Accused killer ’bagged’ victim
Murder trial told:
NICK Munn said he planned to “have a go” at Jason Fry a day before allegedly murdering him, a witness has claimed.
Mitchell Paterson made the allegation yesterday on the second day of a Supreme Court trial for Mr Munn.
The 41-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Fry with a claw hammer at North Shore on April 9, 2018, on the grounds of self-defence.
Mr Paterson told the court he was living with his adult son inside a caravan on Mr Fry’s property when he had a conversation with Mr Munn.
He said the discussion took place on April 8, 2018, and was raised with Mr Fry minutes later.
“I told him that Nick was out at the caravan talking to us, bagging him out for all of these things,” Mr Paterson said.
“He more or less had a whole list of reasons as to why he said he was going to have a go at Jason Fry. When he said that I assumed a verbal go.”
The prosecution argues Mr Munn was motivated by anger stemming from financial issues when he allegedly murdered Mr Fry.
The body of the 41-year-old was discovered in an abandoned car on April 15, 2018, less than 300 metres from his Seaforth St property.
Mr Paterson told the jury yesterday that Mr Munn had expressed displeasure to him about Mr Fry’s handling of money in the days leading up to the death. He said Mr Munn had accused Mr Fry of “dogging” his friends and that $2500 loaned to the victim had been “pissed up the wall”, possibly on pokies.
“Nick had criticised a whole heap of things about Jay; just payments that had been lent to him, stuff like that,” Mr Paterson said.
He told the court he first met Mr Munn when the accused murderer moved in to live with Mr Fry two or three weeks before the North Shore man was last seen alive.
He said Mr Fry had told him that Mr Munn was there to sell items to help pay off a rental debt.
“He said that he (Mr Munn) was completely trustworthy and that he was allowed to do whatever he sort of wanted to do out in the yard,” he said.
Mr Paterson aired several claims in court yesterday including allegations that: THE accused murderer once followed Mr Fry’s footsteps “that close that I would have been paranoid”; MR Munn was seen sweating while loading “something extremely heavy” into a wagon after Mr Fry was last seen alive; and, THE defendant told him “Jason’s not coming back” a few days after the alleged murder.
The trial continues.