Brother of Aussie man who murdered popular teacher to be sentenced for selling victim's rings

August 24, 2016

The brother of the man who murdered NSW teacher Stephanie Scott is due to be sentenced for helping to cover up the horrific crime.

Marcus Stanford, 25, sold the popular 26-year-old's engagement and graduation rings after his twin brother Vincent raped and killed her on April 5 last year, a court heard yesterday.

According to crown facts, school cleaner Vincent Stanford attacked Ms Scott at the Leeton High School in the NSW Riverina region on Easter Sunday, less than a week before she was due to be married.

While Ms Scott was ensuring lessons were in place ahead of her honeymoon, Vincent Stanford obtained a "rape kit" from his home.

He dragged the young teacher into a store room, sexually assaulting her and stabbing her in the neck, the facts said.

The killer later drove Ms Scott's car to a national park and placed tree branches over her naked body, pouring petrol onto them and setting her alight.

He exchanged numerous SMS messages with his brother in South Australia, and posted Ms Scott's rings and driver's licence to him.

The rings, sold at an Adelaide jewellery store for $705, had become trophies, Ms Scott's mother Merrilyn told the NSW Supreme Court, which was sitting in Leeton for Marcus Stanford's sentence hearing.

"The vision of them being removed from Stephanie's gentle, loving hands sickens us and fills us with despair," she read from a victim impact statement.

Marcus Stanford has admitted being an accessory after the fact of murder and is due to be sentenced today.

His brother has admitted murdering and raping Ms Scott and faces a sentence hearing in October.

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