Lola Joyce Bennett (80) was murdered due to smoke inhalation and burns she suffered during a fire deliberately lit by Roger Kingsley Dean on the 18 November 2011 at the Quakers Hill Nursing Home, Quakers Hill, New South Wales.
Lola died at the Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards New South Wales on the 18th November 2011.
Ms Bennett was born in 1925 and was married for 31 years, raising two children. She was widowed in 1975. She grew up on a farm and during the Second World War was a member of the Land Army. Her marriage was a hardworking but happy one, with two children being born to her. The whole family participated in working the banana plantation they owned. Life for her was not all work – she loved dancing and played the organ. She was a woman whom her family remembers as strong, industrious but also generous-hearted and fun. She too is much missed.
Her daughter Lorraine Osland said she had a great sense of humour and she thinks about her every day.
Each relative of each murder victim expressed a profound sense of loss, not just for the victim’s life, but for the lost connections with family, the lost opportunities for extended family gatherings and the telling and retelling of family stories that give everyone a sense of the past, a sense of place and a sense of self.
The pain and terror experienced by all the victims must have been horrific. For those who were unable to move independently and who faced the prospect of being burned alive, or suffocated by smoke, a worse fate is difficult to imagine.
The family members of the victims who lingered on in hospital, only to die days or weeks later, endured the distress of watching their loved ones succumb to burns and respiratory failure.
All the offences arose out of a fire, deliberately lit by the Dean, at the Quakers Hill Nursing Home in the early hours of 18 November 2011. Dean deliberately lit fires in two areas within the home. There were approximately 81 aged care residents residing at the home.
He was in charge of the night shift as the registered nurse on the nights of 16 to 17 November and 17 to 18 November 2011.
On 16 November 2011, the offender started his shift at 10:30pm. Between that time and the end of his shift at 7 am on 17 November, the offender stole 237 Endone tablets and one Kapanol tablet from the treatment room. Both were S8 drugs that were commonly used as pain medication.
The offender locked himself inside the treatment room for substantial periods of time in order to remove the drugs from their blister packs. The offender attempted to mask this activity by placing sticky tape around the blister packs on the trolley.
Dead pleaded guilty on 27 May 2013 to eleven counts of murder, by way of reckless indifference to human life, and eight counts of recklessly cause grievous bodily harm.
From the coroners conclusion:
Family members have spoken for many of them. All were good decent people who had lived for others and who deserved so much better than this in the last stages of their lives. At least it can be said that they are now at peace. They remain dear and much loved by their families and friends. Perhaps those of us who participated in this inquest but who did not know them can gain some insight into the sorts of people they were from dignity and compassion their families and friends brought to the courtroom.
I hope, and I am sure that all those who have been involved in the case hope, that this tragedy will result in lessons being learned and implemented that will save other vulnerable people from harm and death in future years.
Court reports:
R v Dean [2013] NSWSC 1027, NSW Supreme Court, Latham J, 1 August 2013
Counting Dead Women & Children | Australia 