Brothers destroy home in family dispute
A legal battle between two brothers and their sister over their inheritance has stepped up a notch after the brothers hired a bulldozer to demolish the family home.
Malcolm and Garry Taylor travelled from Queensland to Murtoa, in regional Victoria, claiming they were doing “renovations” on the property.
In reality, they were doing what they could to ensure their sister Kerrie “didn’t get a cent” when the house was sold.
The siblings have been in a legal standoff over their late parents’ estate for several years, culminating in the destruction of the home the day before it went to auction in 2019, which was filmed by the brothers.
The footage showed the brothers taking turns demolishing the house with a rented excavator.
After their mother Lois died in December 2013, Kerrie was made executor of her estate.
The brothers challenged this decision and claimed Kerrie had killed their mother.
The stoush started when Malcolm and Garry found out their children would receive $10,000 in trust payments as part of the estate.
The Victoria County Court has heard the brothers would “rather pull [the house] down piece by piece” than share the money resulting from its sale with their sister.
According to court documents, Malcolm called the real estate agent involved in the sale in November 2018, claiming Kerrie “killed his mother” and that he would “continue to take items from the house until there was nothing left”.
Court documents also said the destruction caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages and the cancellation of the auction.
Damage included the graffiti of “Lois was murdered here” and the outline of a body in her bedroom by Malcolm, according to court documents. Malcolm denied any knowledge of the graffiti in court.
The pair will be sentenced on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to criminal damage, with a judge lamenting how family disputes bring out the worst in people.
It is expected they will be fined rather than jailed.
Image: The Daily Mail / Supplied