John Bourke's sister struggles to comprehend that one day her brother was alive and well, and then suddenly he was locked in his own body.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One unprovoked and unprompted interaction with Troy Maskell inside a service station resulted in his horrid death.
The Strathmerton postmaster lived alone in the town, about 50km west of Yarrawonga, and would often pop down to his local servo for a chat with the attendant for some evening company.
But in the early hours of August 8, 2021 Maskell struck his head with a one-litre bottle of drink and as he struggled to not lose his balance he was kicked to the hard tiled floor.
Mr Bourke had smiled at Maskell's girlfriend and her daughter as they entered the service station that night, leading to the woman wrongly accusing him of being a paedophile.
Maskell picked up a bottle of sports drink and hurled it at the 73-year-old's head and then kicked him in the hip, causing him to fall to the floor.
He then stomped on Mr Bourke's glasses.
Maskell went to trial arguing he wasn't responsible for causing Mr Bourke's death.
The postmaster died after 11 weeks of medical interventions in hospital, ultimately succumbing to blood clots that developed on his brain during treatment.
Jurors decided Maskell was to blame, finding him guilty of manslaughter on the basis of an unlawful and dangerous act.
"Mr Maskell wishes he could take all this back ... he can't take it back and here we are," his lawyer Julia Munster conceded on Wednesday in the Supreme Court.
Suzanne Heppell said her brother had become the local postmaster in Strathmerton after the death of their father from a stroke that happened during a mail run.
"John worshipped our dad, always striving to be just like dad as he followed in dad's footsteps," she said.
She described feeling increasingly alone as days went by in hospital and was in disbelief as to the horrid death that followed.
Ms Munster said the interaction between Maskell and Mr Bourke was short and there was no direct evidence her client had intended to hurt Mr Bourke with his "split second" decision.
She described his history of depression and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his experiences on Black Saturday.
But Justice Lex Lasry expressed concern that Maskell lacked the will to get help, rather than turning to alcohol.
"Your client would be very well served by getting good psychological assistance to deal with these issues, otherwise further criminality like this is going to be devastating for the rest of his life," he said.
He will sentence Maskell on December 6.
