South Taranaki duo receive life sentences for ‘savage, senseless’ slaying of farmworker

Two men who killed their workmate with unrestrained and savage brutality over a modest debt have been jailed for a crime the Crown argued met the definition of depravity.

William Mark Candy, 39, and Ethan Webster, 19, appeared in the dock together on Monday to hear their fate, after previously pleading guilty to the July 2022 murder of Jacob Ramsay.

The father-of-three died of multiple blunt force trauma after being brutally beaten over a prolonged period of time, before being chained to the back of a car and dragged along a gravel road and then dumped in a farm rubbish pit.

The 33-year-old’s body was discovered by chance two days later on July 31 at the Upper Kina Rd farm in Oaonui, South Taranaki.

The High Court at New Plymouth heard how there had been no attempt to conceal the crime scene by Candy or Webster and that others, including their employer, were aware Ramsay had been left “half-dead” in the pit, but no one went to check on him.

Following the pair’s sentencing, before Justice Peter Churchman, Candy was jailed for life and will have to spend the next 17 years behind bars before being considered for parole.

Webster also received a life term, with a minimum, non-parole period of 12 years imposed.

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Justice Churchman said the offending made for “harrowing reading” and involved “savage violence, callousness and cruel disregard for the victim”.

“It can also be described as senseless.”

Prior to his death, Ramsay worked for about a month on the same Oaonui farm as Candy and Webster, and it was alleged the victim owed them money.

On the evening of July 29, Candy tracked Ramsay to the Oakura cemetery, where he attacked him with fierce blows to the face and body.

Despite pleas from a witness to stop, the 39-year-old continued to relentlessly beat Ramsay, causing serious injuries.

At one point, Ramsay tried to escape, but he was forced by Candy into the back of a car. The defendant then drove the 38km distance south to Oaonui, where he met up with Webster.

By this stage Ramsay was unconscious, but this in no way deterred the level of violence meted out by the two men.

Webster knelt on Ramsay’s chest and punched him multiple times in the face.

Candy then found a short length of chain and clipped it around the victim’s right ankle, before attaching the other end to the back of the car.

The victim was then dragged about 900 metres down a gravel track and across a muddy paddock, before he was dumped in a nearby rubbish pit.

Dealing with the hurt and pain caused by Ramsay’s death had been extremely difficult for his family, the court heard.

“I felt like my heart had been smashed into a lot of pieces,” Ramsay’s wife Sarah told the court.

Statements from their two oldest children were also read out in court. Their 11-year-old spoke of how sad he was and how much he missed Ramsay and his “forever love”.

He said he felt like he had to “step up and be the man of the house” now.

The couple’s six-year-old said how he struggled with the prospect of never seeing his dad again.

“I miss everything that we used to do together.”

Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke argued for a minimum period of non-parole of between 17 and 19 years for Candy, and submitted that the use of a vehicle elevated the murder to an offence of depravity “at the highest end”.

The vulnerability of the victim, the vigilante nature of the crime and that Candy had committed the murder after first kidnapping Ramsay were also relevant, Clarke said.

In terms of Webster, she argued his violent actions were serious and premeditated, but his age and previous good character were mitigating factors.

Clarke sought a final minimum period of imprisonment for the teen of 13 to 15 years.

Paul Keegan, who represented Candy, accepted it was a crime of a “high, protracted level of brutality and also callousness”.

He said Candy had an “unfathomable” level of rage over a “modest” debt owed to him but had struggled to comprehend his actions ever since, which reflected his shame over what he did.

Keegan said his client had little recall of what he had done due to his level of alcohol intoxication at the time. Cannabis was also found in his system.

Webster’s lawyer Nathan Bourke argued against a life imprisonment term being imposed on his client, who left school at 13, was illiterate and vulnerable in terms of his youth.

He said the teen was not aware of what had happened prior, or what Candy planned to do with the car and chain.

Bourke said Webster’s violence was “spontaneous” and not planned, and that he was “egged on” by Candy at the time.

Candy’s sentencing also covered charges of kidnapping and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The pair’s alleged accomplice, Jodie Shannon Hughes, has pleaded not guilty to four charges and will face a High Court trial in August.