Murder accused admits bat attack

A man accused of murdering his friend with a cricket bat killed him because he charged at him armed with scissors and with a ‘‘look of evil’’ on his face, a court heard.

John Collins, 39, gave evidence on day four of his jury trial in the High Court of Dunedin yesterday.

The Crown allege Collins struck 45-yearold Brent Bacon with the bat at a house they shared in Lock St, St Clair, on February 4,

2019, later dumping his body off a rural road before heading north with his wife Aleisha Dawson. Defence counsel Len Andersen QC said his client was in mortal danger on that night, with Collins telling the court that he did not intend to kill Bacon.

Collins, who denies murder, had celebrated his 37th birthday two days before the killing, smoking methamphetamine with Bacon and Dawson.

On the day of his death, a paranoid Bacon returned to the Lock St property claiming someone was following him.

Bacon owed a Christchurch man $500 for drugs, and claimed he saw the dealer’s car in Dunedin. Collins said Bacon was paranoid and was giving him ‘‘s...’’ when he suddenly came at him with scissors in his right hand and ‘‘a look of evil’’.

‘‘I thought he was going to stab me.’’ Collins, who knew of Bacon’s domestic violence offending, said he had to defend himself. ‘‘I picked up the cricket bat and swung it,’’ he said.

He said he was intending to scare him but instead hit him in the head, leaving Bacon on the floor on his hands and knees.

That was when he claimed Bacon threatened to kill him, with Collins telling the court: ‘‘I thought I was really in danger.’’

He hit him again, and Bacon toppled onto his back, and as Collins hit him a third time the bat broke, leaving him unmoving on the floor. Collins, who told police his partner was not present at the time of Bacon’s death, told the court that Dawson remained curledup in a ball as he swore and paced the house.

‘‘It seemed like there was blood everywhere.’’ After a brief attempt to clean up, Collins wrapped Bacon’s body in a sleeping bag and loaded him into his own car – when there was a noise of ‘‘air coming out of his body’’, jurors heard.

Collins told Andersen that an interview with police was a ‘‘meth-fuelled rant’’, and he didn’t recall making any of his statement. The grisly crime scene was uncovered when Bacon’s brother-in-law broke into the Lock St home, almost two weeks after he went missing.

That sparked a major police investigation; Bacon’s dumped body was found by a passing cyclist, which led to the arrest of Collins and Dawson in Rotorua a fortnight after the killing.

Questioned by Crown prosecutor Richard Smith, Collins denied he struggled with men giving his partner attention, and downplayed an earlier incident when he threatened to punch Bacon.

He rejected the Crown’s claim that he hit Bacon as his friend sat on a two-seater couch next to Dawson. Collins told the court that Bacon never raised his hands in defence.

Bacon’s broken hands were caused by him standing on them, Collins said.Asked how Bacon’s bloodied thumb print ended-up on the bat, Collins claimed it may have been caused when he moved the body.

Collins said he noticed the scissors in Bacon’s hands just before he hit him with the cricket bat. That was different to a police interview where he claimed Bacon had his fists raised. ‘‘At the time I couldn’t remember. I had tried to block it out.’’

Collins told the court he had bought the bat for backyard cricket, but it was also used for protection from gangs.

He denied he was trying to provoke a fight with Bacon, claiming he was ‘‘just having a laugh’’. Collins confirmed he used money he took from Bacon for drugs and to head north.

The trial continues, and closing arguments will begin on Monday.