Sky Daly-Holt was tenderly holding her newborn daughter, just six weeks old, when she received the devastating news that shattered her world.
Her sister, Autumn Baker, had been brutally murdered by a man she had once considered a friend.
“A time that should have been filled with happiness became a nightmare,” Sky recounted.
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In August 2023, Baker was visiting Mark Ludbrook at his residence in Melbourne’s south-west when he launched a fatal knife attack.
She had attempted to prevent him from self-harming, but he turned the blade on her, inflicting multiple stab wounds to her chest, arms, and eyes.
Ludbrook claimed his mind was altered by PCE, an illicit drug he had taken earlier that morning to manage pain from his neurological condition.
But a Victorian Supreme Court jury found the 54-year-old was conscious of his actions and therefore guilty of murder.
Sky was among Baker's friends and family who confronted Ludbrook as he faced a pre-sentence hearing on Tuesday.
She described the violence and sorrow he had brought into her life, saying Ludbrook had destroyed her family.
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"You have stolen my first and forever friend, my childhood witness, a person who knew me better than anyone else," Sky said.
"Every day I tell Autumn I love her and I miss her. No one will love me like Autumn did."
Ludbrook had also robbed Baker's two young children of a loving, caring and empathetic mother, Sky said.
"I despise you," she told Ludbrook, who watched on a video link from prison.
"I wish Autumn had never met you. I wish she had let you kill yourself that day. Your life is worthless."
Baker's mother, Annie Daly-Holt, said she was afraid to live each day without her daughter and it was only her grandchildren who kept her going.
"My life has been about ensuring my daughter is not forgotten," she said.
"She was exuding light everywhere she went and left beauty in her wake. There was nothing she couldn't do."
Baker's father, Lance Daly-Holt, said there was no adequate sentence for Ludbrook.
"I miss my daughter every day," he said.
"This man's actions have taken everything from my family."
On the morning of the murder, Ludbrook's carer saw him walking around naked despite him normally only managing three steps at a time.
He also thanked different colours and told his carer how he needed to sleep with her to save the animals.
Crown prosecutor Jim Shaw said the verdict made it clear Ludbrook was acting consciously and deliberately at the time of the murder, regardless of the drugs he had taken.
Lubdrook's moral culpability was therefore high and he still had not taken any responsibility for his actions, Shaw argued.
Ludbrook's barrister will make submissions when the case returns to court on Friday.
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