The grieving husband of a mum-of-two stabbed to death during a home invasion has recalled the haunting moment his life changed forever.
Emma Lovell, 41, and her spouse Lee, had a relaxed Boxing Day in 2022. They spent the day baking treats and playing games with their two young daughters, Scarlett and Kassie. Later on, the North Lakes couple had some cocktails and called it an early night.
Several hours later, she was fatally stabbed in the heart after two teens, then both 17, broke into her home north of Brisbane at about 11.30pm.
Her partner of 22 years was also stabbed in front of their horrified daughters.
The teen, now 19, who killed Ms Lovell had been previously convicted of 84 offences but had not spent a day in custody until that night.
Recently, Mr. Lovell recounted a harrowing experience of being assaulted in his own home. He shared that he didn’t even realize the severity of his wife’s injuries until one of his daughters noticed she was bleeding.
Lee Lovell (right) has opened up about life without his beloved wife Emma (left), who was stabbed to death on Boxing Day 2022
‘By the time I looked back at Emma, she was, like, just, like, passed out on the floor,’ he told A Current Affair on Monday night.
‘And when Kassie came back, she was like, ‘Mum’s bleeding’, I’m like, ‘what do you mean?’
‘She’s bleeding and looked at her left side and I know it was just, like, soaked with blood, you know, and then that, like, panic sets in.’
As he was rushed to hospital, other paramedics performed open heart surgery on his wife on their front lawn.
‘To be at the hospital and be told that she hadn’t survived was a major shock,’ he recalled.
‘I was like, ‘I want to see her’ and sort of jumped off the bed and trying to walk through to see her without falling over really.’
Mr Lovell described seeing his wife’s killer in court as bizarre.
‘I hadn’t really seen him before and you just expect him to look like a monster, but he’s not, he’s an average young adult,’ he said.
‘For a while, I couldn’t really take my eyes off him.’
Scarlett and Kassie (pictured with their parents)
Police officers are pictured at the scene of the crime on December 27, 2022, the day after Emma was killed
The teen was sentenced to 14 years behind bars with a non-parole period of almost 10 years in the Supreme Court in Brisbane last week.
The aggressor received one of the lengthiest prison sentences ever given to a minor offender. However, due to his age of under 18 at the time of the crime, there’s a possibility he might walk free before his 30th birthday.
Had Ms Lovell been killed just four months later, her murderer would be facing life behind bars.
Mr Lovell was disappointed when his wife’s killer was sentenced to 14 years.
‘Then they start talking about only having to do 70 per cent … well, it’s not really 14 then is it?’ he said.
‘He isn’t 13 or 14 – he is 17 and four months away from being 18.
‘Another four months, and we wouldn’t even be talking about heinous crime or trying to push that over the line, we would have been talking straight up life sentence.’
The court heard that the teenager was a repeat burglar and car thief whose life of crimes started when he was 15.
Within two years, his lengthy rap sheet had grown to 84 offences.
Sixteen of the prior offences involved break-ins or attempted break-ins.
‘It’s pretty shocking to be honest, nothing was done sooner or picked up sooner,’ Mr Lovell said.
‘Time after time, crime after crime and all because we’ve got weak bail laws.
‘No one seems to want to lock anyone up anymore and innocent people are the ones to pick up the pieces.’
Lee Lovell feels that he and his daughters have been given a life sentence after his wife’s killer was jailed for a maximum 14 years
Emma and Lee were together for 22 years before her life was tragically cut short
Emma’s eldest daughter Scarlett is now 16, just a year younger than the two boys who broke into their home that night.
‘I guess it’s just the way everyone’s raised differently,’ she told Allison Langdon.
‘You know, my parents raised me to be nice, polite and don’t really go around breaking the rules.
‘Of course, every teenager’s going want to rebel at some kind of stage and go out drinking with their friends and, you know, but I know I didn’t expect it to go as far as people actually entering people’s houses.’
Mr Lovell is now on a mission to campaign for tougher sentences, more police patrols at night and better support for families impacted by crime.
Lee Lovell and his daughters Kassie (left) and Scarlett (right) were in court for last week’s sentencing
