Marco Yandle held torch while father Keith Yandle shot and killed Steven Murphy in shed at their Kudla home, court told

The father accused of executing a helpless man as his son held a torch on him has been revealed in new pictures.

Police at the Yandles’ Kudla property, and, inset, Marco Yandle.

A former school captain shone a torch on a defenceless man while his father executed him in cold blood with an unlicensed firearm, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, the Adelaide Magistrate Court refused to release Marco Anthony Yandle, 19, on any form of bail after prosecutors said the murder of Steven Murphy was among the most serious examples of the crime.

They alleged Marco, a former Trinity College school vice-captain and footballer, and his co-charged father, Keith Russell Yandle, armed themselves with the gun and a baseball bat after discovering Mr Murphy was in the shed located 60 metres from their Kudla home.

They further alleged Keith fired one shot at Mr Murphy as he “lay cowering in a corner” then forced him to stand up, searched him and took all of his personal items.

Keith Yandle. Picture: 7NEWS Adelaide

They said CCTV cameras inside the shed recorded the entire incident, which ended with Marco shining a torch on Mr Murphy as Keith fired two shots from fewer than two metres away.

Police search the shed on the Kudla property. Picture: 7NEWS

While Keith made no application for bail, prosecutors said Marco would interfere with witnesses, including his intellectually disabled uncle, and destroy vital evidence if released.

Steven Murphy was allegedly murdered at Kudla. Picture: SA Police

Outside court, a group of Mr Murphy’s longtime school friends paid tribute to him while, on social media, his former partner asked for privacy and understanding.

Keith, 46, and Marco, have yet to plead to one count each of murder.

Keith is further accused of drugs and firearms offending, as well as one count of concealing human remains – he is the first person in SA to face that charge.

The charges arise from the search for, and eventual discovery of, the body of missing man Mr Murphy during a search of the Yandles’ property at Kudla, near Gawler.

Police alleged human remains found in a large man-made bunker measuring 15m by 15m within a shed at a property’s rear were those of Mr Murphy.

They further alleged Keith Yandle was responsible for an incomplete “gravesite” within the bunker that had been dug over a “long period of time”.

On Tuesday, Keith made a brief appearance in court by video link.

Dressed in a prison-issue blue tracksuit with his hands cuffed in front of him, he listened as his lawyer said there would be no application for bail.

Upon hearing he would therefore be remanded in custody for six months, he hung his head and said “okay”.

Marco appeared next, also by video link, wearing a heavy jacket with his hands cuffed.

He did not appear to notice nor acknowledge four young men sitting in the back row of the court, who told court staff they were his school friends.

Supporters of Marco Yandle leave the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Sean Nottle, for Marco, asked his client be released on home detention bail – a request to which prosecutor Lucy Boord KC objected strongly.

She dubbed the alleged murder “an extremely serious example of this type of offence”, saying Mr Murphy had been shot and killed “around February 19”.

“There are real concerns this accused will potentially intimidate or interfere with witnesses, or destroy evidence,” she said.

“One of those witnesses is his uncle, who has an intellectual disability.

“There is also evidence that, post-offence, this accused destroyed evidence from his mobile phone.

“CCTV footage from inside the shed, where this offence occurred, was also destroyed.”

Ms Boord said that footage had been recovered by police and shown to Mr Nottle ahead of the hearing.

“What is seen on that footage amounts, essentially, to the cold-blooded execution of an unarmed, vulnerable and defenceless man,” she said.

“The first shot was fired around 10pm when the victim was cowering in a corner of the shed.

“At least three, probably four shots were fired about 15 minutes later once this accused had searched the victim, who was clearly unarmed.

“The firearm was held and discharged by Yandle Senior while this accused stood and illuminated the victim with a torch while he was shot by his father.”

Mr Nottle, however, said Ms Boord’s “synopsis” did not encompass the true complexity of the case.

Major Crime and detectives search the Kudla property for Mr Murphy’s body. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“Both men go into the shed, Yandle Senior with the unlicensed firearm, Yandle Junior with a baseball bat and a torch, looking for an intruder,” he said.

“There is, and it’s all on the CCTV footage, a man cowering in the corner and hidden from the two men and the first shot fired is, in a sense, a warning shot, not fired at anything in particular.

“There comes a time where the deceased is standing and Yandle Senior is pointing the firearm at him … Yandle Junior is off to the side holding the baseball bat and the torch.

“There’s then an interaction, the deceased’s pockets are turned out and Yandle Junior is looking at the phone the deceased has procured.

“The deceased has then taken one, two, maybe three steps forward from his position, toward Yandle Senior, at which point the shots are discharged.

“Yandle Junior then exits the shed at his father’s direction.”

He said it was “quite clear” Marco had “no physical presence in the actual offending”, meaning it would be difficult for prosecutors to maintain a murder charge.

“This is a 19-year-old man who accompanied his father, with a baseball bat, to confront an intruder and it’s only then his father – and his father alone – is responsible physically for the death of the deceased,” he said.

“This is also a 19-year-old man in custody for the first time.”

Magistrate Justin Wickens said that submission was difficult to accept.

“There is the suggestion, on the prosecution case, that Yandle Junior is there ready to lend a hand and he’s capable of doing so,” he said.

“The prosecution also says he’s illuminating the target, at least.”

Mr Nottle said Marco was “illuminating the area”, but Mr Wickens said the teenager’s alleged actions amounted to “keeping the deceased under surveillance”.

Ms Boord agreed, and said issues of self-defence and protection of property should not trouble the court.

“The shed is 60m away from the residential premises and the so-called ‘warning shot’ was fired in the direction of the deceased about 1m from where he was cowering,” she said.

“Yandle Senior was 2m away when the fatal shots were fired.”

Mr Wickens refused bail, saying the allegations were serious, and remanded Marco in custody to face court alongside his father in October.