Lachlan Young, a 23-year-old from Australia, initially denied any involvement in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hannah McGuire, also 23.
Her body was burned inside her car and left in the remote Victorian bushland in April 2024, and Lachlan claimed the tragedy was spontaneous.
Yet, on July 18, 2025, eight days into his murder trial, he confessed to murdering Hannah in the Victorian Supreme Court and pleaded guilty to the crime.
Hannah’s life was brutally taken from her on April 5, 2024. Early that morning, Lachlan first pushed her onto the bathroom floor of their home, located in Sebastopol.
Next, he strangled her at approximately 2:30 a.m. before putting her body in her car, a Mitsubishi Triton, driving the vehicle to bushland, and setting it on fire.
Once the car was ablaze, Lachlan fled the scene and texted Hannah’s mother, Debbie McGuire. Pretending to be Hannah, he stated that she was going to take her own life before transferring $2,000 from her bank account to Debbie’s. Lachlan also wired $5,000 of his deceased ex’s money to himself.
The messages sent from Hannah’s phone caused her mother to rush to her home. There, Lachlan reportedly acted clueless as to his ex’s whereabouts and pretended to be shocked by the texts. He even started reaching out to Hannah’s friends and asking if anyone knew where she was.
The 23-year-old was ultimately arrested on April 7, 2024, and at first, he vehemently denied harming Hannah. But his own friend, Benjamin O’Keefe, told a different story.
During the trial, Benjamin testified that Hannah was planning to leave Lachlan and “she was going to take the house and other things.” So, according to Benjamin, Lachlan intended to crash Hannah’s car while she was inside.
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Additionally, he claimed to have seen Lachlan setting Hannah’s car on fire. Yet, Benjamin stated he wasn’t aware Hannah was inside the vehicle.
Crown prosecutor Kritie Churchill delivered another blow, revealing that Lachlan and Hannah’s relationship was controlling and abusive, leading up to the murder.
In fact, Hannah was in the process of separating from Lachlan and even took out intervention orders against him when he killed her.
Churchill told the court that Lachlan’s actions were motivated by “male entitlement, jealousy, and rage.”
“He attacked and killed Ms. McGuire in her own home. Her final moments must have been filled with terror,” she said.
Meanwhile, Glenn Casement, Lachlan’s barrister, argued otherwise. He agreed the murder was “callous and heartbreaking,” but that it wasn’t premeditated.
Casement alleged that, in the heat of an argument, Lachlan lost control, and it wasn’t until he was strangling Hannah that he formed intent.
Moreover, Casement called his client immature and stated he struggled with a troubled childhood, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Churchill didn’t accept Casement’s arguments.
“It cannot simply be explained by his youth or lack of education. They are the actions of someone who is cold, calculated, and remorseless,” she told the court.
“He disregarded her dignity while also eradicating any evidence. He engaged in a series of acts to avoid responsibility and attempted to lay the blame of Hannah McGuire’s death at her own feet.”
The standard sentence for murder in Victoria is 25 years behind bars, with a life sentence representing the maximum penalty. As of October 28, 2025, two days of pre-sentence court hearings have been completed. Lachlan will be sentenced at a later date.
As Justice James Elliott held a minute of silence in the courtroom for Hannah, her parents began crying.
“Unlike the accused, Hannah mattered. She was important and loved and brought to this world things no one else could,” Hannah’s mother previously said in court.
“I hope every day for the rest of the accused’s life, he experiences the most intense pain imaginable. I will never forget, and I will never forgive.”
Hannah’s father, Glenn McGuire, also shared his grief over being unable to protect his daughter.
“I was supposed to be there to guide her and to support her to grow into the incredible woman she was becoming. Instead, I had to bury her. I had to pick out a coffin instead of a graduation or wedding dress,” he shared in a statement.
Hannah’s loved ones read a total of 15 statements to the court. Lachlan’s sentence for her murder remains to be seen.
By Katharina Buczek
Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing in... More about Katharina Buczek
