In addition to personal and work prospects, the young lady was seeking a fresh start in her love life after a number of failed and tumultuous relationships in Sydney.

Soon after the Pattons reported their daughter missing, a woman's body matching Janelle's general description was discovered by two tourists from New Zealand.

The body was discovered at Cockpit Waterfall Reserve, at the opposite end of the island from where Patton was last seen, wrapped in a large black plastic sheet.

Patton had endured a long attack, suffering a broken pelvis and ankle as well as a fractured skull — the result of being stabbed with great force through her eyeball.

At the Norfolk Island Court of Petty Sessions McNeill claimed he had smoked marijuana that day and that he had accidentally run over Patton with his car,[1][4] a statement he later retracted.

[1] A press blackout was imposed by the judge, Chief Justice Mark Weinberg, to prevent any dilution of the limited potential jury pool in Norfolk Island.

[5] The trial ended on 9 March 2007 when the 11-person jury returned a guilty verdict,[7] although the question of motive and an explanation for unidentified female DNA found on the body remained unclear.

[1] On 25 July 2007, McNeill was sentenced to 24 years in prison by Chief Justice Weinberg in the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island sitting in Sydney.