A man who gunned down his cattle station neighbours, killing three and wounding a fourth, has been sentenced to life in prison with a 40-year non parole period.
Darryl Valroy Young, 63, was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder by a Supreme Court jury in Townsville last week.
Justice Christopher Johnstone handed down three life sentences for the murders today.
He described Young's offending as the worst category and extended the 30-year non-parole period by a further decade.
During a nearly four-week trial, the court heard that Young invited his neighbours to the gate of his Bogie cattle station and accused them of cattle theft, before shooting them with a rifle.
Mervyn Schwarz, 71, was shot in the head, and Maree Schwarz, 59, was shot in the head and back, as was her son, Graham Tighe, 35.
Graham Tighe's brother, Ross Tighe, who is now 36, was shot in the abdomen and ran away from the scene on the remote cattle station near Bowen.
Young argued during his trial that he was never at the shooting and rifle cartridges in his home were not his.
Young mother tells court of her grief
Seven victim impact statements were read to the Supreme Court in Townsville during Young's sentencing hearing today.
Lucy Ahern told the court she was left to parent her two young children alone when her fiancé Graham Tighe was murdered.
"I was trying to survive something I never could have imagined while trying to care for a newborn and a toddler," she said.
Maree's daughter and Graham's sister, Kim Gibson, addressed Young directly.
"The loss of my family has impacted me in ways that I cannot fully explain," she said.
"It makes it even more incomprehensible that they were taken in such a cruel way."
The prosecutor read a statement by the Schwarz and Tighe families which said Ross Tighe remained traumatised.
"Ross carries memories that cannot be erased," the prosecutor read.
'Conniving and manipulative'
Prosecutor Monique Sheppared had asked the court to delay the standard 30-year non-parole period by a further decade, which Young's lawyer argued against.
"It was, in the truest sense, an execution-style killing," the prosecutor said.
"That he tried to establish a false alibi paints him as particularly conniving and manipulative."
Justice Christopher Johnstone said Young had a complete disregard for human life.
"You killed three members of one family and attempted to kill a fourth as if you were killing feral animals," he said.
"They were humans, they were your neighbours."
Justice Johnstone said Young, a convicted cattle thief, made baseless accusations of cattle theft towards his victims.
"Graham sent you messages about stray cattle of yours that he had collected for you," he said.
"There was no evidence, ever, of him stealing your cattle.
"The great irony about your accusation is that you were the only cattle thief there."
He condemned Young for instructing his lawyers to accuse Ross Tighe of being responsible for the murders.
"To give such an instruction to your counsel was particularly heinous," he said.
40-year non-parole period
Justice Johnstone sentenced Young to 16 years in jail for the attempted murder of Ross Tighe.
Young was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Mervyn and Maree Schwarz and Graham Tighe.
Those sentences will be served concurrently.
"Having concluded the three murders you committed fall into the worst category, I will set your parole eligibility date at 40 years from the time you were first taken into custody," Justice Johnstone said.
"You will be 99 years of age, if you are still alive, when you become eligible."
