Kudla shed shooter Keith Russell Yandle “reprehensible” but not a murderer, his barrister tells SA Supreme Court jury

The Kudla shed shooter’s lawyer says he won’t try to justify his client’s actions, but insists he’s not guilty of murder.

Shooting an unarmed man four times, then burying his body to “cover your tracks”, is “distasteful” and “simply reprehensible” but does not make someone a murderer, his lawyer says.

Keith Russell Yandle has elected not to take the stand, on his own behalf, in his Supreme Court trial for the alleged murder of Stephen Murphy.

In his closing address on Wednesday, Bill Boucaut KC reminded jurors it was not for his client to prove his innocence, but for prosecutors to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

“No one in other than their right mind could help but feel sympathy for Mr Murphy (or) feel immense sympathy for his family,” he said.

“There’s a lot about Yandle and his conduct that you’d find reprehensible, you would not approve of much of the stuff he has done and I’m not going to try and justify it.

“But whether you feel a feeling of distaste for what he has done, whether you conclude it is reprehensible or otherwise, does not mean he’s guilty of murder.”

Keith Yandle on trial. Sketch by Dave Schaeffer.

His defence counsel has made its closing address. Picture: 7NEWS Adelaide

Yandle, 48, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Murphy on February 19, 2023, but guilty to the lesser change of manslaughter.

Prosecutors allege he shot Mr Murphy – who was living rough in the area – four times, then stood over him and watched him die.

Yandle opted not to take the stand and give evidence in his own defence, instead calling a medical expert to tell jurors about the effects of methylamphetamine upon a person.

Mr Boucaut has previously suggested, to prosecution witnesses, that Mr Murphy was a user of the drug.

On Wednesday, Mr Boucaut said it was “pitch dark” on the night of the shooting, and that Kudla was a “semi-rural” area with “lots of places where people can hide”.

He said CCTV footage from his client’s cannabis shed showed not only the shooting, but Mr Murphy “snooping around, more than once” in the days prior.

It also showed, days before the shooting, “not one, but three” unknown people “hanging around in the back of the shed”, and that “one of them had a rifle”.

Stephen Murphy was killed in Kudla in 2023. Picture: SA Police

Mr Boucaut said it was possible Yandle was in a “heightened, stressful state” and took the rifle “not to shoot someone but to defend himself, were the need to defend himself arise”.

“What are you meant to think, in Yandle’s situation? Inside the house was (his family),” he said.

“He might have thought ‘this is dangerous, someone is invading our property, we had better be ready in case something happens’.

“Of course it was a poor decision to go out to that shed, but you’ll remember this was an unusual and highly-stressful situation.”

He said only one of Yandle’s four shots fired was fatal and reminded jurors his client had pleaded guilty to burying Mr Murphy’s body.

“Of course he was trying to cover his tracks and hide the fact this man was killed,” he said.

“It may well indicate he had some kind of guilty conscience, but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty of murder.”

In her closing address, prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson said there was “simply no evidence” Yandle had acted to defend himself or his family.

“How could Yandle believe it was genuinely and reasonably necessary to shoot Mr Murphy? He went on the offensive with a loaded semi-automatic rifle,” she said.

“What threat was Mr Murphy posing that necessitated him being shot four times? It’s simply implausible that Yandle genuinely believed it was necessary and reasonable.”

She conceded a post-mortem examination found methylamphetamine in Mr Murphy’s system, but said Yandle sought to use that to pursue “a narrative that isn’t there”.

The trial continues.