Grieving mother of hot shot murder victim Clare Garabedian begs for Martin Coates to be deported

A killer convicted of the heroin “hot shot” murder of a young woman inside a Rivervale motel room could walk out of prison as soon as next month. Jan Garabedian, 81, is now nervously preparing for a new year not only grieving the absence of both her daughter and her husband but worrying that Martin Coates could be just weeks away from walking free in the community. Through tears, Ms Garabedian told The West Australian “it can’t happen” and renewed her call for Mr Coates to instead be deported from the country. Mrs Garabedian’s daughter, Clare Garabedian, was 21 years old when she was lured into a room at the Great Eastern Motor Lodge in Rivervale where she was injected with heroin before being smothered with a pillow in 1998. Her murder was part of a plot to eliminate her as a witness in a case involving Coates and his girlfriend Amanda Kaylene Hoy. Coates paid $2000 to a contract killer, dubbed “Mr X”, and when the dose he gave her failed to kill Ms Garabedian, Coates delivered more heroin to the room. During the killing, Ms Garabedian struggled as Mr X forced the needle into her arm, while another man, Thomas Nicholls, smothered her. It is understood Coates will again be reviewed by the Prisoners Review Board in mid-January for either release on parole or permission to join a resocialisation program. In 2023, the board recommended he join a resocialisation program, however then attorney-general John Quigley rejected the move. Mrs Garabedian maintains Coates, who is understood to be a British citizen, should be kicked out of the country. “I just don’t want him out in Australia. I really believe that he should be deported,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like having him released here. I really can’t.” She said the news of his potential impending release was “horrible”. This time of year also marks the anniversary of the death of her husband Gary, who drowned after his surfcat capsized off Mullaloo Point in January 1993. “It’s still raw, because it keeps coming back. If it was left in the past (it would be best), but to do this sort of thing, it just brings it back. You’re back there where you were there and then,” she said. “Just let him out (and deport him) and put him to rest. “There’s no such thing as closure in anything like this, but it can be left in the past.” A spokesman for Attorney-General Tony Buti said: “The Prisoners Review Board is still to assess Martin Coates for a statutory review. “Following this hearing the Board will then provide a report to the Attorney General for consideration.” Nicholls, who was jailed for a minimum of 20 years, was released on parole in 2021. Coates was originally jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years, which was reduced to 23 years backdated to February 2000 after a retrial in 2007. Hoy, who was also jailed for life with a 20-year minimum, was released on compassionate grounds in 2018 and died a short time later of cancer — three days after her 48th birthday.