Elderly man Rodney Lee is jailed after killing neighbours following garden hose dispute at Mordialloc apartment complex in Victoria

An elderly man who murdered two neighbours following a fight over a garden hose will ‘almost certainly’ die in prison, a court has been told.

Rodney Lee, 74, returned before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty to murdering Saumotu Gasio, 62, and Tibor Laszlo, 72, in January last year.

Lee, who throughout his court appearances has required the use of a wheelchair, sat hunched over, often tapping the desk in front of him as if he was playing piano.

He only spoke once to ask the court ‘for a break’ as he needed to use the bathroom.

Rodney Lee, 74, returned before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty to murdering Saumotu Gasio, 62, and Tibor Laszlo, 72, in January last year

The court was told Lee surrendered to police following a short standoff inside his home at a Mordialloc apartment complex about 9.40pm on January 13.

He gave ‘full and frank admissions’ during his interview that night and the following day, confessing to shooting both Mr Gasio and Mr Laszlo, but offering ‘no remorse’.

Instead he gave a self-serving account of the shooting and asked investigators: ‘I’ve been provoked a bit, haven’t I?’.

‘You had a desire to cast yourself as a properly aggrieved party,’ Justice James Elliott said.

‘But nothing could justify the disproportionate, senseless and brutally violent way you responded.’

Justice Elliott found Lee had a ‘fixed belief’ he was being victimised, mistreated and threatened by other residents, but this was ‘grossly exaggerated’.

A psychologist would later diagnose Lee as likely suffering from a paranoid personality disorder with persecutory ideation.

The court was told Lee retrieved his father’s single barrel shotgun after a confrontation with Mr Gasio over his garden hose.

He told police Mr Gasio had grabbed his hand and bent back his fingers, saying to leave the hose turned off.

He gave ‘full and frank admissions’ during his interview that night and the following day, confessing to shooting both Saumotu Gasio (second from left) and Tibor Laszlo, but offering ‘no remorse’

Witnesses told a different story, with no one else present describing Mr Gasio as being violent.

Justice Elliott found it was not necessary to decide what occurred, because nothing would ‘explain or justify what happened next’.

Lee approached a group of residents sitting outside and stated; ‘I’m going to kill all of you’, before shooting Mr Gasio.

Several neighbours present, including Mr Lazlo, took Mr Gasio inside a nearby unit, where Lee followed and shot Mr Lazlo.

The court was told Lee had unspecified health problems and likely had only a few years left to live.

He has refused to engage with mental health services in custody and remains convinced he is being targeted and threatened by other inmates.

Lee was sentenced to serve 30 years imprisonment by Justice Elliot.