The night before her country wedding, school teacher Stephanie Scott should have been dizzy with excitement, and getting ready with friends and family by her side.
Instead she was all alone – dead, naked and burnt – under a charred tree in the middle of a national park, 70 kilometres from the home she shared with her fiance in the town of Leeton in the Riverina.
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Stanford gets life for Scott murder
School cleaner Vincent Stanford is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of school teacher Stephanie Scott.
On Thursday the school cleaner who pleaded guilty to the rape and murder the bride-to-be was sentenced to a life behind bars in the NSW Supreme Court at Griffith.
And while Vincent Stanford, 25, spends the first day of his life sentence alone in his cell, Ms Scott's family will celebrate what would have been her 28th birthday with a cup of tea and a few mint slice biscuits
In handing down the sentence Justice Robert Allan Hulme said "the agreed facts … make it plain that this case is one of great heinousness".
"The attack itself involved extreme brutality by a man of substantial size upon a defenceless young woman of modest size who had no means of escape or raising the alarm.
"I am satisfied that this is a case of murder that clearly falls within the worst category."
It was common knowledge around Leeton High School that Ms Scott was due to marry Aaron Leeson-Woolley.
The staff had even held a party for her on Thursday, April 2, 2015 – three days before she was murdered.
Two months before the murder, Stanford typed eight chilling search terms into his computer including, "bride rape", "bride kidnapping" and "bride raped with wedding dress".
The court also heard how Stanford had stalked three females before the murder and had covertly followed and photographed a 12-year-old girl, taking 1805 pictures of her and writing notes about her movements in an exercise book.
He told police during his confession that had he abducted the girl, he probably would have killed her.
"There can be no question that the offender is a very disturbed individual," Justice Hulme said.
On April 5 last year, Easter Sunday, Ms Scott decided she would go to the school to prepare lessons for a relief teacher who was to fill in for her during her two-week honeymoon.
Stanford was not rostered to work that day but he was at the school and saw Ms Scott working in the staffroom.
According to an agreed set of facts, Stanford then went home to collect a "rape kit" complete with a knife and handcuffs.
He told police that, when he saw Ms Scott, he felt, "Just that I had to kill her. I wasn't angry or anything. Basically emotionless. Just that I had to kill her."
When he returned to the school he waited for Ms Scott to leave and, when she bumped into him in the corridor, she said, "'I'm going home now. Have a happy Easter."
As she went to look for her keys in her handbag, Stanford grabbed her from behind and dragged her into an old dark room before throwing her on the ground.
In his interview with police, Stanford said, "I think I went a little nuts" and confessed to beating her 30 to 40 times before stabbing her in the neck with a knife.
"The offender's demeanour in the extract from the recordings that was played in Court clearly demonstrated a lack of emotion. There was not the slightest hint of remorse," Justice Hulme said.
After the murder, Stanford returned home to have a cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee before returning to the dark room where he had left the body.
"The offender's conniving, callous and self-interested conduct continued in the immediate aftermath with his disposal of incriminating items, one of the most despicable acts being his despatch of Ms Scott's engagement and graduation rings and her driver's licence to his brother Marcus in South Australia," Justice Hulme said.
Stanford later used a high pressure cleaner from the school to wash away Ms Scott's blood before placing her body in the boot of her red Mazda 3 sedan, which he then drove to his house.
In the early hours of Monday, April 6, Stanford drove the body to Cocoparra National Park, near Griffith.
He poured 20 litres of petrol over her body and set her alight.
Stanford also returned to the national park where Ms Scott's body was and took photos of her burnt remains.
Police found the body in burnt scrub under a tree, a few metres from the side of a red dirt road on Friday, April 10 – the night before she was due to marry.
The next day, her friends and family gathered for a picnic memorial and all wore yellow – Ms Scott's favourite colour.
Stanford's barrister Janet Manuell SC had argued her client should not be given a life sentence because he suffered from autism spectrum disorder, his young age and the fact that he had pleaded guilty.
But Justice Hulme was not convinced Stanford's moral culpability should be reduced on account of his autism spectrum disorder.
"I am satisfied beyond any doubt that the offender's culpability is so extreme that the community interest in retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence can be met with only one response," he said.
Outside court on Thursday Merrilyn Scott spoke of the difficult and "harrowing" 18 months her family had endured.
"So much has been taken away from us. Stephanie has had everything taken away from her," Mrs Scott said.
"Losing her has shattered so many lives and we are all struggling with the consequences."
Mrs Scott thanked the police and spoke of their professionalism and care.
"Stephanie embodies all that is good about humankind – she made an incredible difference to the lives of so many people.
"Stephanie will want us to resume our lives, we need to be kind to ourselves and let the music and fun back in."