A murderer has been jailed for life after setting his wife and stepdaughter on fire and then blaming his dying partner.
Roland James Griffiths, 41, was sentenced on Thursday morning at Melbourne’s Supreme Court almost four years after he poured petrol and set Kylie Sheahan, 35, alight.
Ms Sheahan, a mother of six, died and her 16-year-old daughter suffered burns to more than 50 per cent of her body as she tired to save her mum’s life.
Griffiths had made threats to burn down the Albanvale home, in Melbourne’s northwest, in the months leading up to the deadly March 2022 blaze.
Seven children were home when a heavily intoxicated Griffiths poured a jerry can of petrol onto Ms Sheahan and then held a lighter against her.
Two of his stepdaughters begged him not to light the petrol and instead of listening he taunted them, the court was told.
“I promise bub, I swear … I won’t do it,” Griffiths replied, before placing the lighter near the ground and setting Ms Sheahan alight.
Flames spread to his 16-year-old stepdaughter and to Griffiths, who extinguished the fire on himself before helping his wife.
Ms Sheahan was dragged to the bathroom, given a cold shower and then Griffiths took her outside and sprayed his wife with a hose.
The children who were trapped inside the house, including a 10-month-old and a two-year-old, were rescued by their older siblings before the entire home caught fire.
Emergency services heard Griffiths blaming Ms Sheahan for the fire and telling her: “Why didn’t you stop me, you should’ve stopped me and I should be in jail”.
The woman, who was in the early stages of dying, lied to police for him, saying Griffiths tried to light himself on fire and when she tried to stop him she caught fire too.
Ms Sheahan was taken to hospital with burns to 91 per cent of her body, but she died on March 18, 2022, four days after the blaze.
The day Griffiths was supposed to face trial, in February 2025, he indicated he wanted to plead guilty to murder and recklessly causing injury to his stepchild.
Justice John Champion labelled the murder as brutal example of the offence and pointed out his taunting of his victims who must have been “terrified”.
He noted Griffiths’ victim blaming of Ms Sheahan after the offending was “particularly repugnant”.
“I make it clear that Ms Sheahan was completely blameless, innocent and did not deserve the treatment you meted out to her at all,” the judge said.
“Your attack on Ms Sheahan was grievously inappropriate.”
Justice Champion jailed Griffiths for life, with 32 years to serve before he is eligible for parole.
Griffiths has spent more than 1300 days in custody as he has been in jail since his arrest in March 2022.
