Victim ‘defiant to end’

LAUNCESTON man Bradley Breward was waterboarded and suffocated with a plastic bag in his final moments, prosecutors allege, before his body was dumped in a lake by the man charged with his murder.

The Supreme Court in Launceston yesterday heard accused killer Mark Rodney Jones had “become obsessed” with finding his missing Nissan Patrol in December 2016 and believed 22-year-old Mr Breward had stolen it.

Jones, of West Launceston, has pleaded not guilty to Mr Breward’s murder.

Prosecutors said Mr Breward was sleeping off a night of celebrations at a friend’s unit in the Launceston suburb of Newnham on New Year’s Day 2017 when Jones entered, accompanied by another man, and started demanding to know where his missing fourwheel drive was.

The court heard the men used tape to tie Mr Breward’s hands behind his back and his ankles together before Jones waterboarded the victim and used a plastic bag to suffocate him, interrogating him about the vehicle in between.

Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates said Mr Breward died after Jones used the plastic bag to suffocate him even after Mr Breward said he was dying.

After an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate Mr Breward, Jones and the man accompanying him put the body in a bean bag, wrapped it in a tarpaulin and dumped the body at Lake Eugenana, near Devonport.

The court heard Jones did not know Mr Breward but began to look for him after he discovered his vehicle was missing on December 12, having been placed by a roadside on the outskirts of Launceston and advertised for sale.

Mr Coates said Jones shared flyers on social media, with several people suggesting Mr Breward was responsible.

The Crown said Jones eventually paid the partner of one of Mr Breward’s friends $1000 to tip him off as to his whereabouts.

Jones admitted to police going to the Newnham unit and attacking him.

Mr Coates said Jones told police Mr Breward was “defiant to the end”.

Defence counsel Greg Richardson said the jury would have to carefully consider Jones’s state of mind, intention and understanding at the time.

Mr Richardson said Jones had gone to the unit to get his vehicle back, “which he’s not going to get if the man dies”.

“It never entered his head that the bloke was going to die,” Mr Richardson told the jury.

The trial, before Justice Robert Pearce, continues.