Raymond Kevin Ziebell (left) tries to hide his face from the media under his jacket after his sentencing hearing on Monday. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article may distress some readers.
After having her drink spiked, a woman was trapped in a car for two hours while a trio of vicious criminals repeatedly assaulted her, choked her and threatened to chop her up with an electric saw.
Raymond Kevin Ziebell, 47, was in the ACT Supreme Court during his sentencing hearing this week to hear how the nightmare ordeal he and the two others inflicted on the woman only ended when she managed a miraculous escape down a dirt road.
On Tuesday (21 October), he was sentenced to six-and-a-half years’ jail after Justice Louise Taylor noted the trio inflicted “gratuitous, cruel and painful violence” that was motivated “only by greed”.
The woman recently met Ziebell and his co-offender through a mutual contact before they went to her home in December 2023 to repair her fence.
The co-offender returned to her home late the next night and asked to come inside before they shared a drink. The woman left her drink unattended occasionally and thought it tasted weird, like medicine.
Ziebell had also arrived before the co-offender convinced the woman to go with them to a McDonald’s.
They got into Ziebell’s car and he drove off before the woman realised there was a third person inside the vehicle, the then-35-year-old Kristie Lee Watson of Scullin.
For the next two hours, the trio trapped the woman inside the car, accused her of taking drugs or money and threatened to get to her daughter before one, alleged to be Watson, demanded $10,000.
The woman was repeatedly punched in the face and also repeatedly hit in the face with a metal bat, allegedly by Watson.
When Ziebell finally pulled over, he threatened to cut her up with the electric saw that was inside the car before burying her where they stopped.
He also strangled her until she couldn’t breathe, put his knee in her chest and punched her in the face.
The woman managed to get out of the car and started running, but Ziebell and Watson chased her and tripped her up. She again managed to escape and ran to the Molongolo Water Quality Control Centre in Holt, near Shepherds Lookout.
Raymond Kevin Ziebell (left) tries to hide his face from the media after leaving court on Monday. Photo: Albert McKnight.
Staff heard her screaming for help and asking to call the police. She was bleeding from her face and was mostly worried that the people who attacked her had also threatened her daughter, who was home alone.
The woman was taken to hospital with 44 injuries over her body, including cuts and bruises. She now has reduced vision in her eye, is missing teeth and has a scar down her face.
Ziebell, who spent 414 days in custody before he was granted bail, pleaded guilty to five charges by joint commission. These were recklessly inflicting and threatening to inflict grievous bodily harm, forcible confinement, choking and assault.
Justice Taylor was satisfied the offending was planned, as the woman was persuaded to get into the car, and Ziebell or his co-offender spiked her drink.
“The victim would have experienced significant fear,” she said.
She said the woman was outnumbered by the trio, which would have added to her sense of helplessness.
Ziebell has four children, worked in spray painting before becoming eligible for the disability support pension and reported a problematic consumption of alcohol and drugs from a young age.
He was granted bail earlier this year to complete a residential rehabilitation program, but failed to complete it.
Justice Taylor said he bore a high degree of responsibility for his role, and while his drug use went some way to explain his conduct, that didn’t minimise it. She also noted he appeared to partly blame his victim.
Ziebell was handed a non-parole period of almost three years and 11 months’ jail which, as it was backdated to account for time served, means he will be eligible to be released from July 2028.
He was seen hugging his mother before corrections officers led him away.
His co-offender, who has not been named as she is awaiting sentence, also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later this year.
Watson died in August 2025.
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