Maslin Beach shotgun slaying of Robert Sabeckis in 2000 is ‘not a clear-cut murder’, defence lawyer tells jury
Robert Sabeckis was shot dead in a beachside carpark nearly 20 years ago. A New Zealand man charged after a DNA match admits firing the shotgun – but denies it was murder.
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Robert Sabeckis was “hunted” and “gunned down” in a seaside carpark, a court has heard – but his alleged murderer has blamed the 20-year-old killing on a defective shotgun.
On Monday, prosecutors told a Supreme Court jury that Paul Beveridge Maroroa shot Mr Sabeckis twice with a stolen sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun.
They said he further “humiliated” his victim by striking him in the head with the gun, pulling down his underpants and stealing his car, leaving him to die.
They alleged DNA sourced from the weapon – which was broken into three parts and hidden around the area – as well as clothing and the airbag of Mr Sabeckis’ car tied Maroroa to the murder.
However, Heath Barklay SC, for Maroroa, said that evidence proved only that Mr Sabeckis had died a bloody death, not that he was murdered.
“This trial is not about whether Maroroa shot Mr Sabeckis – he did,” he said.
“The prosecution makes emotive statements to you, that he was ‘gunned down’ ... you will need to consider the circumstances in which the gun was fired and the issue of self-defence.
“The shotgun was found to be defective – the right barrel, anyway – and required very little pressure in order to discharge.
“The crime scene photos are awful and graphic, make no mistake, and they tell you in no uncertain terms Mr Sabeckis was shot – but they do not tell you he was murdered.”
Maroroa, 44, of Auckland in New Zealand, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Sabeckis in the car park of Maslin Beach, south of Adelaide, on January 13, 2000.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Sandi McDonald SC said ambulance officers called to the scene found Mr Sabeckis dead, with bloody footprints and a piece of a shotgun near his body.
She had Mr Sabeckis had suffered significant gunshot wounds to his arm, armpit and chest.
“Maroroa had hunted Mr Sabeckis down in the car park, shooting him twice,” she said.
“He gunned him down before striking him in the head with the butt of the firearm, then left him for dead.
“He subjected him to a final act of humiliation, and pulled his underpants down to around his ankles, leaving his genitalia exposed.”
She said Mr Sabeckis’ car was located nearby – it had crashed and, from its airbag, a DNA sample was taken that would later match Maroroa’s genetic signature.
The stock of the gun, meanwhile, was found in the water later that day by a snorkeller, inside a gun bag that had been weighed down with rocks.
That bag also contained a towel and pair of bloodstained jeans that had been bound up with red tape – all items tested positive for Maroroa’s DNA.
Ms McDonald said that, five days after the shooting, nearby residents found a sawn-off shotgun discarded on their property, wrapped up in a bloodstained jacket.
The jacket, she said, also tested positive for Maroroa’s DNA, while the weapon was “parts-matched” to both the stock found in the water and the gun piece found by Mr Sabeckis’ body.
She said the gun’s serial number tied it to an Aldinga Beach property that had been broken into and set alight 13 days before the shooting.
The house breaker, she said, had left a safe full of medication and cash untouched when taking the shotgun, then set a fire in the room in which it had been stored.
“Maroroa was no stranger to the family (who owned the house) ... he was friends with their son, they had known each other for years,” she said.
“The fact the money was left there might well suggest Maroroa went there with a clear purpose, to get what he wanted.
“That was the shotgun, which he modified later so it could be concealed, and then took to the beach where he used it to kill Robert Sabeckis.”
Mr Barklay told jurors there would be little dispute over the forensic evidence.
“We accept Maroroa was there, that he shot Mr Sabeckis with a shotgun, that he drove from the scene in his car and crashed,” he said.
“We accept that he discarded the shotgun and the jacket he was wearing at the time Mr Sabeckis was shot – there’s no issue about any of that.
“The defence case is that the crime scene and the injuries don’t paint a clear-cut picture of murder, as the prosecution claims.”
The trial, before Justice Sam Doyle and a jury of eight women and five men, continues.