Violent rapist handed 20-year jail term for manslaughter of friend he said 'deserved' to be killed

Jacob Michael Smith killed his friend and then raped her 12-year-old daughter. Photo / Supplied

WARNING: Distressing content

It was late at night and, after breaking up with his girlfriend and smoking meth, Jacob Michael Smith decided to visit the home of a close female friend in Brisbane.

But when she turned down the 38-year-old's sexual advances that evening in August 2014, Smith smothered her to death with bedding as she lay next to her sleeping children.

The Supreme Court of Queensland on Friday accepted that Smith did not intend to kill the 34-year-old mum – only that he was trying to instil pain and fear – but there was no doubt over the depravity that continued into the early hours of the morning.

After killing his friend, Smith woke her 12-year-old daughter who was lying on a mattress nearby and told her she was "gonna become a woman" before raping and assaulting her in a bedroom.

The court was told that Smith later fled the home while wearing the girl's tracksuit pants and hid out at another friend's house, where he admitted to "doing something stupid" and that he had killed someone. He also said his deceased victim had "deserved it".

Smith was later found hiding in the bushes by a police dog and taken into custody, where he has remained as a lengthy court process plays out.

The matter was back before the court in Brisbane and ended with Smith, now 45, being sentenced to 20 years' prison – including the eight years he has already been locked up – after he pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

Smith had already admitted to the rape of the young girl and been sentenced to eight years in prison, while a life sentence for the woman's murder was handed down following a trial in 2018.

However, in 2021, Smith was granted a retrial for that matter upon appeal following errors that were made during the original proceedings.

Prosecutor Philip McCarthy on Friday said the Crown accepted Smith did not specifically intend to kill the victim when he strangled her, but he noted that he intended to cause her fear and pain.

Justice Soraya Ryan was scathing of Smith's behaviour in her sentencing remarks.

She said he had "one of the most violent criminal histories I have ever seen" and much of his offending had been fuelled largely by methamphetamine addiction.

She noted that crimes in August 2014 had ended the life of a woman, "a loved mother, sister, daughter, and friend – your friend".

"You did not mean to kill her, but she owed you nothing sexually. No woman owes a man anything sexually," Justice Ryan said.

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