Keith Russell Yandle found guilty of murder of Stephen Murphy in Kudla shed

A man facing murder charges for gunning down a defenceless father he found hiding in his cannabis shed has learned the jury’s verdict.

Gunman Keith Russell Yandle has been convicted of murdering the defenceless man he buried beneath the dirt floor of his Kudla cannabis shed.

On Friday, and after three hours’ deliberation over two days, a Supreme Court jury found Yandle guilty of murdering Stephen Murphy on February 19, 2023.

Yandle showed no visible reaction to the verdict. He stood with his hands on his hips, occasionally adjusting the lapel of his suit, as he was found guilty.

He spoke only once, when his counsel queried whether he should be brought to court for a short hearing next month to set a sentencing date.

“You want to parade me around for the media?” he said from the dock.

None of Yandle’s family members were present in court for the verdict.

Mr Murphy’s former partner, Danielle Rogers, arrived at court after the verdict was handed down.

She declined to comment outside court.

Yandle, 48, had never denied shooting and killing Mr Murphy but insisted his crime was manslaughter, not murder.

He had pleaded guilty to that lesser offence, and also made SA legal history as the first person to plead guilty to the offence of hiding human remains.

Kudla gunman Keith Russell Yandle.

Stephen Murphy was shot, killed and buried in an underground bunker by Yandle. Picture: Facebook

Yandle had also pleaded guilty to possessing both a firearm and ammunition without a licence.

His son Marco, who was present during the shooting, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and received a suspended sentence.

During Keith Yandle’s three-week trial, prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson had alleged he found Mr Murphy in his cannabis shed.

“At gunpoint and for about 10 minutes, Mr Murphy surrendered to Yandle (who) stood over him as he cowered on his knees with his head down … he was unarmed and compliant,” she said.

“Yandle shot him four times with the rifle at close range … (the first) shot travelled through his heart … he shot him again as he was on the ground, including once in his back.

“Mr Murphy was writhing on the ground as Yandle watched over him … he checked the body and stepped on Mr Murphy’s hands, there was no response.”

Jurors saw Yandle’s own CCTV footage of the incident, held his rifle – equipped with a laser pointer, scope and torch – and toured the shed during the trial.

They heard evidence from Mr Murphy’s family and Yandle’s brother, who compared the death-scream to the 1987 film Robocop.

Major Crime detectives enter Yandle’s cannabis shed during his trial. Picture: Tim Joy

Yandle elected not to take the stand – his barrister, Bill Boucaut KC, told jurors his guilty plea to manslaughter showed his “acceptance” that his actions were “over the top”.

“(Yandle saw) the person who he had bailed up suddenly start coming toward him … he may well have acted instinctively,” he said.

“Might he have been feeling ‘what’s this bloke going to do’ or ‘why does he have his arms folded, is he hiding something’?”

Mr Boucaut said the footage portrayed a “compliant situation”, but a “sad fact” was Mr Murphy “had been taking methylamphetamine”, as shown by a post-mortem examination.

People who use the drug, he said, “become more erratic” and “unpredictable” which may have made for “a very volatile situation”.

By its verdict, the jury rejected Mr Boucaut’s argument, finding Yandle guilty of murder.

Justice Anne Bampton remanded Yandle in custody for a directions hearing next month.