Accused told police of big drug debts

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 themercury.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397 TATTOO artist Dwayne Davies owed $17,800 to his “best mate”, the man accused of murdering him, a jury has heard.

Bradley Scott Purkiss, 43, of Elderslie, and Mr Davies’ wife, Margaret Anne Otto, 47, of Risdon Vale, have both pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Davies, 47, on May 26, 2017. It is alleged Mr Purkiss and Ms Otto formed a plan to kill Mr Davies, and Mr Purkiss shot him at Elderslie and buried his body at Levendale, where police found it on June 3.

A Supreme Court jury in Hobart yesterday watched a video recording of a police interview with Mr Purkiss on May 30, 2017 in which Mr Purkiss attributed Mr Davies’ disappearance to him getting “into the heavy drugs”.

In his police interview, Mr Purkiss said he had known Mr Davies for about 10 years.

“I’ve only been his best mate for the last four. He’s my tattoo artist,” Mr Purkiss said.

He said he renovated the bathroom at Mr Davies’ home in 2015, which he had not been paid for, and had supplied him with cannabis. Mr Purkiss said Mr Davies owed him $17,800 and he owed money to others.

He said he gave Mr Davies a pound of cannabis, which he said was worth $3000, not long before Mr Davies went missing, to “help him get back on his feet”. He said the cannabis was nowhere to be found after Mr Davies disappeared.

“At the moment I think he’s got in to the heavy drugs, mate, and he’s pissed off the wrong person … he owes a lot of money,” Mr Purkiss said. “I believe he’s been selling [the cannabis] to pay for his addiction to heavy drugs.”

Mr Purkiss told police Mr Davies had visited him “12 days straight” shortly before he went missing. He said he told Mr Davies on May 21 that he and his partner needed space but Mr Davies continued to visit. Mr Purkiss said he asked Mr Davies to come to his place on May 26 “about a couple of Harleys” and that he wanted his money.

“He was supposed to bring a Harley Davidson to me to pay off his debt,” Mr Purkiss said.

The jury heard Mr Davies drove Ms Otto’s car to Elderslie that night. Mr Purkiss told police that when his partner, who was not at home during Mr Davies’ visit that night, returned, “I told her how he [Mr Davies] was going to kill himself on the way home [and that he said] ‘I’ve got no one’.”

At the end of the interview, Mr Purkiss said to police: “There’s so much stuff going through my mind. I feel hopeless, feel so guilty. Feel so guilty that there’s so many people out there feeling so bad … and who’s the one who brought that to a head?

“I’m tired, I’m exhausted, I just want to go home and go to bed. I feel numb.”

The trial, before Chief Justice Alan Blow, continues.

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