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The “brutal” rampage of a man who called himself the “Hand of Death” has been revealed after he was jailed for almost four decades for crimes a court found showed a “complete lack of humanity”.
Kevin James Pettiford was sentenced in the New South Wales Supreme Court earlier this week after being found guilty of murder and attempted murder.
The 38-year-old slumped in his chair and kept his head down as he learned his fate for beating one man to death and attempting to slit the throat of another.
He was wearing a green prison tracksuit and kept a blank expression as he twisted his beard between his fingers as Judge Hament Dhanji recounted his horrific crimes.
‘Brave’ start
Despite the callousness of Pettiford’s crimes, the court heard that he had previously been on the right side of the law when he rescued a woman who was being attacked in 2006.
At the time he had been “praised by the police and the victim for his bravery”, Judge Dhanji told the court.
However, just six years later, Pettiford went to the hospital and told them he had homicidal impulses.
Kevin Pettiford has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for murder and attempted murder
He told medical staff that he had seen a man and a woman walking down the street and that he had felt a violent urge to kill the man and rape the woman.
It was “the first manifestation of a long-held idea,” Judge Dhanji said at sentencing.
“(Pettiford) said he had had feelings and thoughts of harming others from an early age,” he said.
The court heard Pettiford say his brutal crimes could have been prevented if hospital staff had acted on his homicidal impulses.
Judge Dhanji opined that Pettiford’s attempt to seek medical help demonstrated that violent impulses “were incompatible with his view of himself.”
A psychiatrist who did not appear to have accessed his full medical history diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder with narcissistic tendencies, the court heard.
“Brutal and senseless” murder
In 2019, Pettiford was sleeping rough near Jack Evans Harbor in Tweed Heads when he spotted a makeshift camp belonging to Andrew Whyte Murray.
The court heard he decided that if he returned later that night and saw the occupant he would kill him.
Around midnight, Pettiford drove by the camp again and saw the 56-year-old man asleep. The court heard he sat on a nearby bench and “hesitated” over whether to carry out his plan.
Then she took off her thongs so as not to make any noise and selected a rock on the nearby boardwalk.
The man, then 34 years old, stood next to Murray and repeatedly hit his head with three stones from the sea wall, beating him to death.
He stopped when he saw people approaching and threw the stones into the water before fleeing the camp on foot.
The court heard Pettiford disposed of his blood-stained clothes and his shop and left the Tweed Heads area.
He was arrested on a bus to Sydney on an outstanding interstate warrant and later confessed that he had “bashed (Mr Murray) in the head”.
grieving family
In a victim impact statement submitted to the court, Murray’s daughter said her family’s life had been “irrevocably” devastated by Pettiford’s “poor choice.”
He remembered his father as a man with “a wicked sense of humor” who was “too smart for his own good.”
“Nothing prepares you for the death of a parent,” he said in a statement to the court.
‘My father is no longer here and he should have had the right to be. He deserved security, happiness and life, not this.
Andrew Murray was murdered at Jack Evans Harbor in Tweed Heads in 2019
Murray’s daughter said her family continued to suffer “deep pain” after his untimely death and the “overwhelming, incredible, infuriating and devastating” ordeal that followed.
He called for Pettiford to be “held accountable” for the “disgusting and pathetic act” of murdering his father.
‘Scary’ murder attempt
Five weeks after the murder, Pettiford attempted to end another man’s life while he was being held on remand at Shortland Correctional Center in Cessnock.
The court heard he approached fellow inmate Nathan Mellows in the prison yard and slit his throat with a homemade razor made from wire and razor blades.
He cut a 7cm laceration into the man’s neck that required 12 surgical staples.
The court heard Pettiford had been planning the savage attack for days but delayed it once because Star Wars was on television and a second time because he wanted to watch cricket.
Judge Dhanji said this was a “callous” and “completely unprovoked” attack on someone unknown to Pettiford who had a “right to be safe.”
“There’s no doubt that (the assault) must have been terrifying,” he said.
Pettiford had selected his target after hearing the victim tell a “sad story” about having “nowhere to go,” he said.
‘Hand of death’
In an hour-long police interview, the 38-year-old told police he killed by a “code” and preyed on men he thought no one would miss.
Judge Dhanji renounced Mr Pettiford’s “brutal and senseless murder” of Mr Murray, which he said demonstrated a “complete lack of humanity”.
“The offender acted on a twisted and absolutely abhorrent view that Mr Murray’s life was somehow less valuable as a result of his circumstances,” he said.
Pettiford told police he killed by “code” and preyed on “less alive” men no one cared about.
“I love to kill,” he confessed during his interview.
The 38-year-old called himself “the Hand of Death” and told officers it was a “calculated and controlled evil.”
The 38-year-old slumped in his chair and kept his head down as he learned his fate for beating one man to death and attempting to slit the throat of another in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
The court heard the killer felt “relieved” and “elated” after murdering Mr Murray but later wished he had not done it because it was “a waste of life”.
Judge Dhanji noted that he had admitted a “long-standing desire to kill” and had shown a “complete disregard for human life” with his violent actions.
“He showed nothing that could be described as remorse,” he said.
“If anything, he seemed to enjoy the process of being interviewed.”
Mental health advocacy
During his trial, Pettiford argued that he was mentally disabled at the time of the cruel acts.
However, a jury rejected his claims and found that he was criminally responsible for the murder of Mr Murray and the attempted murder of Mr Mellows.
“Based on the jury’s verdicts, it is clear that the offender knew his act was wrong,” Judge Dhanji said.
“He could reason with at least a moderate degree of common sense and composure.”
However, the Supreme Court judge was convinced that Pettiford suffered and continues to suffer from bipolar disorder which had “materially contributed to the commission of both offences”.
He noted that the killer has not committed any other serious crimes since receiving mood-stabilizing treatment.
Decades behind bars
After being convicted of murder and attempted murder, Pettiford was sentenced to 39 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 26 years.
Judge Dhanji rejected the Crown prosecutor’s arguments that he should receive a life sentence, highlighting his mental health problems and “reserved prospects for rehabilitation”.
Once the sentence is served, the murderer will be eligible for parole in November 2045.
He will serve his sentence in November 2058, when he will be 59 years old.
