A former school cleaner who shot dead two brothers outside his Newcastle home will stay in jail until at least 2035 after the High Court dismissed his appeal.
Judges unanimously ruled there was no miscarriage of justice for Christopher Angelo Filippou after the judge at his trial rejected his defence of provocation.
Filippou, 57, admitted shooting and killing Luke Willis, 28, and Sam Willis, 24, outside his home in June 2010, following a long-running neighbourhood dispute.
The dispute started about a year earlier when the brothers hosted a noisy backyard party which continued well into the next morning.
Filippou, whose home shared a back fence, joined other neighbours in abusing the party-goers.
This escalated, with exchanges of insults and threats.
The fallout peaked on the evening of June 27, 2010 when Filippou confronted the brothers outside his home. They had come to remonstrate about a broken window. Filippou's son later admitted he was responsible for that.
Filippou shot each brother once in the chest with a revolver, then fired a third shot into Sam's neck as he lay on the ground. He returned to his house then emerged to place the gun in Sam's hand.
Filippou surrendered to police the next morning, claiming they had produced the gun which he took away then shot them. He later told police: "I'm f***ing proud of what I done. F***ing proud of it."
The judge at his trial dismissed his claim of provocation, saying his expression of pride was not the attitude of a man who had returned to rationality after a temporary loss of control.
Just who brought the gun was never properly established and the judge passed sentence on the basis that the gun's origin was unknown.
High Court judges found errors allegedly made by the trial judge either did not occur or were of no consequence, so there was no miscarriage of justice.
Filippou will serve his 31 year sentence and with a 25 year non-parole period, he will be eligible for release in 2035.
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