Killer sentenced to life in prison for murdering Oliver Todd in 2019

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A sad chapter in Murray Bridge’s history has drawn to a close.

In Adelaide’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, David James Russell was sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 murder of Oliver Todd.

Around 6am on Remembrance Day of that year, Justice Kevin Nicholson said, Russell and another man, Ned Timothy Hutchinson, had arrived at Mr Todd’s house on Tennyson Terrace.

Russell launched a “frenetic and extremely violent” attack on Mr Todd, beating him with one or more weapons.

Russell then ordered Hutchinson to help him hide the body, which they loaded into Hutchinson’s red ute and dumped in scrubland at Jervois.

Russell and two other men had been using amphetamines at Mr Todd’s house the night before the murder.

Mr Todd and one of the other men had begun arguing, and Mr Todd had threatened to call the police.

Russell later told police that “something (had) snapped” inside him on the morning of the murder, but was never able to explain why he did what he did.

Murderer was heavy drug user, violent and volatile

Justice Nicholson described Russell’s life story as “one of the saddest and most troubling I have come across”.

He had been beaten by his older brothers and suffered other forms of abuse throughout his childhood; had spent most of his adult life either homeless or in prison, where he had suffered a serious brain injury after being assaulted; and had abused alcohol, cannabis and methamphetamines for many years.

But none of that was an excuse for murder.

Still, Russell had led police to Mr Todd’s body after his arrest; and had pleaded guilty, avoiding the need for a trial, Justice Nicholson said.

For that reason, his non-parole period would be set at 19 years – he could apply to be released in 2038.

Accomplice receives suspended sentence

Justice Nicholson allowed Hutchinson to walk free from the courtroom on a good behaviour bond, despite having impeded the investigation into Mr Todd’s death.

Hutchinson was not an angry or violent person, the judge said; had good prospects for rehabilitation; and had already served almost three years in prison since being arrested.

Justice Nicholson had previously found both Hutchinson and another man, Terrence Bradley John Wilson, not guilty of either murder or manslaughter in connection with the case.

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