The family of a man who was stabbed to death during a night out at a Brisbane club expressed their anger at the victim’s convicted killer, but say they are satisfied with the verdict.
A Supreme Court jury found Callum Joseph Keys, 21, guilty of murdering Phillip Stephen Halipilias, 20, on the dance floor of the Alexandra Hills Hotel in Redland Bay in May 2009. Keys had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter at the start of the trial last week.
While not denying that Keys had stabbed Mr Halipilias, the prosecution had to prove that he had intentionally killed Mr Halipilias.
The court heard there had been an altercation between friends of Keys and Mr Halipilias in the week before the murder.
Expecting another fight to break out, Keys had brought a hunting knife to the hotel the next week, which he had used a fake ID to get in.
The court heard Keys stabbed Mr Halipilias to the right side of his chest, rupturing a major artery in the victim’s heart.
Keys then ran to the toilets, hid the knife in a cistern, before removing his shirt and returning to the dance floor and continued dancing while Mr Halipilias bled to death on the dance floor.
The court also heard Keys later told police in an interview he had only intended to cut his victim’s arm.
Acting Justice Kerry O’Brien said he had no choice but to sentence Keys to a mandatory life sentence and declare he had spent 1064 days of the sentence on remand.