The sobbing son

Matthew Wales removed his dark glasses and wiped tears from his cheeks as he was consoled by relatives at his murdered mother and stepfather’s funeral. Days later, he was charged with bashing them to death.

Wales, 34, and his wife Maritza invited his millionaire socialite mum Margaret Wales-king, 69, and her 75-year-old husband Paul King to their home in Glen Iris, Victoria, for a family dinner on April 4, 2002. Four days later, his siblings reported the couple missing.

By the time their bodies were found in a shallow bush grave less than a month later, Wales had left a trail of clues that convinced police he was the killer.

Wales confessed he had drugged Margaret and Paul’s soup to make them drowsy, before bashing them to death “with great force” and dumping their bodies in a national park.

The former hairdresser pleaded guilty to the murders, saying he’d hated his mother for years because she used her wealth to control his life.

He was sentenced to a minimum 24 years behind bars while Maritza, 39, was handed a two-year suspended jail term for attempting to pervert the course of justice. She had told police she’d seen her in-laws leaving her house alive.