Jake Ashman pleads not guilty to murder of Granville neighbour Darren Ints in Rockhampton court
Videos played in the trial of a man accused of murdering his neighbour reveal he told police he smoked marijuana and wiped up blood instead of calling them because that’s what a ‘note’ at the scene warned him to do.
Fraser Coast
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A murder accused claims he didn’t call police after discovering his neighbour’s body as he was following instructions on a note found in the victim’s unit and feared for his safety if he didn’t comply.
Jake Scott Ashman, 25, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his neighbour, Granville resident Darren John Ints, 49, in a Cambridge Street unit on February 17, 2019.
In a judge-alone trial in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton this week, the court heard Mr Ints had sustained 34 stab wounds – seven breaching his chest wall and four of those piercing his heart.
Two videos from two separate interviews by police with Mr Ashman have been played during day two of the trial.
Mr Ashman was observed smiling while watching some parts of these interviews.
During the first interview, which took place outside Mr Ashman’s unit while he was handcuffed and shoeless, he told police the last time he was in his neighbour’s unit, prior to Mr Ints’s death, was a month earlier when the pair had argued over the cleaning of the shared bathroom.
He told police he had smoked the marijuana and was high that day and couldn’t remember some parts of what had happened.
In the view, Mr Ashman claimed that on the day of Mr Ints’ death, he entered his neighbour’s unit through the shared bathroom doors after hearing banging noises and shouting but left it 20-30 minutes before he knocked five times and then entered after no response.
He said he didn’t go earlier as he believed the fight didn’t involve him and he didn’t want to intrude on a possible family argument.
During the two interviews, Mr Ashman told how he entered, saw Mr Ints’s body on the ground near the front door, with his shirt covered in blood and he could see stab wounds on the deceased’s stomach.
He claimed he went over to check if Mr Ints’ was alive by touching one of his arms and calling his name several times.
Mr Ashman claimed he then spotted the note on a bench with a knife on top, read the note and followed the alleged instructions to “wipe up the spots” and “roll one up (a reference he took to mean smoking a joint)” with a winky face.
He told police he burned that note and put the remnants down the drain in his unit.
“I felt I would be in danger if I didn’t comply,” he said.
Mr Ashman said he grabbed a chux from his own unit to wipe down blood splatter and also claimed a knife in Mr Ints’s unit was a knife he had lent Mr Ints previously and was worried police would find both of their prints on it so he took it.
“That person (alleging another person killed his neighbour) must know me as well because he had put my knife on the note,” Mr Ashman told police in the video.
He said he also told police he went through Mr Ints’s drawers looking for money, and took the two tailor-made cigarettes and marijuana, as he thought “why not, he’s dead” and the next time Mr Ashman’s pay would go into his account was in six-days time.
Mr Ashman also told police he thought “a deal’s a deal”.
He explained this as “get a bit of weed, get some cigarettes, lock the door, hide the knife”.
Asked why he had showered and changed clothes since being in Mr Ints’s unit for the last time he responded “I had pissed myself”.
He also claimed there was blood on the toilet which he had to wipe off as he needed to use it because he felt sick.
Earlier, friends and neighbours described in court the horrific scene they were confronted with when they kicked open the door of the Maryborough unit and found the body of Mr Ints on the floor, surrounded by blood and shattered glass.
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso said Mr Ints was found on February 17, 2019, inside his apartment at Unit 3/ 146 Cambridge Street, Granville, by his friends.
“His T-shirt and shorts were covered in blood,” she said.
Emergency services were called to the unit complex at 11.59am and after resuscitation efforts by his friends and neighbours, then Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics, were unsuccessful and he was declared dead at 12.12pm.
Ms Kelso said that along with noting the alleged number of stab wounds, pathologist Dr Christopher Day observed Mr Ints also had also had blunt force trauma injuries to his body, including a large abrasion to the back of his head.
Ms Kelso said Mr Ashman had lived in Unit 8 at the 10-unit complex.
“Each set (of two) units had, effectively, a Jack and Jill style hallway that led into a bathroom that was shared between two units,” she said.
“Unit three and unit eight shared a bathroom that consisted of a shower, a toilet and a sink.”
Ms Kelso said as a result of this shared bathroom, the forensic examination covered Mr Ints’ unit, the shared bathroom and Mr Ashman’s unit.
She said police arrested Mr Ashman immediately after he opened his door to them, and officers cautioned him.
However, Ms Kelso said Mr Ashman allegedly had a conversation with police, telling them he did not know who killed his neighbour, but he had heard a fight in his neighbour’s unit with two voices yelling.
She said Mr Ashman allegedly told police he entered his neighbour’s unit 30 minutes later, found his neighbour dead and located a handwritten letter with a knife on top of it.
Ms Kelso alleged Mr Ashman also told police he recognised the knife as one he had lent Mr Ints and the note contained instructions not to call emergency services until the following day, “wipe up the spots” and “roll one up with a winky face” referring to having a joint.
It was further alleged he told police he had burnt the note and washed its remnants down his kitchen sink and admitted he had rummaged through Mr Ints’s belongings, taking money and a credit card which he later attempted to use but when it didn‘t work, returned the wallet to where he had found it.
Ms Kelso said Mr Ashman allegedly told police he had showered and changed his clothes afterwards.
The court heard a resident around the corner from the units on Cardigan Street located a backpack and a grocery bag in her bushes after returning from church that morning, initially thinking they belonged to her downstairs tenant.
Ms Kelso said the resident and her tenant opened the bags soon after that, allegedly finding a knife wrapped in a tea towel, tied up with ribbon or string, with blood on the blade.
“That observation prompted them to call police who came down and scenes of crime officer Shane Coles went about unpacking and photographing the contents of each of those bags and taking samples from them,” she said.
“There was a T-shirt with long sleeves that had both the defendant and the deceased’s DNA on it.
“There was the yellow handled knife wrapped in the tea towel and there was blood on that which returned a DNA match to the deceased.”
The bags also allegedly contained a bottle of Pine-o clean, a pair of scissors, a grey flannel sheet and a beach towel with the deceased’s blood on them, rubbish, potato chip packet, a black handle knife, some bath mats, a bath towel and various drink containers with DNA matching the defendant
“There were also five empty toilet paper rolls, four of which had blood splatter on them,” she said.
“And samples taken from each of those again returned results to the deceased.”
Ms Kelso said there was CCTV footage showing Mr Ashman walking between the unit complex and the house where the bags were allegedly located at 10.14am.
She said further evidence allegedly showed Mr Ashman attending a nearby BP service station at 11.09am, trying to use the deceased’s bank card.
The trial is expected to go for three or four days with some of Mr Ints’s neighbours and friends having taken the stand before lunch on the first day and more to come before the trial ends.
Alan Backman told the court Mr Ints was regularly at his unit to assist him as he had mobility issues, had visited that morning and was expected to return for a coffee.
He said he sent Mr Ints a coffee emoji at some point during the 40 minutes between when Mr Ints left for his own unit and when someone kicked Mr Ints’s front door open.
Mr Backman said he sent another message in that period and Mr Ints did not respond to either, which was unusual.
The court heard Mr Backman had other visitors with him when Adrian Shaw entered his unit.
Mr Shaw told the court one of his walls backed on to the shared bathroom used by Mr Ints and Mr Ashman and he had heard banging, smashing of glass and yelling from the victim’s unit.
He went to Mr Backman’s unit, had a conversation with all that were there and a group of them went to Mr Ints and after unsuccessfully raising a response from Mr Ints’ they kicked the door open.
Mr Shaw and others told the court they found Mr Ints on the floor near his front door, lying on his back, covered and surrounded by blood.
The trial continues.
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