Daniel Bremner stand trial in Supreme Court accused of bashing murder of housemate

A “frail” man’s beaten body was found at an Adelaide dump after being collected in a green waste bin, a court has heard.

A “frail” man was beaten to death by his housemate and stuffed into a wheelie bin before his body was discovered amid green waste at a rubbish dump, a court has heard.

Daniel Gordon Bremner, 46, began living with the 53-year-old victim, an alcoholic disability support pensioner who cannot be identified, in the months before the man’s body was found in December 2021.

Bremner is now standing trial in the Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to Mr Bremner’s murder. He has pleaded guilty to the victim’s manslaughter, but the plea was not accepted by prosecutors.

Opening the trial on Thursday, prosecutor Jim Pearce KC said Mr Bremner was found alone at the victim’s Hectorville unit, having made a crude clean-up attempt, a few hours after the victim’s decomposing body was discovered at the dump.

“The cause of death was chest and head injuries sustained as a result of blunt-force trauma, a sustained attack of that sort,” Mr Pearce said.

Mr Pearce said the victim’s injuries were consistent with “either a punch or a kick or a stomp” and could not have been caused by a fall.

The victim’s body was found at a dump at Wingfield. Picture: 7NEWS

He said police found blood stains and spatters throughout the victim’s unit including in the lounge room, hallway, kitchen and dining areas.

“On the prosecution the accused inflicted the injuries to (the victim) whilst the two men were inside the house and possibly also whilst in the garage,” he said.

“After killing (the victim), the accused then made rudimentary efforts to clean up the crime scene but his efforts were poor.”

Mr Pearce said prior to the victim’s death, Mr Bremner had been staying at his home for a few months. The men were often seen out and about together, sometimes getting on well, other times not.

“Sometimes threats were exchanged between them, sometimes the accused would threaten to kill (the victim) and so it came to pass.”

The court heard Mr Bremner had been captured on footage using the victim’s credit card to purchase goods, including groceries, cigarettes and alcohol on the day his body was discovered.

Police were called to the Wingfield Integrated Waste Services. Picture: 7NEWS

Mr Pearce said Mr Bremner told officers he had no knowledge or involvement in the victim’s death.

The jury heard police found bloodstained clothes containing DNA from both men in a recycling bin. The green waste bin which they allege had contained the victim’s body was empty, but police noted it appeared to contain “dried blood” on the bottom.

Mr Pearce told the jury the green bin had been collected at 12.36pm on December 21, 2021, and arrived at the Wingfield Waste Transfer Station just before 2pm. It was discovered about 10 minutes later. He was last seen four days earlier, with Bremner four days earlier on December 17, 2021.

He said CCTV cameras had captured the victim’s body falling from the bin into the truck.

Mr Pearce said the worker had been using an excavator to sort the green waste when he noticed a “protruding” leg. The victim’s body was found and later identified by his fingerprints.

The jury heard some of the injuries indicated the victim “may have had a period of survival post infliction of those injuries”.

Wingfield Integrated Waste Services being searched. Picture: 7NEWS

Paul Charman, for Mr Bremner, told the jury the only issue of contention during the trial would be whether the prosecution could prove what his intent was at the time of the acts that caused the victim’s death.

He said his client’s plea to manslaughter was a recognition that he did kill the victim, but it was “not a recognition of what he was intending to do”.

The trial, before Justice Anne Bampton and a jury, continues.