Two men receive life sentences for the murder of Caboolture grandmother

In a Brisbane Supreme Court hearing, Clinton Oliver and Braydon Franklin were each sentenced to life imprisonment with a 21-year non-parole period for the 2022 murder of Caboolture resident Donna Howe. The jury found the men, who were staying in Howe’s home as roommates, to have restrained her by taping her mouth shut and striking her, likely with a hammer, before wrapping her body in a rug and transporting it to Beerburrum State Forest where they poured petrol on it and set it ablaze.

The court also imposed five-year terms on each for interfering with a corpse. Justice Martin Burns described their conduct as lacking any human decency and extended the minimum parole term beyond the standard 20 years. With time already served, Oliver will become eligible for parole in June 2043 and Franklin in November 2044. Victim impact statements highlighted the profound grief of Howe’s daughter Tiana Dempster and mother Margaret Ellem.