‘I only want one go at ya’: Inside murderous attack that rocked a community

A father of two who stabbed Richard “Mikey” Mills in a jealous rage sparked by an affair with his long-term partner has been jailed for 18 years. Ricky Duke Doolan, 33, this week appeared in the NSW Supreme Court in Tamworth where he was sentenced for the senseless murder of Mr Mills in September 2022. Doolan pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Mills at a wake in the border town of Boggabilla in northern NSW in front of already grieving relatives and loved ones. The tragedy was set in motion in mid-2021 when Mr Mills began an affair with Doolan’s long-term partner. “He was initially angry with his partner, but expressed his forgiveness to her,” Justice Richard Button said in his sentencing remarks on Friday. “The deceased and his own romantic partner also reconciled.” However, Doolan also made Facebook posts about Mr Mills, “suggesting that he wished to harm” him, the court was told. On September 2, 2022, Mr Mills and his partner travelled from Tamworth to Goondiwindi, in southern Queensland, to attend a funeral. Doolan and his partner were also there. Later that day, Mr Mills attended a wake at Boggabilla, about 10 minutes down the road but just across the border in NSW. Doolan’s partner had attempted to avoid any confrontation by checking if Mr Mills was present at the wake before arriving with Doolan. However she was mistaken in believing he wasn’t present, the court was told. When Doolan arrived, Mr Mills was in the backyard smoking a cigarette and a heated altercation ensued. “I only want one go at ya,” Doolan told Mr Mills before pushing him, the court was told. In his sentencing remarks, Justice Button said that Mr Mills did not retaliate, and took a step back. But within seconds, Doolan unleashed a murderous flurry, stabbing Mr Mills 14 times. Even as Mr Mills lay defenceless on the ground, Doolan continued the attack. “The murderous attack extended for only a short time,” Justice Button said. “Even so, it featured the infliction of fourteen wounds; some of them were deep and very forceful; and there was a phase of the assault when the offender was standing over the deceased, who was defenceless on the ground trying to move, no doubt in a fruitless effort to survive.” Doolan ran from the scene and when paramedics arrived, Mr Mills had no pulse and was later pronounced dead, compounding the grief of the other mourners who had earlier that day buried a loved one. Justice Button described the attack as “spontaneous, unplanned, simplistic in its brutality” and having occurred after Doolan lost control. But he found Doolan undoubtedly had an intention to kill. Justice Button said Doolan had no justification for inflicting a “terrifying and terribly painful” death on Mr Mills during an “armed onslaught” against a victim who was backing away. “The offender could not or would not accept that all adults in this country are entirely free to engage in romantic and intimate relationships with other adults as they see fit, without suffering threats of violence, or actual violence, and let alone being stabbed to death as a consequence of their choices,” he said. The court heard that Doolan made “heartless” and “vulgar” remarks as he fled. However, Justice Button also noted he had since expressed remorse in a written apology to the court. The court was told Doolan hid his head in his hands as Mr Mills’ family and loved ones delivered heartfelt victim impact statements during sentencing proceedings. At the time he killed Mr Mills, Doolan was serving an intensive corrections order in the community after being convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after he punched and kicked his partner, who suffered a broken nose and was knocked unconscious. Doolan was sentenced to 18 years and nine months in jail, with Justice Button setting a non-parole period of 14 years. He will first be eligible for release in September 2036.