A Crown prosecutor has called for a convicted hit man from Canberra to be sentenced to life in prison for what a judge has called the "execution" of a Newcastle grandmother.
Newcastle Supreme Court heard Stacey Klimovitch, 61, was shot dead by convicted contract killer Jason Paul Hawkins, 48, in June 2021.
He was arrested at his home in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm in November of 2021, and found guilty of murder late last year.
His getaway driver Stephen John Garland, 66, was convicted of manslaughter.
A 'brutal' death
The court accepted Hawkins had been recruited by Ms Klimovitch's de-facto ex-son in law, who held a grudge against the grandmother after she slapped him months earlier.
Sentencing proceedings began on Tuesday when Ms Kilomvitch's three daughters delivered powerful victim impact statements in relation to both men.
All three said their mother was a shining light who had been killed in a "brutal" way.
In his sentencing submission on Tuesday, Hawkins's defence barrister Benjamin Bickford said his client had experienced "early trauma, neglect, abuse and dysfunction and was institutionalised after spending 15 years of his life in jail".
Mr Bickford said while his drug use was problematic, there was "no apparent reason for him to undertake a contract killing" and that his criminal history did not include "much violence".
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield told the court he was pushing for Hawkins to be sentenced to life in jail for what he said was a "brazen" crime.
"The execution shooting of a grandmother in her own home is just incomprehensible," he said.
Justice Peter Hamill said "execution" was a word that appropriately described Ms Klimovitch's slaying, after being urged to consider a lifetime sentence.
Getaway driver 'appalled' by killing
Sentencing submissions for getaway driver Stephen Garland were delivered today in relation to his conviction for manslaughter.
His barrister Tom Hughes urged leniency, saying his client had health problems, post traumatic stress disorder and had been in segregation in prison.
"I would ask your honour to find remorse," he said.
Mr Hughes referred to a police interview to highlight his contrition.
"He said she was a grandmother and it appalled him [that she was dead]"
Mr Hatfield said Garland's remorse was genuine, and that he had turned to a life of crime when he joined the Nomad Outlaw Motorcycle gang in the early 2000s.
Mr Hatfield said an earlier poisoning incident that nearly killed Garland was a trigger for behavioural change and he had become hypervigilant because of threats.
He told Justice Hamill some concerns stemmed from allegedly breaching the Nomads' code of conduct.
Both men will be sentenced on Friday.