Paling used to kill victim, court told

A TIMBER paling has been identified as the alleged murder weapon at accused killer Richard Gordon Maxwell Swan’s trial.

Swan is on trial in Townsville Supreme Court for the murder of Rodney Stokes, 30, on August 2, 2016, at the Sturt Lodge.

It is alleged Swan and another man were involved in the death of Mr Stokes, who Crown Prosecutor Nigel Rees said died from severe blows to the head.

At the trial yesterday, police witnesses told the court of the “overpowering smell of bleach” when they arrived at the alleged murder scene.

Photographs were shown to the jury of a 135cm timber palling with three brown hairs attached to the end found leaning against the toilet roll holder in the communal bathroom.

The court was shown photographs of blood stains on the motel wall and door for which Mr Rees asked forensic investigator Sergeant Allan Bartulovich about the transfer patterns.

Mr Rees asked Sgt Bartulovich how much force would have been needed to project blood into the transfer pattern that was shown to the jury on the walls of the motel room.

“I don’t have an exact force based on the size of the stains, which were small,” Sgt Bartulovich said. “Based on the stains that I observed, which was a very small stain, the smaller stains are created from a greater amount of force.”

Mr Rees asked Sgt Bartulovich for his interpretation of the blood patterns.

“In my opinion, all I could say, it was at least two blows to the source of blood,” he said.

On day one of the trial the jury heard from witness Keith Stokes, who claimed to see a white tattooed male with a piece of wood in his hands on the day of the alleged murder.

Mr Stokes, who at the time was a cleaner at Sturt Lodge, also claimed to see an indigenous man holding a hat in front of a security camera.

Arresting officer Detective Sergeant Fred Starr said when he arrived at the motel room he identified a chemical smell.

“When I got down to the end of the corridor, I can smell the very strong smell of bleach,” Sgt Starr said.

The jury was shown the entire police interview with the defendant from August 3, 2016, where Swan admitted to drinking six cups of Jägermeister and eight four-packs of Red Bull the night of the alleged murder. Within the interview, when Swan was questioned about the serious head injuries the deceased sustained, he said the victim “was banging his head around”. Swan declined to give evidence in his defence.

Court reconvenes this morning for the final summation before the jury deliberates.