Sef Gonzales

Sef Gonzales (born 16 September 1980) is an Australian who was convicted and sentenced in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to life imprisonment for the murder of his father Teddy Gonzales, 46, mother Mary Loiva Josephine, 43, and sister Clodine, 18.

Background

Sef Gonzales was born in Baguio, Benguet, Philippines to a prominent local family. After the 1990 earthquake destroyed their hotel business (and his father rescued him when the hotel collapsed), Teddy Gonzales and his family emigrated to Australia, where Teddy carved out a successful career as an immigration lawyer. The Gonzales family appeared to be close-knit, the parents being strict, devout Catholics, and having high hopes for their children. Later court evidence suggested that the Gonzaleses enforced harsh discipline on their children when they did not meet their parents' high expectations. In particular, Teddy and Mary Loiva had hoped Sef would perform well academically, but he did not score well enough in his Higher School Certificate to be accepted into medicine or law.