A Melbourne Mother and Daughter Tried to Kill Abusive Father with Meatballs and Brake Fluid

It was, very nearly, the perfect culinary crime: poisoning somebody's meatballs. But it didn't work. As the Age reports, a mother and daughter stand accused of attempting to murder the family patriarch, after the man was allegedly abusive for some 25 years.

The accused are Shannon Debono, 19, and her mum Joanne, 53, both from Gowanbrae in Melbourne's west. Police heard that Joanne suffered "continued physical, emotional, sexual abuse and controlling and threatening behaviour" while Shannon had to seek mental health treatment after witnessing the abuses against her mother. Police say Shannon also recorded several threats her father made to her mother on her phone. Joanne allegedly turned to murder "so that [she and her daughter] could live like normal people."

Shannon and Joanne's original plan was allegedly to beat Stephen with a shovel, but when the time came, they couldn't do it. They came up with a different plan: first, they made sure Stephen was unconscious, allegedly sprinkling 75 crushed sleeping tablets into his meal.

Then, police allege Joanne made a DIY poison by combining motor oil, weedkiller, and brake fluid. She injected the mixture into Stephen's arm with a syringe while he was still knocked out, but he woke up in the process.

Shannon and Joanne fled, hiding at a relative's house before heading to the local police station to confess. Officers then sent an ambulance to their family home. Stephen was still alive, but needed emergency medical attention.

At the hospital his doctor told police Stephen threatened revenge: "when he gets out of hospital he will kill everyone who did this to him." The doctor felt Stephen was serious about his promise to kill his wife and daughter.

The women were charged with attempted murder, but will contest the charges in an April 2017 trail. Currently, they're both out on bail.