Inside story of how police caught Vincent Carlino, who strangled girlfriend in domestic violence murder

WARNING: Confronting content.

A Sydney man who strangled his girlfriend to death before wrapping her body in plastic bags and dumping her in a shocking domestic violence murder has been jailed for more than two decades.

Vincent Carlino, 40, stood in Sydney’s Supreme Court on Friday afternoon as he learned his fate over the July 2022 murder of his on-again, off-again girlfriend Shereen Kumar.

Carlino pleaded guilty to murdering the 43-year-old mother-of-two inside their Dural home before dumping her in nearby bushland.

Carlino reported his partner missing to police, claiming he was “extremely worried” about her after she went for a walk and did not return.

However his ruse quickly unravelled after his electronic trail uncovered his attempts to cover up her murder.

“It’s clear that in recent years, community concern about the number of women killed by their male domestic partners or ex-partners has only become more acute,” Justice Sarah McNaughton said in her sentencing remarks on Friday afternoon, nothing Ms Kumar’s death involved an “extreme level of violence”.

The couple met online in 2021 and in the 17 months before her murder they had a tumultuous relationship marked by frequent hostility and arguments, the court was told.

The couple also owned a dog walking business together.

Carlino in July 2022 told Ms Kumar via text message: “I’m a manipulative asshole that doesn’t deserve love or cannot give love” and “I feel nothing positive in your heart to me.”

On the day of her murder on 20 July, 2022, Ms Kumar had a Skye session with a therapist and seemed concerned and distracted and was seen looking to her left several times.

“In five minutes, he is going to come inside the room,” Ms Kumar said during the conversation.

“I might have to cut this short today and pick it up another day.”

It was the last time she was seen by anyone.

Over the course of 42 minutes that afternoon, Carlino called Ms Kumar 123 times before he murdered her some time between 7.19pm and 9.38pm.

The court heard that he struck her in the face, head and neck and strangled her. A post-mortem found she died as a result of neck compression.

He disposed of her body in a clearing in the bush off Laurie Road, covering her body with leaves and vegetation.

After her disappearance, he made repeated false statements to police, Ms Kumar’s family, his co-workers and neighbours.

The court heard he searched for OJ Simpson online and viewed a news story about Ms Kumar being missing.

On July 23, police went to his home, he was found carrying bags out of the house and told police: “I’m just catching up on putting some rubbish out, I haven’t had a chance the last couple of days. It’s not what it looks like.”

He told a friend that he intended to sell his business for $100,000 to “last me a few months to get away”, before he corrected himself saying “not get away, just stay here”.

When police searched his phone, GPS data did not match a description he gave to officers about a search he claimed he took to look for Ms Kumar.

Ms Kumar’s body was discovered in bushland off Laurie Road, wrapped in black plastic bags, secured with sticky tape and covered with branches and leaves.

Carlino’s fingerprints were found on the plastic bags.

He was arrested and in an interview with police he said he had nothing further to say.

However police lawfully intercepted his calls in jail and was caught making admissions to his parents.

When he was asked if he had choked Ms Kumar, he replied: “Yeah.”

“This was an attack on a woman in her own home where she was entitled to feel safe and secure, by a partner who at that time not only did not care for her or keep her safe, but violently attacked her, causing her death,” Justice McNaughton said.

Carlino was sentenced to a maximum of 21 years in jail with a 15-year non-parole period.

He will be eligible for release in July 2037.