Kelly Wilkinson’s murderer Brian Earl Johnston faces rape charges

In the weeks before her senseless murder, Kelly Wilkinson began to find her voice.

Warning: This story contains graphic details and images.

She told her sister about what happened behind closed doors, saying she feared for her life and wanted “someone to know” about the alleged repeated rapes by her estranged husband, Brian Earl Johnston.

Johnston, 37, is serving a life sentence for Ms Wilkinson’s murder after pleading guilty this year to stabbing the Gold Coast mother to death and setting her alight at her Arundel home in April 2021.

Harrowing details of Ms Wilkinson’s life and Johnston’s alleged “breakdown” were revealed at a preliminary inquest at Southport Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

He is accused of digitally raping Ms Wilkinson four times over the course of three days in February 2021, two months before her murder.

Ms Wilkinson’s sister, Danielle Carroll, testified in court that her sister told her about the alleged sexual assault while they were in a hospital elevator.

The sisters had recently been informed that their mother was dying. This happened about seven weeks before Mrs Wilkinson was murdered.

Allegations made amid fear for lives

“I think she just had a little moment of panic [after] We were told Mom would not survive the aneurysm and they said, ‘I just want to let you guys know, I just want to tell somebody now because if something happens to me, I just want somebody to know,'” Ms Carroll said.

Ms Carroll said she was shocked by the revelation but thought her sister had “grown stronger as a person” and wanted to open up.

The court heard that after the initial revelation, the sisters spoke to each other on the phone for several hours a day after dropping their children off at school, discussing the allegations.

“She thought it was unsafe to send messages in case [Johnston] found the messages,” said Ms Carroll.

The court heard that Ms Wilkinson told her sister that during her relationship with Johnston he had held her down, threatened to “smash her skull in” and slammed doors in her face.

The court heard that Johnston allegedly prevented Ms Wilkinson from getting a driving licence and she feared she would be followed by a private investigator.

Ms Carroll said her sister told her that during the alleged rape she “screamed and kicked and told him: [Johnston] stop”.

Alleged confession of rape

Several family members told the court that Johnston contacted them and admitted the crime after Ms Wilkinson made the rape allegations.

In one case, he allegedly called Ms. Carroll and said, “I just wanted to let you know that I have been physically and sexually abusing Kelly for the past few years.”

She told the court that he “sounded sad” during the phone call, as if someone had “just died.”

Defence lawyer Kym Bryson asked Ms Carroll during the phone call if she was concerned about Johnston’s mental health.

“He can play the injured animal very well.”

The court was told that Johnston reported Ms Wilkinson to the police following the alleged rape.

Ms Carroll told the court that officers arrived at the family home and Ms Wilkinson’s father’s home.

When asked by Ms Bryson how Ms Wilkinson responded to the call to the police, Ms Carroll said her sister replied: “What is he doing? What is he up to?”

“She said, ‘He usually destroys all my relationships so I have to stay with him, but I don’t know what he’s planning and that scares me,'” Ms Carroll said.

Johnston seemed to be “out of sorts”

Reece Carroll, Ms Carroll’s husband, told the court that in the run-up to Ms Wilkinson’s death, Johnston texted and called him up to six times a day to discuss the allegations and the couple’s marriage.

He said the convicted killer initially called the rape allegations “crazy” before later admitting them and saying he may have been drunk at the time of the crime.

Mr Carroll said Johnston had written a Facebook message to several men in the family apologising for his behaviour.

He said he had asked Johnston to “step back” and give Ms Wilkinson some space and had given him several hotlines to call.

When asked by Ms Bryson if Mr Carroll was concerned about his brother-in-law’s mental health, he replied: “I was concerned, I guess. But I didn’t think he was going to kill her.”

A decade full of injuries

Another relative, Melanie Joyce, testified that she invited Ms Wilkinson to lunch after hearing that her relationship with Johnston had ended.

“She told me she had been a victim of domestic violence for about 10 years,” Ms Joyce said.

The court heard that Ms Wilkinson had lived with Johnston in the US but left because she feared for the safety of her children.

She said Ms Wilkinson told her: “Everyone says he’s a nice person, but then I think back to the time when I’m lying on the floor and he kicks me in the face.”

The preliminary investigation will continue on Wednesday.