20 years' jail for school murder and police car theft 

By STATHI PAXINOS 
Wednesday 5 July 2000 

A heroin addict was sentenced to 20 years' jail yesterday 
for the murder of a Richmond teacher's aide. 

Justice Bernard Teague, in sentencing Shane Andrew

Seater, 21, to a minimum non-parole period of 15 years, 
said he had an appalling criminal record and had shown 
"a readiness to use extreme violence to achieve what you 
figure is best for you, regardless of who might be hurt". 

Seater, formerly of Kew, was found guilty by a Supreme 
Court jury last month of the murder of  Peter Orr. He 
pleaded guilty to 28 other counts, including burglary, 
theft and car stealing. 

The then 19-year-old had been on a crime rampage to 
obtain money for drugs when he entered Richmond's 
Lynall Hall Community School. 

Seater took a confiscated knife and a wallet from a 
briefcase belonging to principal Keith Muller, who 
then chased Seater through the school corridors. 

Mr. On tried to block Seater's flight but was stabbed to the 
left temple. The knife was plunged eight centimeters into 
his head and he died five days later. 

Yesterday Mr. Orr's nephew, David Webb, called on the 
community to see the case as more than another sad story 
that would be forgotten after a few days. 

"If you want to write an article, why don't you write an 
article on how this has affected the community? It starts 
off with a $20 hit of heroin and ... it snowballed into a 
young man losing his life (while) teaching and another 
young man wrecking his life," he said. 

Justice Teague said Seater, who showed little emotion 
yesterday, had expressed no remorse about three police 
officers injured in attempting to arrest him on two
occasions or to the victims of his other crimes. 

The court was told Seater escaped from police custody 
by driving off in a police car while still wearing handcuffs. 

The judge said Mr. On, 40, had paid the "ultimate price" 
for getting in Seater's way. Justice Teague said Seater 
appeared remorseful only after encountering grieving 
relatives during the trial, whose lives had been devastated 
by Seater's "selfish need for money for drugs". 

Outside court, Mr. Orr's mother, June, spoke of a "different 
kind of person" who was dedicated to his work and family. 

"It's been a traumatic experience for all of us. You read
about these things in the paper, you feel sorry, then you 
forget. But having been through it, nobody can realize just 
what you have to go through," Ms Orr said. 


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