<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An ill-fated conversation was all it took for a farmhand to decide to kill a neighbouring farmer who was bludgeoned to death in his sleep, a judge has found. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/farmhand-found-guilty-of-bludgeoning-neighbour-to-death/99e2a1ba-3ec8-4a84-8094-6d613c8e6d26" rel="" target="" title="Clinton Beau Wrigley, 40, was found guilty of murdering 58-year-old Joel Carter"><span>Clinton Beau Wrigley, 40, was found guilty of murdering 58-year-old Joel Carter</span></a><span> at a rural property in January 2023 after a trial in the NSW Supreme Court. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He attacked the sleeping farmer with a rubber mallet and beat him until his skull was partially caved in at his property near Nyngan in central NSW. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/porepunkah-victoria-police-shooting-live-updates-latest-news-headlines-august-28/f7468db3-e8b6-45b9-92b0-16de670d2c26" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Wear him down': Weather a major factor in gunman search</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Carter's body was found lying on a metal-framed bed in his lounge room in an advanced state of decomposition two days later. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wrigley stole the dead man's tools - to sell later - and his Toyota Hilux, which he set on fire in the bush along with his bloodied clothes and the murder weapon. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He decided to murder Carter when he overheard the farmer discussing a plan to exclude his recently bereaved sister-in-law from the farm business, Justice Mark Ierace said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/farmhand-murder-clinton-beau-wrigley-nyngan-nsw-news/3ed99315-88b0-412c-92f0-accd9eb67879" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As a man who had lost his partner to sudden death not long ago, the conversation resonated with Wrigley who became motivated by feelings of anger and disgust towards Carter. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a covertly recorded call, the farmhand told an acquaintance that the "main thing that done" Carter was his poor treatment of his sister-in-law. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wrigley formed a "bizarrely moralistic explanation for his extreme violence" which rendered his offences more serious, Justice Ierace found. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court was told he bragged to multiple people about beating Carter to death, telling one: "I didn't lose no sleep over (Carter). He deserved that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He expressed satisfaction for having killed the deceased who, in his mind, morally deserved to die," Justice Ierace said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He found Wrigley's mental state in justifying such extreme violence was facilitated by his impaired executive functioning, childhood exposure to violence, drug use, and the loss of his wife.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The factors reduced his moral culpability but his prospects of rehabilitation were guarded, especially given he was serving five community sentences at the time. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Justice Ierace sentenced Wrigley to 23 years and nine months behind bars for the murder, and four years and eight months for the thefts and arson offences. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He will be eligible for parole in 2041.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After learning his sentence, the farmhand swore loudly. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"F—ing 23 years," Wrigley exclaimed after the court adjourned. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/doctor-charged-with-sexual-assault-perth-western-australia/db05512b-83b6-4554-9d95-1bc64119f277" target="" title="GP charged with assaulting female patients"><strong><span>GP charged with assaulting female patients</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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