A MAN convicted of manslaughter over the home invasion shooting murder of a teenager in Western Sydney more than a decade ago held up two Lake Macquarie stores in a week in 2020, including using an axe to terrify staff at a Toronto supermarket.
Garry Anthony Markham, now 37, was in March found guilty of armed robbery and robbery after a trial in Newcastle District Court, a jury left with no doubt he was the man who threatened staff and raided cabinets at Myer at Charlestown Square and then six days later terrorised staff at Toronto Woolworths with an axe.
Markham has a lengthy criminal history and pleaded guilty to manslaughter over his role in the home invasion death of 17-year-old Devril Leuthwaite at Werrington in 2010. For his role in the killing, Markham was jailed for a maximum of six years, with a non-parole period of three years and was given a discount because he showed "genuine remorse" and assisted police because he felt guilty about his involvement.
But the senseless killing was not enough to prompt Markham to turn his life around and in August 2020 he was discovered breaking into a cabinet in the men's department at Myer Charlestown. When staff approached, Markham told them: "I'll stab you, just call security, just call security."
"F--- off or I'll stab you," he repeated while stuffing his backpack with items.
He then fled and police later discovered CCTV that showed Markham had been casing the store the day before. Six days later Markham walked into Woolworths at Toronto armed with an axe and confronted three female staff members.
"Fill these bags with cigarettes, give me all the money," he said. "Open the registers, give me all the money and give me all the cigarettes."
Frustrated the staff weren't filling his bag quickly enough, Markham started doing it himself before fleeing with about $18,000 worth of cigarettes. Police viewed the CCTV and spotted Markham wearing the same jacket as the Myer robbery. Markham was arrested at Blacktown in September.
He will be sentenced in the NSW District Court in July.
