Salt Creek backpacker trial day 11: Jury finds accused guilty in six of seven charges
UPDATE: IN an unusual Saturday court session, the accused in the Salt Creek case was found guilty of kidnapping and assault charges but not guilty of attempted murder.
- Day 1: “Get out of here, he’s going to kill us all”
- Day 2: Jurors visit isolated, treacherous terrain
- Day 3: “I’ve never seen anyone so covered in blood”
- Day 4: “I was in the horror movies ... I’m not going to die today”
- Day 5: “That’s the end ... I saw myself already buried in the sand”
- Day 6: “It was like she had seen the devil”
- Day 7: “Her hair, chest and face were thick with blood”
- Day 8: DNA expert gives evidence on bloody Salt Creek scene
- Day 9: Accused “creepy, sleazy, hated — but not a criminal”
IN an unusual Saturday court session, the accused in the Salt Creek case was found guilty of kidnapping and assault charges but not guilty of attempted murder.
The jury returned its verdicts just before 2.30pm on Saturday.
The 60-year-old accused man, whose identity is suppressed, was found:
GUILTY of indecent assault
GUILTY of causing serious harm
GUILTY of aggravated cause harm
GUILTY of endandering life
GUILTY aggravated assault
GUILTY aggravated kidnapping
NOT GUILTY of attempted murder
The man showed no emotion as the verdicts were handed down.
SPECIAL REPORT: SALT CREEK: WHAT THE JURY DID NOT HEAR
Earlier, the 11-member jury asked the court for transcripts of evidence given by the Brazilian and German backpackers to help them reach a verdict.
The jury was provided access to the transcripts.
On Friday the jurors asked a judge questions about the two central charges in the case after more than five hours of deliberation.
HOW WE COVERED TODAY’S VERDICT:
Just before 5pm, the 11-member jury sent two questions to justice Trish Kelly, who invited them to retire and consider their verdict at 11.20am on Friday.
Justice Kelly declined to read the questions in court aloud but said they related to counts one and four on the charge sheet.
Those charges are the aggravated kidnapping of the Brazilian backpacker and the attempted murder of the German backpacker.
Justice Kelly told the jurors the answer to both of their questions was “no”.
The jury retired for the evening at about 6pm.
A 11-member jury panel is deliberating on the case because one person who began hearing the trial was hospitalised on Tuesday night.
The man, 60, whose identity is suppressed, pleaded not guilty to one count each of aggravated kidnapping, indecent assault and causing harm with intent to do so.
He further denied counts of attempted murder, aggravated causing serious harm with intent to do so, endangering life and aggravated assault.
Prosecutor Jim Pearce QC alleged that, on February 9 last year, he attacked the Brazilian and German backpackers after promising to drive them to Melbourne.
The Brazilian’s clothes were allegedly cut from her body with a knife before she was bound and sexually assaulted.
The German was struck four times in the head with a hammer and repeatedly “mowed down” by the man’s vehicle.
Defence counsel Bill Boucaut SC, however, has asserted the incident did not occur at all.
He has suggested the Brazilian ran naked into the dunes following an argument, and the German was injured when she fell from the vehicle’s roof while they searched for her.