Rebecca Payne who murdered her monster husband with a poisoned biscuit is being hailed a hero in her town
Residents of a tiny town where a woman killed her husband claim she’s the real victim and are hailing her as a ‘hero’ who saved numerous lives.
Mother of three, Rebecca Payne, was found guilty of murder by a 12-person jury at the Mildura Supreme Court on May 15 after two days of deliberation.
The woman dubbed the ‘Cookie Monster‘ had killed her husband, Noel Payne, 68, by feeding him two biscuits laced with Temazepam at their home in Walpeup, in northwestern Victoria, in September 2020.
The 43-year-old then wrapped his body in a blanket and stuffed him into an outdoor freezer, where it was found by a neighbour days later.
She is now facing a maximum sentence of life behind bars.
But many who know her, including her sons, say ‘she’s already done her time’ after living with her abusive partner and should be set free.
‘She lived for 14 years in hell with a monster,’ her son Jamie, told the Herald Sun.
‘The kids need her. The community needs her. We all need her.’
During her trial Rebecca took the stand and claimed Noel had coerced her to the town of 170 people a decade and a half ago in an attempt to isolate her from her friends and family.
She said she suffered immense physical and psychological abuse, along with another intellectual disabled woman he cruelly brought into the household.
Rebecca claimed Noel would rape her ‘whenever he felt like it’, control her and beat her.
The ‘cult-like’ figure also pressured her into a getting 18 tattoos of his name across her body so no one else could ‘love her’.
He had even gotten her fired from her job at a store in Ouyen, 20 minutes east of Walpeup, as he would often sit inside and frighten customers who would speak to her.
A man who lived down the road from the Payne’s claimed ‘there’s not a doubt in the world’ Noel was planning to kill Rebecca, their two sons who lived there and the other woman.
‘She saved at least four lives. She didn’t know whether she was going to go to bed and wake up the next morning. Or whether her boys were going to go to bed and wake up the next morning,’ the neighbour said.
Her friend who lived nearby, John, echoed his sentiments saying ‘It’s not fair’ and that she is the real victim.’
Rebecca’s pre-sentencing hearing begins on Monday.