The grieving husband of a mother-of-two who was stabbed to death during a home invasion has recalled the haunting moment his life changed forever.
Emma Lovell, 41, and her husband Lee spent Boxing Day 2022 baking treats and playing with their young daughters Scarlett and Kassie before the North Lakes couple enjoyed cocktails and an early night.
Several hours later, she was fatally stabbed in the heart after two teenagers, then both 17, broke into her home north of Brisbane about 11:30 p.m.
His 22-year-old partner was also stabbed in front of their horrified daughters.
The teenager, now 19, who killed Lovell had previously been convicted of 84 offences, but had not spent a day in custody until that night.
Lovell spoke openly about being attacked in his own home and how he didn’t realize his wife was seriously injured until his daughter saw she was bleeding.
Lee Lovell (right) has spoken about life without his beloved wife Emma (left), who was stabbed to death on Boxing Day 2022.
“When I looked back at Emma, she was kind of passed out on the floor,” he said. A current issue on Monday night.
‘And when Kassie came back, she said, ‘Mom’s bleeding,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean?’
“She’s bleeding and I looked at her left side and I know it was kind of soaked in blood, you know, and then, panic sets in.”
When he was rushed to the hospital, other paramedics performed open-heart surgery on his wife in the front yard.
“Being in the hospital and being told I hadn’t survived was a huge shock,” he recalled.
“I was like, ‘I want to see it,’ and I jumped out of bed and tried to walk to see it without actually falling.”
Lovell described it as strange to see his wife’s killer in court.
“I haven’t really seen him before and you expect him to look like a monster, but he’s not, he’s an average young adult,” he said.
“For a while, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.”
Scarlett and Kassie (pictured with their parents)
Police officers appear at the crime scene on December 27, 2022, the day after Emma’s death.
The teenager was sentenced to 14 years behind bars with a non-parole period of almost 10 years in the Brisbane Supreme Court last week.
It was one of the longest prison sentences imposed on a juvenile offender, but since he had not yet turned 18, he could be a free man before he turned 30.
If Lovell had been murdered just four months later, her killer would face a life behind bars.
Lovell was disappointed when his wife’s killer was sentenced to 14 years.
“Then they start talking about how they only have to do 70 percent…well, it’s not really 14, is it?” he said.
“He is not 13 or 14 years old, he is 17 and four months away from turning 18.
“Another four months, and we wouldn’t even be talking about heinous crimes or trying to take that over the line, we would have been talking straight about life in prison.”
The court heard the teenager was a repeat thief and car thief whose life of crime began when he was 15.
Within two years, his extensive record had increased to 84 crimes.
Sixteen of the previous crimes involved robberies or attempted robberies.
“To be honest, it’s pretty shocking that nothing was done sooner or picked up sooner,” Lovell said.
‘Over and over again, crime after crime and all because we have weak bail laws.
“It seems like no one wants to lock anyone up anymore and innocent people are the ones who have to pick up the pieces.”
Lee Lovell feels he and his daughters have been sentenced to life in prison after his wife’s killer was jailed for up to 14 years.
Emma and Lee were together for 22 years before their lives ended tragically.
Scarlett, Emma’s eldest daughter, is now 16 years old, just a year younger than the two boys who broke into her house that night.
“I guess it’s because everyone is raised differently,” he told Allison Langdon.
‘You know, my parents raised me to be kind, polite and not really go around breaking the rules.
“Of course, every teenager will want to rebel at some point and go out drinking with their friends and, you know, but I know I didn’t expect it to go as far as people breaking into other people’s houses.”
Lovell is now on a mission to campaign for tougher sentences, more nighttime police patrols and better support for families affected by crime.
Lee Lovell and her daughters Kassie (left) and Scarlett (right) were in court for last week’s sentencing.