SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Vic sleeping pill wife-murderer jailed

A Victorian father of two has been jailed for 18 years with a minimum of 14 years for stabbing his wife to death.

Brian Robert Browning
A Victorian man who claimed sleeping pills caused him to stab his wife has been jailed for 18 years. (AAP)

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

A Victorian father of two was upset his wife of 21 years wanted to divorce him, so he stabbed her with a kitchen knife until she was dead.

Catherine Elizabeth Browning died in her daughter's bed in Skye where she had gone to sleep after attending a Christmas party in 2013.

Brian Robert Browning tapped her on the shoulder to wake her early on the morning of December 19 then stabbed her 15 times with a kitchen knife.

When the couple's teenage daughter Amy came running at the sound of her mother's screams, she saw her father holding a knife.

He uttered the word "bitch" before throwing the knife away.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

After his arrest, he pleaded not guilty to murder.

Browning, a strongly-built man who used to work as a baker, claimed during his trial his actions were a result of a drug-induced psychosis caused by taking too many sleeping pills.

Defence barrister George Georgiou SC said he had been taking Restavit, which contains doxylamine a drug he said was known to have "adverse effects".

Mr Georgiou said Browning was depressed at the prospect of his divorce and had started taking Restavit because he couldn't sleep.

Dr Lester Walton told the trial he had never seen a doxylamine-induced psychosis.

The jury rejected Browning's defence and on Friday he was jailed for 18 years with a non-parole period of 14 years.

Having already served 660 days, he could be eligible for release in about 12 years.

Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, in sentencing, said fatal domestic violence was "all to familiar".

Justice Lasry said Browning took his wife's life in circumstances where her conduct could not have contributed to what occurred.

"She was asleep in her bed," Justice Lasry said.

"You woke her to kill her."

Outside the court, Catherine Browning's mother Anne Spark said the sentence could never be enough.

"It's just (that) we've never seen any remorse," Mrs Spark told reporters on Friday.

She said her daughter was beautiful and had a good sense of humour.

"At least he was found guilty of murder. I was thankful for that because I felt she got justice then," she said.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world