Mrs Rix was sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in jail, with a minimum of eight years for conspiring to murder her husband Joe Rix in 2007.

Joe Rix, aged 31, was shot in the back, buttocks and stomach at his farm at Bogan Gate, near Parkes, on May 1 2007, with his own 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun.

After the shooting, his wife Andrea Louise Rix, aged 33, said she knew nothing of the shooting and spent hours by her husband’s bedside in hospital.

Days later, Andrea Rix was charged with intent and conspiracy to murder her husband, while her alleged lover, Terence Joseph Sealey, aged 44, was charged with attempted murder.

Mrs Rix provided Mr Sealey with the gun to kill her husband.

After two years of hurt and anguish for Mr Rix and his young children the sentence laid down by Judge Robyn Tupman in a Sydney District court has allowed them to begin to repair the psychological damage that has been done.

A local business owner said the community was relieved that the ordeal could be somewhat laid to rest.

“There has been a lot of talk about it over the past two years,” the business owner said.

“A lot of people were caught up in the whole thing.

“It is a big closure for both the community and the family.”

While relieved, the community believes Mrs Rix should be locked away for much longer.

“It is just rewards,” the local business owner said.

“She definitely deserves what she got but I think a lot of people probably think it was not quite enough.”

According to the Sydney Morning Herald Judge Tupman said both Rix and Sealey, who is serving a minimum of five years and six months jail for his part, were equally involved in the crime, an “evolving plan fuelled by personal feelings, fear and lack of judgment.”

Judge Tupman took into account Mrs Rix’s clean criminal record and psychological illness - a result of her upbringing in an abusive home.

lucy.rowles@ruralpress.com