Woman pleads guilty to burning quadriplegic husband alive
Laura Tunstall
A Sydney woman has pleaded guilty to the
manslaughter of her quadriplegic husband after dousing him in petrol and burning
him alive in 2006.
70-year-old Grace Soon was charged with the murder of her husband, Stephen Chin,
but today the Crown has accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge of
manslaughter.
Soon has admitted to killing her husband in his west Sydney home in 2006.
He was confined to a wheelchair after an accident left him a quadriplegic.
The court’s heard he was doused with petrol and set alight in his bed, dying of
horrific burns.
Police alleged there was a dispute between the couple over a divorce settlement,
but the Crown says it has accepted the guilty plea on the grounds of substantial
impairment.
Three pyschologists agreed Ms Soon was suffering significant abnormalities of the mind during the crime.
Mr Chin's former neighbour Maria Thompson says she has taken some comfort from the guilty plea.
"Jusice has been done and we can start healing ourselves," she said outside court today.
"Because it's been a terrible ordeal in our neighbourhood and many people have suffered."
A sentencing hearing will be held next month.