Victim shot in the back, court told
THE first shot fired at Jake Anderson-Brettner struck him on the back followed by two shots to his chest, a court has heard.
Jack Harrison Vincent Sadler, 29, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Anderson-Brettner, 24, in August 2018 and is on trial at the Launceston Supreme Court.
During his evidence on Thursday, state forensic pathologist Dr Christopher Lawrence, who conducted the autopsy of Mr Anderson-Brettner’s torso, said the first and third shots were lethal, both travelling through chambers of the heart.
“Without resuscitation he would have died very quickly, both were lethal shots, both would have caused death,” Dr Lawrence said.
Dr Lawrence said the head, legs and arms had been taken off with a combination of a knife and a chopping instrument such as a hatchet or axe.
When asked by Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC if it was possible a saw had been used, he said he couldn’t be certain.
Dr Lawrence told the court he estimated the process took about half an hour because they had cut through the bone rather than joints.
“The head had been removed in a some- what unusual way,” Dr Lawrence said. “Nor- mally it’s cut through at the level of the jaw, but this was cut quite high, part of the jaw was still attached to the body,” he said.
Dr Lawrence told the court the lack of blood in the incisions indicated it was performed after the death of Mr AndersonBrettner.
Dr Lawrence described the gunshot wound of the second shot as “a-typical” and said the bullet had hit something before it hit the body, either clothing or the right arm.
He said the body was probably in contact with the ground when the bullet struck because it had mostly come out but had then rebounded back into the body, most likely after contact with the ground.
Dr Lawrence said it wasn’t possible to determine
the distance the gun was fired from except that it was further than a metre away.
The court heard the bullets from the second shot and third shot were recovered during the autopsy.
Ballistics expert Senior Constable Simon Taylor said “the calibre of both bullets is consistent in size with being 9mm” and had characteristics consistent with being fired from the Smith and Wesson pistol found at Mr Sadler’s property.
He told the court through testing he was able to determine three fired cartridge cases found by police in a drain at Mr Sadler’s Riverside home were fired from the same gun.
The trial is due to continue on Monday.