A man who shot and killed his elderly mother an hour after gunning down his brother in another state has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Paul Cohrs shot dead his brother in New South Wales and then his 81-year-old mother in Victoria in October 2018 following a years-long family dispute.
Today he was sentenced to a minimum sentence of 23 years in the Supreme Court of Victoria for the murder of his mother Bette Schulz Cohrs.
Cohrs’ act was premeditated and planned, motivated by anger and grievance, Judge Lesley Taylor said in her sentencing.
“You were targeting an elderly lady who had a right to feel safe in her own home,” Judge Taylor said today.
‘He was afraid they would shoot him.
“In his final moments, he would have realized that his fears came true.”
The relationship between Cohrs and his brother Raymond became strained in 2012 because they had conflicting ideas about properties related to the family business.
Paul Cohrs was sentenced to 30 years in prison with a non-parole period of 23 years for fatally shooting his brother and 81-year-old mother in October 2018.
Raymond, who had the support of his mother, decided to value the properties, including one on the New South Wales border where Cohrs and his wife lived.
After showing up at the property’s door with a real estate agent for an appraisal, the brothers exchanged heated words.
The three men drove to a shearing station where Cohrs shot his brother several times in the head and chest before handcuffing the officer in the shed.
He then traveled 120 kilometers to his mother’s home in Red Cliffs, northwest Victoria, and shot her in the chest an hour later.
Paul Cohrs shot his brother in New South Wales before driving 120 kilometers to his mother’s home in Red Cliffs, Victoria, and shooting him an hour later.
Cohrs left, leaving his four-year-old grandson to find Cohrs’ body lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood.
He drove back to Lake Victoria Station, freed the real estate agent and tried to commit suicide.
Cohrs claimed he was not guilty of his mother’s murder because he was mentally disabled, but that was rejected by a Supreme Court jury that found him guilty at his trial in May.
He was not tried for his brother’s death in New South Wales as it occurred in a different jurisdiction.
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