A semi-professional basketball player has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his partner, whose body was discovered in a house fire.
Chudier Thowath Pal was a talented basketball player who had trained with the Perth Wildcats and played in the US for the University of North Carolina.
He had pleaded not guilty in the WA Supreme Court to murdering Stephanie Lee Robinson in her Doubleview home and setting the house on fire on January 2, 2021.
While Pal admitted killing Ms Robinson and setting fire to their home, he denied culpability saying he was of unsound mind at the time.
The court heard Pal bludgeoned the mother of five, crushing her skull.
The court heard Pal had a long history of drug use and an undiagnosed schizophrenia disorder when he killed Ms Robinson.
He had been using meth and cannabis for two weeks prior to Ms Robinson’s death and they had both used drugs on the evening of her murder.
During sentencing, Justice Joseph McGrath said Pal voluntarily became intoxicated, which had likely exacerbated his mental illness.
He said Pal’s drug use was not a primary factor in the offending behaviour, but could have triggered or worsened a psychotic episode.
“You have not proven that you were in such a state of mental impairment that you would not do these acts without intoxication,” he said.
Justice McGrath said there was a risk Pal would reoffend if he consumed illicit drugs in the future and that it would be a challenge for him to abstain given his history of drug use.
He also took into account Pal’s undiagnosed mental illness at the time of Ms Robinson’s death and accepted Pal was suffering from psychosis.
He said Pal’s drug use and mental illness were intermingled, and both partially causative to the crimes.
Pal must serve at least 15 years imprisonment before he is eligible for parole.
Outside court, Ms Robinson’s mother Nyomie said she was not happy with the sentence, but glad it was over.
“(Stephanie) was a mother of five, she was my daughter and … a sister,” she said.