Ally Langdon choked back tears as she spoke to the grieving family of a paramedic who was stabbed to death by a stranger in a McDonald’s parking lot.
The A Current Affair host interviewed Steven Tougher’s heartbroken mother, father, sister and wife after a grueling day in court on Monday.
Tougher was stabbed 55 times while on a break during a shift in Campbelltown, south-west Sydney, in the early hours of April 14, 2023.
Jordan James Fineanganofo, 23, admitted stabbing the 29-year-old to death but pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of deteriorating mental health, at the start of what was expected to be a six-week trial at the Supreme Court of New South Wales on Monday. .
During an interview with A Current Affair after the court appearance, Tougher’s father, Jeff, described his son as an incredibly compassionate man.
“The saddest part of all of this is that if he (Fineanganofo) had asked my son for help, I would have showered him with compassion because that’s what my son does,” Jeff said.
‘He would have received the medical attention he received and would have been taken straight to hospital.
“He has paid the ultimate price and so have we.”
Ally Langdon (pictured) fought back tears while interviewing Steven Tougher’s heartbroken family on Monday night.
Tougher’s father, Jeff, described his son as an incredibly compassionate man (pictured, from left, Tougher’s sister, father, mother and wife).
Steven Tougher (pictured) was stabbed 55 times while on a break in a McDonald’s car park during a shift in Campbelltown, south-west Sydney, in the early hours of April 14, 2023.
Langdon cried as she struggled to ask Jeff more about Mr. Tougher.
“I’m sorry, when you talk about that and you know, here’s your son, a man filled with so much compassion, that’s why he became a paramedic,” she told the family.
‘For us to be sitting here and talking about this and what happened.
‘Very sorry.
‘They need a hug, I wish I was there to give them one.’
Tougher’s sister, mother and wife, Maddison, who gave birth to her daughter Lily May Stevie just five weeks after the stabbing, immediately broke down and told Langdon: “Thank you.”
Jeff replied: ‘Thanks mate. You have to understand how loved he was in the community.
‘I’m talking about throwing stones into a pond and there’s the domino effect: you don’t know who is affected by the ripples, Ally, and how many lives my son helped.
‘The affected people came to me on the street and said: ‘Your young man helped me in the hospital.’ He came back after finishing work. “I was panicking about a major operation and he held my hand when we entered the operating room.”
“This is the guy we’re talking about.”
Tougher’s widow, Maddison, told Langdon she felt “deprived of justice” after the hearing. Prosecutors had agreed to back a mental health verdict if Fineanganofo signed a statement of facts admitting the physical elements of the crime, which was captured on CCTV.
“I feel robbed by my little girl, I’m heartbroken,” she said.
Jeff described Monday’s court session as “heartbreaking” and “really tough.”
‘Only last Tuesday did we know that this is how things were going to proceed,” he said.
‘Before that, we thought the trial would take place over six weeks and that it would be a murder trial.
‘We haven’t really had time to come to terms with that.
“Just another day where you got the Band-Aid ripped off, you know, and then it hurts all over again.”
‘We are damaged, but not broken. It looks like we’re getting the life sentence without Steven, that’s hard to expect, but we’re not broken by any means.
Judge David Davies adjourned the court until Friday to consider whether the mental health defense was upheld.
The family remains hopeful that Fineanganofo will face trial for murder.
“Realistically, we haven’t been robbed of justice yet,” Jeff said.
He also promised that his granddaughter will grow up knowing what a hero her father was and that the family will step up its efforts to improve the safety of frontline workers.
‘All those “Frontline workers, know that what I’m about to undertake, I’m doing it for you, for Steven Tougher, and to make the community feel safe again,” Jeff added.
‘If we can change the laws or introduce laws called Steven’s Law, then my son will be immortal.
‘My son will be with us forever. And anything less would be a waste.
Earlier on Monday, Tougher’s family broke down as the court heard harrowing details that Fineanganofo did not say a word as he approached and began stabbing Tougher in a chilling attack that lasted about four minutes.
Fineanganofo bowed his head and covered his face as details of the murder were read in court.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Tougher was unable to escape because he was trapped between the back of the ambulance and his attacker.
Mr Tougher tried to push Fineanganofo away but couldn’t and said: “What are you doing?” Stop stabbing me mate.’
Maddison (pictured with Tougher) felt “robbed of justice” after hearing that prosecutors had agreed to support a mental health verdict if Fineanganofo signed a statement of facts admitting the physical elements of the crime.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Tougher was unable to escape from Fineanganofo because he was trapped between the back of the ambulance and his attacker (pictured, Tougher’s funeral).
Despite the efforts of several people to help, Fineanganofo continued stabbing Mr Tougher, walking away several times before returning to cause further injuries as the NSW Ambulance worker lay on the ground, the court heard.
At one point, Fineanganofo told Mr Tougher: “Tell me you’re sorry.”
“Sorry mate, whatever you think I’ve done,” replied a seriously injured but still conscious Mr Tougher.
Passerby James Arthur ran in an attempt to help, kicking Fineanganofo and yelling at him to stop.
“They are going to kill him,” Mr Arthur said, the court was told.
In response to appeals from another bystander, Fineanganofo was reported to have said: “I’m going to go to jail anyway, I might as well kill him” or “I have to kill him because I have to go to jail.”
Fineanganofo also pleaded not guilty by reason of mental health to a series of charges related to alleged incidents in nearby suburbs in the days before Tougher’s murder.
Those incidents included intimidating a woman who was pushing a stroller with a five-month-old child, threatening several men at a service station and attacking a man with a knife during a roadside incident, piercing his jacket but not his skin.
Fineanganofo’s lawyer, AJ Karim, said the defense’s position was largely identical to that of the prosecution, including that the physical acts of the crimes had been committed.
The prosecution and defense hired psychiatrists who agreed that Fineanganofo could argue that he knew what he was doing but didn’t know it was wrong.
Forensic psychiatrist Kerri Eagle, hired by the prosecution, determined that Fineanganofo had a mental health problem at the time of the crime and exhibited signs and symptoms of a psychotic illness consistent with a relapse of schizophrenia.
Tougher’s family (pictured together) cried in court as details of the fatal attack were read.
Judge David Davies adjourned the court until Friday to consider whether the mental health defense was justified (pictured Tougher’s wife and parents days after the attack).
Dr Eagle noted witness evidence describing Fineanganofo as “trance-like, quiet, mumbling, smiling and being strange”, the court was told.
McKay said Fineanganofo had previously been accused of assaulting a neighbor in 2021, but instead of being prosecuted, he involuntarily entered treatment for mental health issues.
Hospital records indicated at the time that Fineanganofo had been isolated within his family home for a year with minimal interactions with others, becoming increasingly paranoid of people, including his family.