By GARRY HOWE and ANEEKA SIMONIS
BASS MP and Blackwood family friend Brian Paynter has welcomed news of the arrest of a man over the murder of Pakenham mother of three Kylie Blackwood today.
Scott Alan Murdoch, a 38-year-old from Morwell, appeared in court this afternoon charged with murdering the 42-year-old mum of three in her McCaffery Rise home in Pakenham on 1 August 2013.
“It is great news that they have made progress after such a long and tortuous process,” Mr Paynter told Star.
“We always had great faith in the detectives and the system, but for this to come out of the blue is fantastic news for the family and Kylie’s many friends.”
Mr Paynter said the impending court case would be difficult for Kylie’s husband Peter and their children, but it was a process that had to happen.
“They have lost a mother and wife and we have lost a beautiful friend,” he said.
“From Peter’s point of view it will answer some questions that he doesn’t know the answer to at the moment.
“From my point of view I am intrigued to find out how this happened to a mother going about her daily business in her own home.”
Mr Paynter is a trustee of the Kylie Blackwood Foundation, which was set up in her honour to raise awareness and help prevent violence against women.
The arrest comes as the finishing touches as being made to the third annual Foundation function, at the new Pakenham racecourse on Thursday 21 April.
Ms Blackwood was murdered in her Pakenham home on 1 August 2013.
Murdoch is expected to front Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
