In an unusual move, Mr Pallaras had last month asked Justice John Sulan to 're-arraign' Downie before sentencing submissions were heard. His pleas were confirmed at the insistence of Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras, QC. However, he glared at Andrew's sister when she confronted him across the courtroom and asked what right he had to 'take away three angels'.Īt the start of today's hearing, Downie again pleaded guilty to three counts of murder committed on Novem. The court has also heard highly emotional victim impact statements from relatives and friends of the Rowe family.ĭownie, who confessed to the killings, showed little reaction during many of those statements. I regret that you will be waiting in vain.Following the attack, he removed her damaged clothing and re-dressed her in clean clothes.Ĭhantelle's mother, Rose, was stabbed in excess of 50 times, including while she was crawling on her hands and knees. 'Your Honour will be waiting for an explanation that might begin to make sense of these killings. 'He lied to police, he lied to his mother, he lied to his brother, he lied to his psychologist - he has lied to everyone who has spoken to him about this case,' Mr Pallaras said. He identified the 'real killer' as a man dressed in 'dark clothing with a green shopping bag', who he'd claimed to have seen in the area. Mr Pallaras said Downie had repeated those lies to his brother even after pleading guilty. 'I f.ked up, mum, I'm sorry, I should have rung the police.'

she was alive, I put her in bed,' he wrote. He said he had driven by Chantelle's home and noticed blood on the walls, and had then run inside to find Andrew and Rose both dead. In jail, he wrote a letter to his mother claiming he had pleaded guilty only because police would not believe the truth. He said Downie had first told police he barely knew Chantelle Rowe, then claimed they were close friends.ĭownie had blamed cuts on his arm, inflicted during the murders, first on a bike-riding crash and then on a motorcycle accident. Yesterday, he revealed why he had been concerned. Last month, Mr Pallaras made the unusual request that Downie re-enter his guilty pleas after police intercepted conversations with his mother and brother. he was capable of such violence.'īut Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras QC said that Downie was not immature - rather, he was deceitful. 'This immature young man would have no idea. 'He was transformed by some inner passion into a frenzied killer in a way no one - including him - could have foreseen or expected. 'It's clear that he unleashed a ferocious attack that would not seem to be possible from a person of his physical attributes,' Greg Mead, SC, for Downie, said. Yesterday, lawyers struggled to explain how a boy with no criminal history, no substance abuse problems and a normal home life had committed one of the state's most gruesome crimes. Yet, somehow Jason Alexander Downie, weighing just 52kg, managed to sexually assault and murder a teenage girl before overpowering and killing her father and mother. FRIENDS have described him as weak and eager to please, workmates say he was slow and his brother refers to him as 'a shy mummy's boy'.

Jason downie