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Jurors tour units where man was killed with sword

JURORS in the Supreme Court murder trial of Michael Phillip Martin have toured the surrounds of the unit where Martin’s father was allegedly hacked to death with a samurai sword in 2014.

The 12-person jury spent more than an hour yesterday inspecting the industrial area outside the victim’s secondfloor unit on Quarry Rd, South Murwillumbah.

They made notes as Crown Prosecutor Brendan Campbell pointed out various aspects of the alleged crime scene.

Perhaps the crucial place of interest was the base of the stairs leading into the unit.

It was there the accused, 28year-old Michael Martin, was found injured and bound with gaffer tape by a passer-by at 5.11am on June 13, 2014.

Martin claimed to have been the victim of a home invasion during the night in which his father was brutally murdered.

“My dad is up there, they got my dad, I think he’s dead,” the court has heard he allegedly told his rescuer.

Bound and gagged, he told police he managed to wriggle his way out of the unit and roll down the stairs to get help.

But the court has previously heard Martin’s minor injuries were inconsistent with his claim to have rolled down the steep concrete stairs.

The Crown instead alleges he killed his father and staged the event to make it look like he was a victim.

The court has also heard a passing delivery driver saw a man walking towards a car with Queensland numberplates between 4.50am and 5.10am on the day of the murder.

Martin jnr drove a black Jeep Cherokee registered in Queensland.

The jury also walked to a neighbouring chicken packaging factory, Specialised Chickens, and a banana storage shed on the opposite side of the road, from where a CCTV camera captured fragments of relevant footage on the night of the alleged murder.

The Crown was assisted by one lead detective in the murder investigation, Detective Sergeant Simon Peddle, who could be seen gesturing towards the unit from different locations as he addressed jurors.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Hamill was also present, along with Martin’s counsel, Gabriel Wendler.