Niece of shooting victim Robert Sabeckis tells Supreme Court of harm caused by Paul Beveridge Maroroa
The niece of a man shot and killed in Maslin Beach in 2000 has delivered an emotional message to the man who pulled the trigger.
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The heartbroken niece of a man shot and killed at Maslin Beach in 2000 has told the shooter that she hopes he is haunted by the memory of her uncle for the rest of his life.
Paul Beveridge Maroroa was found not guilty of murdering Robert Sabeckis at trial but was found guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Sabeckis’ niece Vilija told the Supreme Court on Friday that the death of her uncle had caused ripples of pain to spread throughout her family and the close-knit Lithuanian community.
“Maslin Beach will always be the place where Robert was shot and left to die,” she said.
“I can only imagine how scared he would have been, it breaks my heart.
“There is a big hole in our family with Robert gone. You took him away from us. Without my father here, he would have been the person to walk me down the aisle when I got married last year.”
Maroroa wiped away tears after the emotional testimony.
Mr Sabeckis, 42, was shot twice with a shotgun in the Gull Rock car park at Maslin Beach, south of Adelaide, early on the morning of January 13, 2000.
Maroroa, 44, who admitted shooting Mr Sabeckis, but said it was self defence, fled to New Zealand after the shooting.
For 18 years Mr Sabeckis’ family had no answers until a Maroroa was arrested on assault charges and his DNA was linked to trace evidence left at the scene of the shooting.
The evidence comparison was made possible by a change in legislation which allowed for DNA comparisons with databases in other countries.
During the trial Mararoa said he had been delivering the shotgun to Mr Sabeckis to pay off a $150 drug debt.
He said he fired the shotgun in self defence and claimed that Mr Sabeckis intended to rape and murder him.
The claims have been criticised by both the prosecution and Mr Sabeckis’ family.
“For 18 years my family lived with Robert’s death being an unsolved murder case, it is difficult to explain how that affects me day to day,” Ms Sabeckis said.
“I feel like Robert’s death has always sat behind me, that I will carry it with me throughout my life.
“We still don’t have an explanation for what happened last night.
“By claiming to be a victim and painting Robert as some kind of monster the accused continues to cause pain to my family.
“I only ever knew Robert to be a kind and gentle man, his sexual preference should have no bearing in the circumstances of his being killed at the hand of another. Only the accused knows what really happened that morning and I hope it haunts him for the rest of his life.”
Heath Barklay QC, acting for Maroroa, said that his client had been haunted by the incident during his time on the run.
“There is not a day that goes by that he does not think about what happened,” Mr Barklay said.
“He is genuinely remorseful for taking Mr Sabeckis’ life. He has been forced to live with this terrible secret hanging over his head.”
Maroroa will be sentenced later this month.