Manslaughter plea in Rockefeller case

MELISSA IARIA AND DANIEL FOGARTY
July 13, 2010 - 7:49PM

A Melbourne multimillionaire was bashed, dismembered and burnt after failing to bring his wife to a swinger's house for sex, court documents reveal.

Property investor Herman Rockefeller was fatally assaulted after he went to meet Mario Schembri and Bernadette Denny at Denny's Hadfield home on January 21.

Mr Rockefeller, a successful businessman and father of two with a secret life, made contact with the pair through an advertisement he placed in a swingers magazine.

The 52-year-old had met them once in December - and had sex with Denny while Schembri watched.

But Schembri told police their second meeting went awry after Rockefeller failed to bring his wife.

"All he said was `Can I have a quickie?' ... so we sat down and had a drink, we had a talk, and I said to him: `Where's the wife?'" Schembri told police in his interview.

"She's sick, she's this, she's that. I said: `Come on'." I said: `You've used my wife and now you want ... A bit selfish."

In the interview transcript tendered to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Schembri said Mr Rockefeller tried to reason with them, but he and Denny were hurt.

"He was, `La, la, la, I've got the better of you guys. F*** you, Jack, I'm right.' That's how I felt".

"Then it flared up."

Schembri told police he had punched Mr Rockefeller and he fell and hit his head.

"I just f***ed up. Stupid. Have you ever done mistakes in your life?" he said.

"There's no way I can say 100 Hail Marys and it'll go away."

After the fatal fight, the couple placed Mr Rockefeller in the boot of Schembri's car and drove to central Victoria to dump his body.

But they returned home when they couldn't find a spot and stored him in Denny's garage for two days before Schembri used a chainsaw he bought from Bunnings to dismember Mr Rockefeller's clothed body.

Schembri then burned Mr Rockefeller's remains in a drum at the rear of a junk-strewn property in View Street, Glenroy.

Denny told police that when she responded to Mr Rockefeller's advertisement, he said his name was Andy Kingston.

She said when she first contacted Mr Rockefeller about swinging she told him "we'd never done it before".

"He was saying how they - they swing, him and his partner, swing.

"That she likes to do it ... she's more into the threesome, but she's willing to try the foursome. And just spoke about sick stuff, you know, that they were into.

"He sounded like he'd done it all before.

"He wanted to have a three-way with me and my partner and him, and then as I said, and then do the swap around."

Mr Rockefeller's remains were found in the Glenroy backyard eight days after he was reported missing.

He had visited the pair on the day he was due home from a business trip.

Police allege he lied to his wife that his plane was delayed by an hour so he would have time to go to Denny's Hadfield home and have sex with her and Schembri.

The accused were arrested on January 28 and admitted killing Mr Rockefeller and disposing of his body.

Both pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. The crown withdrew a count of murder against each of them.

They were remanded in custody to face the Victorian Supreme Court on July 27.

From: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/manslaughter-plea-in-rockefeller-case-20100713-108xd.html