'There's a knife in her abdomen - it looks self-inflicted': Chilling triple-0 call of lover lying to police after he brutally stabbed his socialite girlfriend to death in her own bed

  • Brisbane socialite Maureen Boyce was 'furiously' stabbed to death in bed in 2015
  • Her lover Thomas Lang was convicted and sentenced to life for her murder
  • Lang had been staying with Ms Boyce in her penthouse the week before she died
  • He claimed he went to sleep at 11pm and woke to find her dead in the morning
  • She was bipolar and had history of depression and he claimed she killed herself 
  • Crown argued he killed her in a jealous rage because she wouldn't leave husband
  • They were having an on and off affair for 40 years since meeting in the U.S.

By Nic White For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 11:19 GMT, 7 December 2017 | Updated: 12:09 GMT, 7 December 2017

Thomas Lang calmly called triple-0 to claim his socialite lover Maureen Boyce had killed herself - when in fact he brutally stabbed her to death.

The retired doctor told how he woke up to find her dead in her own bed in what looked like suicide, with no hesitation or emotion like he was reading from a script.

'I just woke up this morning and and I found my fiancée dead in her bed with a knife in her abdomen,' he said on a tape of the call released after his conviction.

Socialite Maureen Boyce was found in her Kangaroo Point home with a cooking knife so deeply embedded in her stomach she was impaled to the bed

Socialite Maureen Boyce was found in her Kangaroo Point home with a cooking knife so deeply embedded in her stomach she was impaled to the bed

'She was distraught last night, she was trying to sell her apartment, it didn't sell, she got upset about something and told me to sleep in the other end of the house.

'I just woke up this morning and there's a knife in her abdomen with her hand on it and that's all I know. I'm a doctor but she's deceased. 

'There's been no forced entry, it looks like self-induced from what I can tell.'

Lang, who was on Wednesday jailed for life, even calmly spelled his own name, Ms Boyce's name, and the address of her luxury Brisbane apartment.

Only once he finished telling the story did he feign being in shock as most people who actually discovered their loved one's body would be.

'I'm not alright, I don't know what happened,' he said as the operator asked if he was okay and not injured.

Lang (pictured) was convicted in less than two hours on Tuesday after an 11-day trial for the grisly murder on October 22, 2015

Her lover Thomas Lang (pictured) was convicted in less than two hours on Tuesday after an 11-day trial for the grisly murder on October 22, 2015

Asked if he needed ambulance for himself he replied: 'No I'm ok, I'm survivable but she's deceased.'

Lang in an earlier call was just as calm but less effective in his delivery before he was either disconnected or hung up to try again with a different operator.

A jury took less than two hours on Tuesday to find Lang guilty after an 11-day trial for the grisly murder on October 22, 2015. 

The 68-year-old former model was found in her Kangaroo Point home with a cooking knife so deeply embedded in her stomach she was impaled to the bed.

She was stabbed four or five times with such force that part of the 32cm knife's handle was driven inside her body.

Lang, who was staying in her apartment, claimed he went to sleep about 11pm and found her dead when he woke up in the morning.

He said the socialite who was bipolar with a history of depression, became distressed, threw her phone over the balcony and later committed suicide.

Lang said the cause of her distress was prospective buyers didn't make an offer for her $3.7 million luxury penthouse, but the jury didn't believe him.

They met in the 1980s when Ms Boyce was modelling in the U.S. and Lang was a young doctor in Texas

They met in the 1980s when Ms Boyce was modelling in the U.S. and Lang was a young doctor in Texas

During the 1960s and 1970s Ms Boyce was one of Australia's 'top models', according to one of her contemporaries - going by her maiden name, Maureen Madden

During the 1960s and 1970s Ms Boyce was one of Australia's 'top models', according to one of her contemporaries - going by her maiden name, Maureen Madden

A post-mortem showed she could not have killed herself and ruled the most probable cause of death was murder.

Lang must serve at least 20 years before he is eligible for parole.

During the 1960s and 1970s Ms Boyce was one of Australia's 'top models', according to one of her contemporaries - going by her maiden name, Maureen Madden. 

The pair had an on-and-off affair for 40 years and prosecutor David Meredith argued he killed her because she would leave her husband for him.

Lang also became enraged when he saw a text from a third man, gardener Kenneth McAlpine, on her phone. 

They met in the 1980s when Ms Boyce was modelling in the U.S. and Lang was a young doctor in Texas.

Maureen Boyce's husband Graham Boyce (C), son Zachary Boyce and daughter Angelique Pennisi at the Supreme Court in Brisbane for Lang's sentencing

Maureen Boyce's husband Graham Boyce (C), son Zachary Boyce and daughter Angelique Pennisi at the Supreme Court in Brisbane for Lang's sentencing

Ms Boyce was laid to rest in Brisbane on October 21, 2015, surrounded by hundreds of mourners

Ms Boyce was laid to rest in Brisbane on October 21, 2015, surrounded by hundreds of mourners

When she returned to Australia to be with her husband Graham, she later claimed her first son Zachary was Lang's offspirng, not his.

They most recently restarted the affair in 2013 when Lang was working in New Zealand and regularly visited her - as he was on the night of her death.

Ms Boyce invited him to come see her in Brisbane before that visit, and gushed that she missed him.

But days before her murder, she texted Zachary telling him she wanted her lover to return home because of his heavy drinking.

'I'm trying to get Tom to go back to NZ ASAP. He sleeps all day and drinks two or three bottles of wine a night after I've gone to bed,' she wrote, according to the Courier Mail.

She wrote another to Mr McAlpine saying: 'I think I'll have to be rude and ask (him) to leave... I've had enough'. 

Her son Zachary Boyce (L) said her death caused great harm to the family, as his mother (R) had two children and was soon to become a grandmother

Her son Zachary Boyce (L) said her death caused great harm to the family, as his mother (R) had two children and was soon to become a grandmother

They most recently restarted the affair in 2013 when Lang was working in New Zealand and regularly visited her - as he was on the night of her death

They most recently restarted the affair in 2013 when Lang was working in New Zealand and regularly visited her - as he was on the night of her death

Mr Boyce (pictured) read a victim's impact statement to the court, saying she had no chance to defend herself from being stabbed to death

Mr Boyce (pictured) read a victim's impact statement to the court, saying she had no chance to defend herself from being stabbed to death

Mr Boyce read a victim's impact statement to the court, saying she had no chance to defend herself from being stabbed to death.

 'She was a wonderful mother and wife, not just a socialite. Her murder had caused many secondary victims,' he said.

'Rest in peace Maureen, may we be together again soon enough.'

Zachary said her death caused great harm to the family, as his mother had two children and was soon to become a grandmother.

'My mother was taken from me in the cruellest way possible ... I will never be the same again,' he said.

'This tragic case has been brought about by the marriage between two dreadful scourges, domestic violence and mental illness.'

Lang must serve at least 10 years before he is eligible for parole for killing Ms Boyce

Lang must serve at least 10 years before he is eligible for parole for killing Ms Boyce

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