Related Post
Kobie Parfitt (pictured), 43, is believed to have been murdered on April 28 – the last day police believe she was last seen alive
A woman charged with murdering mother of four Kobie Parfitt had walked free from jail days earlier after coping a sweet sentence over a brutal bashing.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal mum of two Shannon Jeffrey, 32, was sentenced to four months in jail on December 17, 2019 after breaching a two-year community corrections order she had received in March that year.
Police believe Ms Parfitt was murdered on April 28 and her body stuffed down a mine shaft.
Brendan James Prestage, 31, of Wendouree, has also been charged over the alleged murder.
County Court Judge Michael Bourke had cut Jeffrey loose despite her role in a brutal, ice-fueled attack on a man.
Jeffrey should have been a little over a year into her two-year community corrections order, which she was gifted to her by Judge Bourke, at the time of the alleged murder.
The experienced judge initially released Jeffrey on the community order despite her pleading guilty to having her boyfriend bash a man she had lured to her home.
Mum of two Shannon Jeffrey had only just walked free from jail when she allegedly killed Ms Parfitt.
Shannon Jeffrey is a notorious ice junkie that has been offending for more than a decade.
The 42-year-old victim had collapsed in the street after he was repeatedly bashed on December 21, 2015.
In releasing Jeffery in March, Judge Bourke said he was prepared to ‘give Jeffrey a chance’ because she had family support, a desire to raise her two children and the fact she had an awful relationship with her violent co-offender.
The body of Ms Parfitt was found last month, weeks after police scoured bushland along the Pittong-Snake Valley Road in Snake Valley.
Judge Bourke knew well Jeffrey had an extensive criminal history dating back to 2005 which in 2016 saw her jailed after she was caught travelling about with a sawed-off shotgun in her car.
Prosecutors knew too, but made no argument against jailing the violent junkie.
When given the chance in December, Judge Bourke cancelled the community order altogether and ordered she serve the four-month stint.
During her sentence in 2016, the court was told Jeffrey had a violent criminal history that included aggravated burglaries.
Jeffrey’s lawyer Magistrate Gregory Robinson said his client had dabbled with drugs since the age of 15, but had supposedly detoxed and sought help from services while on remand.
Police received a tip-off following a public appeal for information, which led them to believe she was last seen alive at a property on Hickman Street (pictured) in Ballarat, Victoria
The Missing Persons Squad detectives, with the assistance of police from the Search and Rescue Squad, had only began searching for Ms Parfitt after receiving a tip-off that she may have been murdered.
On December 14, Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper, of the Missing Persons Squad, said officers believed they were closing in on those responsible for Ms Parfitt’s death.
‘We have returned to the area a number of times as part of this investigation and will continue to return each time we receive new information,’ he said.
‘There are definitely people in the Ballarat community who know what happened to Kobie.
‘We know she was last seen alive at a property in Hickman Street on 28 April however we are still yet to locate her body,’ Inspector Stamper said at the time.
Last month, the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard police alleged Ms Parfitt was murdered that same day.
The eight month search for Ms Parfitt had only become a homicide investigation in November after police received information indicating she was murdered.
Neither her phone or bank accounts had been accessed since she went missing.
Ms Parfitt, who was also a grandmother-of three, had become estranged from her family.
She was living in central Ballarat and had previously worked in disability support and aged care.
Her body was located last week in a mine shaft in the area where police had searched.
Detectives questioned a 31-year-old woman the following day in relation to the case, but no charges were laid and she was released.
Ms Parfitt (pictured) was a mother-of-four and a grandmother-of three but had become estranged from her family
Police searched an area of bushland along the Pittong-Snake Valley Road in Snake Valley (pictured) for the body of Kobie Parfitt before finding it down a mineshaft
In November, Ms Parfitt’s mother Kathy Snowball made an impassioned plea for information from the public as to the whereabouts of her daughter, which led to a tip-off to police.
‘We all need to know where she is and we need to bring her home,’ she said at the time.
‘So that we can tell her kids move forward, put her to rest, and so we can just remember the beautiful person that she was.’
It is understood Ms Parfitt’s friends and family did not suspect foul play for some months due to her transient lifestyle.
She had last been seen by her mother in March, but was known to frequently bump into relatives in the centre of Ballarat.
‘Now, they all they want is closure,’ Ms Snowball said at the time.
Jeffrey refused to appear before the court for her brief filing hearing on Monday. .
She made no application for bail and was remanded in custody.
