Killer dad’s defence

Father says he stabbed his son to protect family, court hears

A PERTH man who stabbed his son to death after the 23-yearold asked to borrow his car argues he acted in self-defence, having endured aggressive behaviour and physical abuse.

The body of Matthew Kyle Fisher-Turner was discovered in late October 2016 buried in the backyard of the family’s home and it’s believed he was killed almost four weeks earlier.

Ernest Albert Fisher is charged with murder while two of his other children, Joshua Douglas Fisher-Turner and Hannah Jayde Fisher-Turner, are accused of being accessories to murder.

Prosecutor Laura Christian told the Supreme Court of Western Australia yesterday that Fisher stabbed his son several times with two sharp knives, puncturing a lung and aorta.

Ms Christian said Mr Fisher-Turner had asked to borrow his father’s car, which triggered an argument because Fisher wanted to drive friends to watch the AFL grand final.

After the killing, he started digging a grave in the rear garden, then left the house to watch the match, leaving it up to Joshua to bury his brother, while Hannah helped carry the body outside, Ms Christian said. Days later, Fisher told the deceased’s concerned friends his son had “gone over east with a chicky babe”, telling police he presumed he’d gone to Brisbane to see a girl. But when police said they believed Mr Fisher-Turner had never left the house and had died there, Fisher confessed, describing the victim as “horrible”, claiming he was using drugs and behaved very aggressively.

Defence counsel Sam Vandongen said his client admitted killing his son and instructing at least one of his other children to clean up but argued he acted in self-defence, although the threat was not imminent.

“He did what he did … in order to defend himself and defend his children,” Mr Vandongen said. The lawyer said the pair had been badly affected by the death from cancer of the family matriarch in March 2014. The trial continues.