JURY SHOWN ALLEGED BALCOMBE MURDER WEAPON:

Ricky’s mates wouldn’t help police, court told

RICKY Balcombe’s teenage mates refused to help police and planned vengeance for his murder in the days after the fatal stabbing in Geelong’s Market Square, a court has heard.

But the youngsters soon became more co-operative, according to the investigation’s lead detective Ron Iddles.

Mr Iddles gave evidence at the Melbourne Supreme Court for a third day yesterday, testifying at the murder trial of Balcombe’s accused murderer, Karl Michael Hague, 44.

After his stint in the witness box the jury was introduced to the alleged murder weapon: a black-handled kitchen knife with a 13cm blade.

Encased in a clear plastic tube, the knife was passed around and examined by jurors during evidence from police forensic scientist Max Jones.

Mr Jones said DNA evidence was in its infancy as a forensic tool and not fully understood at the time of the murder on May 5, 1995.

Hence DNA samples were not taken from the weapon until September 2015, more than 20 years after the murder. Those tests showed strong traces of Ricky Balcombe’s DNA on the knife but none of Mr Hague’s, the jury heard.

He also said there was a very minor trace of someone else’s DNA on the knife, but it was impossible to identify who.

With her client excluded as the source, Mr Hague’s QC Felicity Gerry said the DNA “could be the killer’s”.

Earlier, Mr Iddles continued taking the jury through the 18-month investigation that led to Mr Hague being charged with murder on October 29, 1996.

While the court has heard many of Balcombe’s friends and gang mates were nearby the day the boy died, most refused to help police.

“They didn’t want to be part of it. They wanted to go off and try and resolve this themselves,” Mr Iddles said

He said after about two weeks “it settled to the point of view where we could have a reasonable conversation”.

Witnesses have testified gang leader Nick Munn, then 17, told members not to talk or co-operate with police even though they were trying to find the person who killed their friend. However the jury has heard his mother, Pamela, fed information to officers.

While eyewitness accounts and descriptions of the man who attacked Balcombe varied, Mr Iddles told the jury on Wednesday there was a common theme. “I think the consistency of the physical description is around 5 foot 10, athletic build, well built, long black hair,” he said.

Yesterday he was asked to describe the appearance of Mr Hague, who was 21 at the time.

“He had long black hair. Basically the same height what I estimated back then, 5 foot 10. Broad shoulders, reasonably physically fit,” he said.

The trial will resume after Easter.