‘I will never forgive you’: Father delivers emotional message to daughter’s killer

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A man murdered his partner of 14 years out of anger because she was about to leave him, a court has heard, as her father told her killer he will never forgive him.

In May, Shaun Michael King pleaded guilty to murdering 33-year-old Drew Douglas. The mother-of-four was found with stab wounds in her western Sydney home on the morning of August 16, 2023, and died at the scene.

Drew Douglas was stabbed to death in her own home.

On Monday, Crown prosecutor Nicholas Marney told a NSW Supreme Court sentence hearing that the 37-year-old fatally stabbed Douglas with a kitchen knife because he was enraged that she wanted to end their decade-long relationship. The couple had four children together.

“This is man who, as a result of anger and complete disregard for the rights of the victim to make choices about her own life, acted with extreme violence towards her,” he said.

Douglas’ father Greg read a moving victim impact statement in which he directly addressed King, who faced court via audiovisual link from Goulburn Correctional Centre.

He said King’s sentence will never bring back his daughter, whose beautiful smile he will always miss.

“She was not only a daughter, but was a mother, sister, aunty and granddaughter,” he said.

Shaun King, 37, pleaded guilty to Douglas’ murder.

“I’m letting you know that I will never forgive you for what you have done to this family … I will never understand why this has happened.”

Douglas’ sister Jade said she had “lost my best friend”.

“I now look into the sky at night and look at her as the brightest star,” she said.

Public defender Sarah Talbert told the court that at the time of the murder, King suffered from drug-induced psychosis and a raft of mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Douglas has been remembered by her sister as the “brightest star”.

King went to Campbelltown Police Station within an hour of committing the murder, Talbert said, and told officers he’d stopped taking his antidepressant medication, hadn’t slept for days and had experienced delusions about Douglas’ actions.

However, Marney submitted that while drug-induced psychosis exacerbated his fury, his mental health issues did not reduce his moral culpability.

He said King was angry in the lead up to the murder, which was “at the core” of his crime and in line with a long-held personalty trait.

“While we do not say this was planned or premeditated with a great deal of thought, we say it is not in the realms of a spontaneous act,” he said.

The St Marys home where Drew Douglas was stabbed to death.

The court heard King told doctors he had smoked ice, or methamphetamine, for a year before Douglas’ death, although Marney said there were “inconsistencies” in his reported drug use and that his claims of having lifelong experiences of hallucinations were unreliable.

The court heard King phoned Triple Zero the night before Douglas’ death, asking police to attend the St Marys house out of concern for a mark found on a family member’s face.

His treating psychiatrist testified about King’s various mental health issues and said he perceived the emergency call as an attempt to seek help for himself.

Marney asked which part of the call transcript showed him asking for help for himself, to which the psychiatrist said: “I think the fact that he called Triple Zero is a cry for help.”

Emergency services did not attend the house until receiving another Triple Zero call the next morning, when they unsuccessfully tried to save Douglas.

Justice Belinda Rigg will sentence King later this month.

If you or anyone you know needs support, the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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