housemate, Freyer sent a text message to a cousin saying: "You or your dad can rest easy. I did this all for you. Joe is dead." He also left a phone message on an uncle's answering machine saying: "I've killed Joe. He is dead." The court heard Freyer had a history of depression and anxiety. The judge said the crime had "torn apart" Mr Triulcio's family, who described him as a loved and valued man. Freyer's mandatory life sentence for murder came with a non-parole period of 21 years.