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William Ton

Trio jailed over gruesome fatal assault and mutilation

Kasha Mciver helped kill her housemate in a violent assault after taking the blame for a drug bust. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

A trio involved in killing and mutilating a man after a drug bust have been jailed.

Dylan Wyatt, 38, Kasha McIver, 39, and Brendan Dalton, 54, were sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court over their roles in the death of McIver's housemate Matthew Warrington following the drug bust which she took the fall for.

Wyatt and McIver had sneaked into a Chadstone home in Melbourne's southeast on July 16, 2023, and killed Mr Warrington in a violent assault. 

In the days before the manslaughter, police had raided the property in connection to an unrelated aggravated burglary and discovered 2.5kg of 1,4-Butanediol.

Homicide scene (file)
After Matthew Warrington was killed his body was put in a wheelie bin and dumped on a train line. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

McIver falsely told police she was responsible for the drugs, even though they actually belonged to Mr Warrington, and she was charged with drug trafficking.

The trio then developed a plan to attack Mr Warrington because he let McIver take the blame.

Following the killing, Wyatt moved Mr Warrington's body into a wheelie bin and dumped the remains at the nearby Glen Waverley train line on the morning of July 18.

The killers then set the Chadstone property on fire and fled the scene.

Photos of Mr Warrington's hog-tied and mutilated body were taken and shared by Wyatt.

When police found the body along the train tracks on July 21, he had a missing finger, tape around his neck and cuts behind his knees that suggested they had tried to dismember him.

An autopsy could not determine his exact cause of death although he may have been strangled. 

"None of you intended that Mr Warrington would die, but you all agreed that he would be violently assaulted," Justice James Gorton said in his sentencing on Friday.

"He was violently assaulted and he did die. Each of you is responsible for that death."

Homicide scene (file)
The killers set the Chadstone property on fire and fled the scene. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

McIver and Wyatt both pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while Dalton was found guilty of the offence at trial. 

Justice Gorton said Mr Warrington's killing was a "serious example of manslaughter" because it was deliberate, prolonged, inflicted on a vulnerable victim and there were deliberate attempts to conceal the death, including the mistreatment and disposal of his body.

Wyatt was handed a jail term of 12 years with a non-parole period of five years for inflicting the fatal injuries, and attempting to dismember and dispose of the body.

Despite not arriving until after Mr Warrington was dead and not participating in dismembering or disposing of his body, Justice Gorton said Dalton encouraged the violence and provided logistical support, handing him a 10-year jail term, with a minimum of six years.

Justice Gorton, in sentencing McIver to seven years with a non-parole period of five years, said she did not inflict the injuries that killed Mr Warrington and participated in the body disposal out of fear of Wyatt.

The court was told Wyatt had been physically abusive to McIver in the lead-up to the manslaughter and the days afterwards.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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