She Overheard that Her Grandfather Kept Life Savings Inside Home. So She Stabbed Him and Left Him for Dead

Mar. 15, 2025

Brittney Dwyer and Robert Whitwell.Photo:7 News Spotlight/YouTube (2)

7 News Spotlight/YouTube (2)

It was a mother’s worst nightmare.

When Brittney Jade Dwyer was arrested and later convicted of murdering her own grandfather Robert Whitwell in a plot to steal his life savings, the callous crime shocked the entire country of Australia. Since then, her mother Tanya Dwyer has continued to look for answers.

“What are the signs that I missed? What did I miss? What didn’t I see? What didn’t I pick up on?” Tanya says in the interview, which aired alongside exclusive interviews with Brittney’s brother Ryan Whitwell-Dwyer and best friend — and co-conspirator — Bernadette Burns.

Whitwell, who was 81 when he was killed, had recently confided in Tanya that he had roughly $100,000 in savings locked away in his shed because he didn’t trust leaving the cash with a bank. Brittney was in the room when her grandfather told her mother about the cash, Tanya told 7News back in 2017. But what happened next never crossed her mind, she tearfully explained.

Both Brittney and Bernadette pleaded guilty to their roles in Whitwell’s murder, according to theAustralian Broadcasting Company. The outletreportedthat Bernadette waited in the car and put on makeup while Brittney went into the home and slashed her grandfather’s throat, placing a bandage on his fatal wound before turning around and doing the dishes as he died in the kitchen next to her.

For three weeks after her grandfather’s murder, Brittney’s brother told 7News she appeared “distraught.” Her mother even told the outlet that her daughter “hysterically burst into tears” when she was first told about her grandfather’s death. Tanya recalled that Brittney appeared disheveled when she arrived back at her mother’s house so they could travel together to Whitwell’s home — to the crime scene — after learning about his death.

“I didn’t put two and two together,” the mother told 7News. “I was in a state of shock, I think.”

Brittney Dwyer and Tanya Dwyer.7 News Spotlight/YouTube

7 News Spotlight/YouTube

After 21 days, police called Tanya to break the news that her daughter had been arrested for murdering her own grandfather.

“This can’t possibly be true,” Brittney’s brother recalled thinking, he told 7News.

Robert Whitwell.7 News Spotlight/YouTube

“I was furious,” Tanya told 7News about the accusation. “And that’s the reason why I would still slap her in the face, that anger that’s inside.”

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Brittney was sentenced to life in prison with a mandatory 21 years before the possibility of parole, according to ABC, while Bernadette was also given a life sentence but with the possibility of parole after 13 years served.

“I’ve lost two people,” Tanya told 7News in the interview republished last week, choking up as tears ran down her face. “I’ve lost my dad and I’ve lost my daughter, and I don’t know if I’ll ever understand the whole story.”

source: people.com