A Wollongong pair who forged a will to fraudulently inherit a $6.7 million estate will have to wait another six weeks to learn their fate.
Matthew Barnes, 40, and Magnolia Rose Farmer, 41, faced Wollongong District Court for a sentencing hearing today after pleading guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
The charges related to a fraud plot against Marino Mikleus's estate.
Barnes and Farmer were a couple at the time of the offending and share three children.
Mr Mikleus died at age 67 in 2023.
The court heard Barnes broke into one of Mr Mikleus's homes in East Corrimal, north of Wollongong, after his death and stole identification documents.
He used those to create a fraudulent will, listing himself as Mr Mikleus's spouse.
Barnes commenced probate proceedings with a lawyer and successfully lodged an application, with the Supreme Court granting probate in January 2024.
The court heard Mr Mikleus's friends raised their concerns with police after it was granted.
Farmer assisted in "witnessing" the will and provided a false story to the lawyer about the supposed relationship.
The court was told she received $156,800 in cash from the estate, taking her children on a cruise holiday and purchasing a Toyota RAV4, jewellery and other luxury items.
The NSW Crime Commission is endeavouring to recover all of the proceeds of the deceased's estate, but the court heard the "lion's share" of the money has not been repaid.
A five-minute voice message from Farmer to Barnes was played in court in which she laughed while retelling what she told the solicitor who lodged the probate application.
In the message, she said she told the lawyer there were no pictures of Barnes and Mr Mikleus because Mr Mikleus "was of a different era where you don't come out and say you're gay".
"We've just got to get it all in our head," she said of the story.
The court heard Farmer demanded more money from Barnes in text messages.
'Not a black-and-white matter'
Prosecutor Tanya Collison told the court Mr Mikleus was the obvious victim of fraud, but it also impacted the community and his remaining family members.
Ms Collison said Barnes was the ringleader behind the ongoing fraud scheme, but that it would not have succeeded without Farmer's active role as a willing participant.
"It's a very serious example of this type of offending," Ms Collison said.
"There were multiple flow-on effects … it's not a black-and-white matter."
Giving evidence on the witness stand on Friday, Farmer told the court her relationship with Barnes was marred by domestic violence and coercive control.
"I'm deeply regretful for everything I've done. It's not who I am," she said.
"He told me about the will and his idea and what he was planning to do … I told him it was a bad idea because he's got children and that he might end up in jail.
"He said he wanted to be a family again and I believed him."
The matter was heard at Wollongong District Court. (ABC Illawarra: Kelly Fuller)
The court heard Barnes was motivated by greed, although his daily methamphetamine use and gambling problems were also cited as contributing factors.
Defence barrister Stephen Dayeian suggested an intensive corrections order, a type of community-based jail sentence, might be available for Barnes.
Ms Collison rejected this.
"That is just so well outside the range of options," she told the court.
Barnes remains behind bars, while Farmer is on bail.
Judge Imad Abdul-Karim will hand down his sentence in December.