Tracy Muzyk murder - update March 2023
On a previous blog post – found here (http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2016/07/muzyk-murder.html), I detailed the gruesome murder of Tracy Muzyk. I have since spoken to family members and follow reports of those convicted closely.
On 3 March 2023, ABC News reporter
Candice Prosser published a report on one of the convicted murderers, Bruce
McKenzie. McKenzie and four other people were convicted for the prolonged
torture and murder of Muzyk in 1996. McKenzie was 18 years old when he was
convicted. He was paroled in 2021 and placed in a pre-release centre, where he
was caught in possession of contraband reported as “10 suboxone strips, a white
parcel described by McKenzie as "smack", a packet of tobacco and a
USB memory stick, hidden in his underpants.” [1]
McKenzie’s locker was also searched where nine mobile phones
were found. He admitted to smoking cannabis “due to Covid isolation and harassment
from other prisoners.”
In his defence, McKenzie stated that the contraband had been smuggled into the
prison due to him being threatened by a group of men who ‘stood over’ him.
McKenzie was raised in Victoria, where his family still
reside. His lawyer argued that it would be beneficial to McKenzie to be paroled
to Victoria where he would receive support from his family. The South
Australian Parole Board had no objection to McKenzie being paroled to Victoria,
however, in doing so, the Victorian Parole Authority would assume supervision
obligations for the rest of McKenzie’s life.
On 3 March 2023, The Supreme Court re-sentenced the 44-year-old
McKenzie. Justice Kevin Nicholson, stated of Muzyk murder, "The many acts
of torture were barbaric and inhuman. [McKenzie] was also only 18 years old. He
had grown up within a dysfunctional family,"
"You told [a social worker] that you were involved in
the assault on [Tracy] at the house and that you continued on out into the
paddock, at the paddock, you tried to stab [Tracy] with a star
dropper. You also picked up a rock which took two people to hold and dropped it
on [Tracy's] head. You then stabbed her to try and kill her.
You told the social worker that the reason for your
involvement was peer pressure because the others were egging you on. After leaving school, you moved from one youth refuge
to another. You involved yourself with illegal drugs. On the day of the murder, you had taken heroin, and you described yourself as being 'off my face'."
After his concluding remarks, Justice Nicholson sentenced
McKenzie to five months imprisonment, and another eight months non-parole period
for the murder of Muzyk, which was backdated to August last year.[2]
McKenzie is due for release in May 2023.
[1] Candice
Prosser, ‘Murderer who tortured Adelaide woman Tracy Muzyk to be released from
prison within months.’, ABC News, (2023), https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-03/tracy-muzyk-killer-ian-bruce-mckenzie-to-be-released-again/102049450.
[2] Sean
Fewster, ‘Torturer, murderer back behind bars months after parole.’, The
Advertiser, (2023), www.adelaidenow.com.au%2Ftruecrimeaustralia%2Fpolice-courts-sa%2Ftracy-muzyk-murderer-ian-bruce-mckenzie-back-behind-bars-for-trying-to-bring-drugs-into-prerelease-centre%2Fnews-story%2F53d19fc3254381e89106aeb573ae45e2&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-high-control-score&V21spcbehaviour=append.
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