Inside trial of Brett Gordon Williams charged with murder of Craig Dunn

A jury has found a Qld landlord guilty of manslaughter after it could not reach a verdict on the charge of murder. It comes after deliberations went late into Friday night.

Hervey Bay gasfitter Craig Dunn.

A jury has found a Hervey Bay landlord guilty of manslaughter on Friday night after deliberating for nine hours.

Brett Gordon Williams, 60, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of gasfitter and tenant Craig Dunn, 62, who was found dead at the industrial complex in Urangan where he rented a space from Mr Williams on April 4, 2022.

But on Friday night, while the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on the murder charge, it was unanimous on the alternate charge of manslaughter.

The jury had breaks for lunch and dinner as marathon deliberations continued into the night.

In the afternoon, the jury indicated to the court it had agreed that the Crown had made its case for manslaughter but remained divided on whether the case had been made on the murder charge.

About 8.30pm the jury delivered its verdict of manslaughter in front of Justice Peter Davis, who had overseen the three-week trial.

Williams sat quietly in the dock while the verdict was handed down.

He had been allowed bail in order to prepare for the trial but on Friday night his bail was revoked.

The case was adjourned for sentencing in Brisbane on May 21.

CLOSING STATEMENTS IN LANDLORD MURDER TRIAL

During his closing statement on Wednesday, defence barrister Craig Eberhardt criticised the police investigation into the matter.

He accused the investigating officers of contaminating parts of the crime scene, which he said meant it was impossible for the prosecution to say there hadn’t been someone else in the shed who had committed the fatal assault on Mr Dunn.

But he said it wasn’t just possible contamination of the crime scene – he said crucial samples had never been tested by the police.

He said the evidence was “not that clear” about a lot of very important matters.

Mr Eberhardt emphasised that Mr Williams was presumed to be innocent and guilt had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

He recapped Mr Williams’ evidence after the defendant testified before the jury on Tuesday.

Brett Gordon Williams, 60, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of gas fitter and tenant Craig Dunn, 62, who was found dead at the industrial complex where he rented a premises from Mr Williams on April 4, 2022.

Mr Williams told the Maryborough Supreme Court an inspection was to be carried out at the complex on the morning of the alleged murder as the property, where Mr Dunn had lived for about a year, had been sold.

Mr Williams said on that morning, he and Mr Dunn had a confrontation over a gantry that was on its side.

He said the discussion had “started friendly, but he (Mr Dunn) wasn’t very friendly” and when he asked what Mr Dunn was doing with the gantry on its side, he allegedly replied that he was cutting it up and that he would “get the boys around here now”.

Mr Williams claimed he had told Mr Dunn “no” and reminded him he had been notified of the upcoming inspection, but told the jury Mr Dunn said he would get the boys around and “there was nothing you could f**king do about it”.

The landlord said Mr Dunn had been aggressive and had clenched his fists, so he then hit Mr Dunn in the face twice, first with his left hand and then right hand.

Mr Williams had then admitted to taking CCTV cameras that had been pointed at his unit and Mr Dunn’s phone in the aftermath of the incident.

He claimed Mr Dunn had let him into his unit, with the alleged victim at one point stomping on Mr Williams’ foot before Mr Williams shoved Mr Dunn and took the cameras.

He said Mr Dunn had given him his phone and he had promised to return it after the inspection so he couldn’t call his mates and get them to come around.

The business where alleged murder victim Craig Dunn worked.

Mr Williams testified he had Mr Dunn’s phone on Elizabeth St near Hervey Bay’s botanical gardens before putting the cameras in a bin on the Esplanade.

Mr Williams had been a credible witness, Mr Eberhardt said, saying that his version of events fit the facts of the case.

He said it was not for Mr Williams to prove anything in the case as that burden was on the prosecution, which Mr Eberhardt said they had to do in the case of an investigation that was “so badly, incompetently conducted”.

Mr Eberhardt said there were three possibilities as to what had happened on the morning of April 4, 2022.

The first was that Mr Dunn died from injuries sustained in the pool shed after an accidental fall from the first-floor mezzanine.

He said it was also possible that someone other than Mr Williams had caused his death.

The third possibility was that Mr Williams had killed Mr Dunn, he said.

“But the fact that something is possible doesn't mean that its probable or that it’s proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mr Eberhardt said.

In response, Crown prosecutor Stephen Muir questioned the plausibility of Mr Williams’ version of events.

He cast doubt on whether Mr Dunn would willingly let Mr Williams’ into his unit to take the CCTV cameras or whether he would hand over his phone.

Mr Muir said the prior physical altercations was “highly relevant” to who applied the force to Mr Dunn in the pool shed.

He said any explanation other than Mr Williams being involved was an “unreasonable one” that didn’t fit with the evidence of the case.

Mr Muir said there was not a perfect picture of what occurred and that couldn’t be the case unless there was “Big Brother” type surveillance where every moment was captured on CCTV.

But he said CCTV stills of Mr Williams standing over Mr Dunn had been captured.

Mr Muir said Mr Williams had engaged in attempts to destroy evidence, by disposing of the CCTV cameras, taking the phone and putting the clothes in the washing machine.

He said Mr Williams “didn’t always do a good job” in attempting to “cover up” in the aftermath of the incident.

Mr Muir said there was no allegation it was a “premeditated or carefully planned crime” or that the murder was the consequence of a plot to kill Mr Dunn.

“Such a suggestion just wouldn’t sit with the evidence in this case, it would be ridiculous for me to suggest otherwise,” he said.

On Thursday morning Justice Peter Davis began giving the jury its instructions ahead of its deliberations.

The jury is expected to retire to begin its deliberations on Friday.