Man who stabbed friend during a meth-fuelled bender accused of ‘faking it’ after plunging 20cm blade 15 times into his chest
Samuel Albert Campbell murdered Nicholas Robertson in 2021 Campbell initially did not believe he killed Mr Robertson He will be eligible for parole in August 2041
A man couldn’t believe he killed his friend by repeatedly stabbing him in the chest with a 20cm knife.
‘He’s faking it,’ said Samuel Albert Campbell, who slapped Nicholas Robertson, stabbing the 38-year-old 15 times in southern NSW.
Sentencing Campbell, now 23, to a minimum of 20 years and six months in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Peter Girling said the killing was ‘without provocation and without reason’.
Campbell had been taking the drug ice for several days in February 2021 after showing up at a friend’s house.
He asked Jane Cowider if he could stay the night of 10 February and he could stay there until he attacked Mr Robertson on 15 February.
Campbell had previously left the knife he would use to attack the pair at home and had to ask Mr Kawidar’s mother for it back.
While in Kuma, he focused on getting more ice by injecting himself with needles obtained from a local hospital.
‘Off to buy meth’, she told her host after emptying her bank account when a Centrelink payment hit.
Samuel Albert Campbell stabbed Nicholas Robertson 15 times, killing him in February 2021 (pictured, murder weapon)
Mr Kawidar was unhappy about her injecting him at home and asked him to take her down to the creek, where he traveled to Campbell on numerous occasions over the next two days.
On February 14, Campbell took a larger-than-usual dose.
He told a group of people that Mr Robertson was at Mr Kawidar’s house before he arrived.
Mr. Kawidar considered Mr. Robertson a father figure, while Campbell regarded him as a friend, according to Campbell’s sentencing agreement.
Campbell asked Mr Kawidar to drive him home to Adminaby at 2am on February 15 and they got into the car with Mr Robertson.
‘Why are you taking me here, are you going to kill me?’ Campbell asked during the trip that he requested to take them.
‘Why would we want to hurt you?’, said the man who had let Campbell stay at his house for the previous four days.
‘I just don’t believe you. Are you taking me to the bush to kill me?,’ Campbell said.
Mr Kaweeder then hit the brakes and stopped, alarmed by Campbell’s erratic behaviour.
Campbell then stabbed Mr Kawidar in the left arm. The knife went through completely.
Mr Robertson intervened and was then stabbed repeatedly in the chest.
After she fled the car, Campbell continued to stab her.
Mr Robertson was pronounced dead at Cooma Hospital at around 4.15am, having died from stab wounds, including three that penetrated his lungs and liver.
Mr Kaweeder underwent surgery for two blunt stab wounds with significant muscle damage.
He was only 19 and would have to deal with the trauma for the rest of his life, the judge said.
Mr Robertson was pronounced dead at Cooma Hospital (above) at around 4.15pm after Campbell acted erratically during a drive.
Police arrested Campbell in Bushland at the scene of the stabbing.
‘It didn’t happen,’ he told police back at the Cooma police station.
‘I didn’t kill Nicholas or hurt Jane.’
He told the police that he had consumed ice the previous day.
Campbell eventually admitted what he had done, pleading guilty to murder and wounding with intent to murder.
He has been in custody since February 15, 2021, and his sentence for wounding Mr Kawidar was for that period.
He will begin a 24-year sentence with a non-parole period of 18 years for Mr Robertson’s murder next month.
Campbell is eligible for parole in August 2041.
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