Convicted killer Justin Fuller sent threatening poem to ex from behind bars

Fuller, now 36, was in 2020 found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter after a jury found he was either provoked or acting in self-defence when he stabbed Guy McCulloch five times during a chaotic confrontation in Beach Street on December 19, 2018.

He was jailed for a maximum of nine years, with a non-parole period of six years and three months, but that non-parole period was reduced by seven months after an appeal and he will be eligible for release in August, 2024. The fatal confrontation with Mr McCulloch was the culmination of years of a bitter family feud between Fuller and his half-sister, Kristy Duley. And Fuller's ex-partner was with him and in the car that Mr McCulloch rammed in Beach Street before Fuller left on foot, only to return with two machetes and stab Mr McCulloch to death. Locked up after his arrest, Fuller tried to continue the relationship with his former partner, calling her and sending her flowers and cards from jail.

But in May, 2021, after finding out she had moved on and was with someone else, Fuller sent his ex-partner a letter.

Inside was an ominous and threatening poem that read, in part: "From the bottom of my heart, I meant it when I said until death do us part" and "Will you ever feel safe in the dark, knowing that you broke my heart? Could I make killing you a form of art?" as well as "When I get out, you will go mad with doubt. Will the next time you're looking me in the eyes be your time to die?"

He ended the poem with "tick tock", which was the ominous phrase his half-sister had made that kicked off the fatal confrontation in Beach Street in 2018.

Fuller's ex "felt terrified" when she read the poem, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Fuller pleaded guilty to sending a document threatening death and will be sentenced in January.

IN THE NEWS