Lesley Jonathon Cameron

Convictions

 Part-Aboriginal, 19-year-old Lesley Jonathon Cameron callously bludgeoned to death Maureen Horstman and her  daughter Tamara (pictured) in their own home on 29 December 2013 after they disturbed him ransacking their house. Cameron randomly picked out their house in the Perth (WA) suburb of Warwick on his way home from a big night out around 9am.

He planned to use the car he stole from themto drive to Geraldton to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Just a day after brutally killing the women, Cameron turned to social media to gauge his friends' interest in driving the hundreds of kilometres to Geraldton with him.

His Facebook postings revealed no signs that he was in any way affected by his brutal murders.

Cameron pleaded guilty to the murders.       

Lesley Jonathon Cameron, a  man a judge has likened to an animal was jailed on April 14, 2015 for life with a 32-year minimum - one of WA's longest sentences - for "one of the worst types of murder one can imagine".

Cameron, 20, will be 51 before he can be considered for release on parole for murdering Maureen and Tamara Horstman four days after Christmas in 2013.

Nicholas Horstman, Mrs Horstman's son and Tamara's twin brother, said outside court he was happy with the sentence.

"However, no sentence will ever be long enough," he said. "To my family, close friends and the wider community, thank you for your support over the last 16 months. I am truly thankful."

Cameron, who admitted he was a "walking time bomb", murdered the pair in their Warwick home on a Sunday morning after he spotted an open sliding door from a laneway near the house.

He hit both women in the head with a hammer, covered their faces with clothing and a doona cover and raped Tamara while she was either unconscious or dead on the floor.

Tamara Horstman - raped and murdered by Cameron

The frenzied attack ended with Cameron stabbing his victims with a pair of scissors and stealing Tamara's car, which was found parked near the home of the then 19-year-old's pregnant girlfriend.

Supreme Court Justice Eric Heenan said the women were peacefully going about their lives at home when suddenly confronted by a hammer-wielding man.

Maureen Horstman and her daughter Tamara were murdered in December 2013.

"It is the kind of offence which every member of the population dreads because it shows the insecurity and vulnerability of everyone in the community to random and serious crime," the judge said. "Cameron goes back and violates the body of the first victim in what can only be described as bestial conduct."

After he was arrested, Cameron told police he was a heavy cannabis user and had used crystal methamphetamine and speed in the lead-up to the attack.

He watched Mrs Horstman walk outside and put a bag of rubbish on her veranda before he armed himself with the hammer and walked into the house.

The 19-year-old walked through the dining room and into abedroom, where his firstvictim, Tamara Horstman was standing naked after a shower.

He hit Tamara twice in the head with a hammer,causing her to fall to the floor, then went in search of the second woman he had seen outside the house minutes earlier.

Cameron found Mrs  Horstman in the main bedroom, hit her with the hammer and covered her face with a pair of shorts as she lay on the floor.

He then returned to Tamara’s lifeless body, put a doona cover over her face, put on  a condom and raped her not knowing whether she was dead or alive.

The degrading act, described by Supreme Court Justice Eric Heenan as atrocious and bestial, was  not the end of Cameron’s killing spree.

He used a pair of scissors to stab both victims in the chest before picking up Tamara’s keys, tossing the condom in the front yard and leaving the house in her blue Mazda.

When police searched the house they found the bloodstained murder weapon on the couch and the used condom outside.

Cameron’s DNA was found on the items and soon after police discovered Tamara’s car parked near the home of the killer’s pregnant girlfriend in Mirrabooka.

After initially denying any involvement in the murders, he then admitted hitting the women with the hammer and sexually assaulting Tamara.

Defence lawyer Dominic Brunello painted a picture of a young manwho had experienced profound deprivationas a child growing up in an Aboriginal community.

“It seems he suppressed his emotion, he became explosive in his anger,” he said.

“He became a walking time bomb.”

The court was told Cameron had an extensive criminal record and had only recently been released from prison for assault offences.

Facebook posts by Cameron after the attack showed he planned to use Tamara’s car to drive to Geraldton to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

He gauged his friends interest in driving to Geraldton on  social media, then later complained that the “Pol Pol” were there when he returned to pick up the car.

Justice Heenan found there was no motive for the murders and said he did not know why Cameron went  after Mrs Horstman after bludgeoning her daughter.

He said  Cameron appeared to have a complete disregard for social norms and an absence of respect for the law and orders of the court.

“ A person like this seems to be a great danger to the community.” Justice Heenan said.

Prosecutor James Mactaggart said Cameron intended to burgle the house but ended up going on a "killing spree" after he laid eyes on Tamara.

"It does show an element of sadism," Mr Mactaggart said.

"It is violence for violence sake. These ladies must have been aware, in their final moments, that they were dying a very violent death."

Defence lawyer Dominic Brunello told the court Cameron had a disadvantaged upbringing and no "accessible memory" of parts of the slaying.