Lewis McPherson coronial inquest hears SA Police missed multiple chances to seize gun from killer Liam Humbles
UPDATED: DRUNK, drugged killer Liam Humbles had contact with SA Police four times in the five months before he murdered Lewis McPherson but was never searched for a firearm, an inquest has heard.
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DRUNK, drugged killer Liam Humbles had contact with SA Police four times in the five months prior to murdering Lewis McPherson but was never searched for a firearm, an inquest has heard.
On Tuesday, the Coroners Court heard police had been told, by both a teacher and a CrimeStoppers tip, that Humbles was armed in July 2012.
When Sergeant Rosemary Thiele, now Rosemary Simpson, was unable to find Humbles at his parents’ home, however, she neither pursued the matter further nor recorded the gun allegations in the police database.
Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel was told that, as a result, Humbles had four interactions with police in the following five months — including being arrested, taken into custody and bailed — without ever being questioned about having a firearm.
He was searched on just one of those occasions — but for drugs, not a gun, and only his backpack was examined by officers.
Outside court, Mr McPherson’s father Mark said the evidence was concerning “on the face of it”.
“He was searched only once (but) clearly it had been reported that he did have a firearm ... it’s upsetting and very disappointing,” he said.
“I will hold (my view of that) until I hear the police side of the story.”
Humbles, 21, is serving a life sentence for murdering Mr McPherson and attempting to murder two of his friends.
He shot and killed Mr McPherson, 18, on December 31, 2012 — they had attended the same high school but did not associate and were not friends.
At the time of the crime, Humbles was emotional about an argument with a friend, under the influence of drugs and had a blood alcohol reading of between 0.252 and 0.284.
After the trial, The Advertiser’s exclusively reported a whistleblower’s claim that police were told, 191 days prior to Mr McPherson’s death, that Humbles was armed.
It also exclusively revealed Humbles’ gun had been provided by Charles Alexander Cullen, who has never disclosed from where he obtained the weapon.
Cullen was jailed for eight years, prompting new laws under which illegal gun sellers are prosecuted as accomplices to the crimes committed with their weapons.
Opening the inquest on Tuesday, Amy Cacas, counsel assisting the coroner, said evidence would be heard from police officers who had spoken with Humbles, as well as his friends.
She said that, in June 2012, Brighton Secondary School received an anonymous call that Humbles, one of its former students, was selling drugs and armed.
Deputy Principal Angela Richards informed police, as did CrimeStoppers — which had also received an anonymous call containing the same information.
Ms Cacas said the information was tasked to Sgt Thiele, who was based at Sturt Local Service Area.
“On July 9, she attended the home address of Humbles intending to speak with him, but was informed by his father that he was no longer living there,” she said.
“She submitted a support (that contained) no recording about the possibility he was in possession of a firearm.
“Between 9 July and 31 December, Humbles had contact with police on at least four occasions.
“Despite this, the issue of him having possession of a firearm was never explored because nothing had been recorded in the SA Police system to alert officers who came into contact with him.”
Humbles’ former girlfriend, Anastasia Machaires, told the Coroners Court “everybody” knew he was armed — and that he would “wig out” when using some of the drugs he dealt in their area.
She insisted she and his friends were only worried about Humbles hurting himself, not other people.
“He’s not a silly boy, he didn’t just leave (the gun) out in the open like it was a cool thing,” she said.
“I think he was a very scared boy ... I didn’t know why ... it (the gun) was his defence mechanism.
“We all wanted to take the gun off him ... but he never let us do that ... we were worried he would do something bad to himself.”
Ms Machaires said Humbles kept the gun in a small safe, along with his drugs.
She said that, prior to the murder, Humbles had become depressed and angry while on drugs and held the gun to his own head.
She said that, when she and a friend could not calm him down, they left — only to hear a gunshot a few moments later.
“We ran back ... it was just him backfiring (the gun) or some s — t,” she said.
“(But) he would never hurt another soul.”
Anthony Keane, for SA Police, reminded Ms Machaires that Humbles was a murderer.
“He would never intentionally harm another soul,” she replied.
She agreed with Mr Keane’s suggestion that she did not, and never would have, gone to the police.
“It’s just something that wouldn’t come into mind for me,” she said.
Mr Keane suggested Ms Machaires had “done nothing” — she replied “yes”.
One of Humbles’ high school friends, Melissa Jupp, said he would talk about, and even show off, the gun when “drunk or high”.
She said Humbles lived a transient lifestyle due to his repeated arguments with his parents, particularly his father.
Ms Jupp said Humbles dealt in cannabis, methylamphetamine “both liquid and crystal”, ecstasy, MDMA and DMT.
She said she never asked why he had the weapon, but was scared because of it.
“I didn’t really know how stable he was ... at any time he could flip out and use it,” she said.
“He had a lot of issues going on and had really bad anger ... he was a pretty scary person sometimes.”
Like Ms Machaires, she agreed she had not informed police of her concerns.
“It’s not something that really comes up easy in conversation,” she said.
“I always keep a lot of things to myself because I don’t want to get into trouble.”
Matthew Richmond — who said he was “an acquaintance” who bought drugs from Humbles — said he personally saw the gun months before Mr McPherson’s murder.
On that occasion, he said, a person he knew as “Charlie” had delivered bullets and a pistol cleaning kit to Humbles.
“I didn’t know (he had a gun) before that day ... I was very shocked, it’s why I asked to hold it,” he said.
“I had never seen a gun in person in my life ... I was very intrigued, curious ... I do remember putting a sock over my hand because I didn’t want fingerprints and stuff.”
Mr Richmond said he understood Humbles had the gun because he “had been ripped off by older people he had been dealing drugs with”.
Both Mr Richmond and Ms Jupp said the house in which Humbles was living, at the time of the murder, was known for drug use.
Mr Richmond said Humbles had pointed the gun at him several times, terrifying him.
“(One time) he turned around, faced me and pointed the gun at my head ... he’s not really the type of person to have one,” he said.
“He could be bullying, he thought it was funny ... from what I could see, the gun was loaded.
“Half of the time he walked around dressed like he was some sort of gangster or something ... he wasn’t someone I wanted to introduce to my mother.”
However, Mr Richmond admitted he never considered “dobbing” Humbles in to police for fear of being considered a “snitch” by mutual friends.
“I was a little, stupid idiot of 16 (years old),” he said.
“I just never really wanted to have anything to do with Liam and his gun, I just wanted drugs and sometimes I had to get them off him.”
Kris Matthew, another friend, said he believed Humbles had the gun not only while living a transient lifestyle but even earlier, while still residing with his parents.
“He once took it out of his jacket and pretended to fire two shots ... it was a joke to him ... Liam was unstable and shouldn’t have been in possession of a gun,” he said.
“(But) at the time he was my friend and I didn’t think he would harm anyone else with it ... I thought he would harm himself (and) you don’t dob in your mates.”
The inquest continues.
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