Murder case against Hells Angel Tobias Sahlstorfer is a ‘dog’s breakfast’, defence says
Lawyers for a Hells Angels member standing trial accused of the bashing murder of Mark Boyce have told a Supreme Court trial the prosecution case has “serious flaws”.
Police & Courts
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The case against a Hells Angels member accused of the bashing murder of a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time is a “dog’s breakfast” and contains “serious flaws”, his defence lawyer says.
Tobias Sahlstorfer, 34, of Gulfview Heights is standing trial in the Supreme Court charged with the January 2017 bashing of Mark Boyce, 36.
In his closing address Bill Boucaut KC, for Mr Sahlstorfer, said there was a lack of evidence to link his client or his blue Toyota Echo to the Hill St, Elizabeth South, crime scene.
“What the prosecution have done in my submission … is to throw up what I would call a dog’s breakfast to enable little bits and pieces to be picked out,” he said.
“All the prosecution has done is actually start with an assumption and try to find stuff that fits that assumption.”
Mr Boucaut said different witnesses had given varying descriptions of the cars at the scene, CCTV of the incident was of “extremely poor quality” and no witnesses had reported seeing prominent tattoos such as those inked on Mr Sahlstorfer.
Prosecutors allege Mr Sahlstorfer was one of three men who set upon Mr Boyce while looking for another man about 10.40pm on January 30, 2017.
Mark Boyce, 36, was subjected to a 30-second bashing near his home and died in hospital a week later on February 8, 2017.
Mr Sahlstorfer is the second man to stand trial accused of Mr Boyce’s murder after another man, Joshua Roy Grant, was found guilty of his murder in 2019 and sentenced to 20 years’ jail.
Opening the trial in November, Jim Pearce KC told the court Mr Sahlstorfer was alleged to be the “main protagonist” in the ambush of Mr Boyce, who was not the intended target of the attack.
Mr Pearce said the alleged attackers were actually looking for Mr Boyce’s friend. He said that friend – who knew people were looking for him – had spotted two vehicles including a Toyota Echo with a faded roof approaching and hid on Mr Boyce’s roof, where he saw the incident unfold.
Mr Pearce had said a blue Toyota Echo with a faded roof was found in September 2019, burnt out, cut up and buried under 4m of “compacted sand” at a Hells Angels property at Ponde, near Mannum.
He said that despite the state of the car, the engine number remained and matched a car belonging to Mr Sahlstorfer which had disappeared soon after the incident.
Justice Laura Stein, who is presiding over the trial without a jury, will deliver a verdict at a later date.
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