Family of Paul Grapsas, A Geelong father fatally stabbed, come face-to-face with killer

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The family of a Geelong man who was stabbed to death has come face to face with his killer during an emotional court hearing. Paul Grapsas was trying to stop a thief breaking into his car when he was killed metres from his home.

Transcript

00:00A family mourning the loss of a father whose life ended in brutal fashion.

00:08Forty-year-old Paul Grapsis was walking his dog late at night in Geelong when he saw a

00:12man breaking into his car.

00:14He tried to intervene, but the thief pulled out a fishing knife and stabbed him seven

00:18times.

00:19Mr Grapsis was left for dead in the gutter.

00:22His wife, Jessica, found his body the next morning.

00:25Today in court, she came face-to-face with his killer, 20-year-old Bailey Clifford, who's

00:30pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

00:32"'Your crimes, Bailey Clifford, have ripped me in half,' she said.

00:36"'How could you just leave him there?'

00:38Mr Grapsis had a passion for footy, fishing and his church.

00:42Most of all, he loved his family.

00:44He'd been with his wife for 23 years.

00:47They had two kids and another on the way.

00:50Too young to remember their dad, photos and videos are now all they have.

00:55In a rarely seen move, the killer stood in the court dock and read out a letter of apology

00:59to the victim's family.

01:01He said he was truly sorry for what he'd done and the pain that he'd caused."

01:06Clifford was spared prison for another knife crime just three months before the killing.

01:11A judge will sentence him in the coming weeks and could jail him for up to 25 years for

01:16manslaughter.

01:17Remarkably, the Grapsis family say they'll forgive the killer as they try to heal from

01:22their trauma.

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