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Keith Owen Goodbun Keith Goodbun jailed for 31 years over wife’s ‘execution’ A Judge has described the murder of a NSW woman as “an execution” while sentencing the victim’s husband to 31 years in prison. A man who murdered his estranged wife by shooting her four times in the head and torso has been sentenced to at least 31 years and one month behind bars for the "deeply shocking" crime. Keith Owen Goodbun, 62, had an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order in place against him when he arrived at his wife's home at Horseshoe Bend, near Maitland in the Hunter region, just before 3am on October 7, 2016. He crept up to the house, intending to let himself in with a key, and was armed with a knife and an unregistered bolt action .22-calibre rifle. When he tried to enter the home through a sliding door, Molly Goodbun, 59 – who had woken to use the bathroom – stood in his way and pushed him back. "I'll tell you what I'm here for you f---ing bitch," Goodbun told her. "This is the end of your life." Goodbun had become increasingly agitated at the breakdown of the 40-year marriage and was angered at the prospect his wife would get money from the sale of the family home. He was living in a caravan on a property near Taree and told a neighbour that any magistrate who gave his wife "anything of mine" was "only going to give her a death sentence". After a struggle with his wife on the verandah of the home, Goodbun shot her once in the chest, then shot her three times in the head – including twice at close range – as she lay injured on the ground. The couple's adult daughter, Bionca Simmons, ran to get help and grappled with her father for the gun but was hit in the head with the butt of the rifle. She tried in vain to give her mother first aid, however any of the four shots would have been fatal on their own. On Wednesday, Justice Helen Wilson sentenced Goodbun to a maximum of 41 years and six months behind bars and a minimum of 31 years and one month for the "cold" and "premeditated" killing, which was at the very top of the range of seriousness. The Supreme Court sentence also encompasses guilty pleas to the assault of his daughter, breaching the Apprehended Domestic Violence Order, and using the unregistered gun. "The murder of Molly Goodbun was a chilling and deeply shocking crime. It may, without hyperbole, be described as an execution," Justice Wilson said. "It was a crime which the offender resolved in advance to commit. "It was clearly his intention that nothing would stop him from murdering his wife." Justice Wilson said Goodbun had talked for some months about shooting his wife before he defiled what should have been the safety of her home, with the couple's daughter "very bravely" trying to stop him.She did not accept Goodbun showed remorse for the murder of his wife, a "vibrant woman with great capacity for joy" whose too-early and violent death had a great impact on those around her. "This was no spontaneous and fleeting outburst of murderous rage," Justice Wilson said. "It was a carefully planned and callously executed crime, motivated by a deep and long-held anger at Mrs Goodbun because she had sought to exercise her legitimate property rights, and because she had been instrumental in the issue of an interim ADVO and criminal charges against the offender." Justice Wilson said domestic violence is a profoundly serious problem, with one woman each week killed by a current or former partner. "Too often, these are crimes committed by men against women who have chosen to live a separate life – a decision the male partner is not prepared to accept," she said. Speaking outside court, Mrs Goodbun's cousin Rosienne Johnson thanked the police and detectives who had worked on the case. She said the daughters of Mrs Goodbun – who was like a sister to her – were finding the situation "very tough" and called for education on domestic violence. "It needs to start somewhere young," Mrs Johnson said. "The message has come out too from the court, from the judge, that it's just not acceptable and too much of this is happening in Australia now." Goodbun was given a non-parole period of 31 years and one month and will be eligible for release in November 2047, at the age of 91. On 22 Nov 2018, Keith Owen Goodbun pleaded guilty to shooting his wife, Molly Goodbun, aged 59, to death in front of their daughter at the family’s home at Horseshoe Bend in Maitland. Below is an extract from the Newcastle Herald article Keith Owen Goodbun pleads guilty to murdering estranged wife Molly Goodbun at Horseshoe Bend in 2016 on 7 Oct 2016:
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