Michael Zanco death: Kalabe Saurine, Trent Dyhrberg, Nathan Caulfield in court
Two out of three men charged with shooting a young Gympie man in the head in 2020 have been committed for trial after a long list of witnesses were cross examined in court.
Sunshine Coast
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Three men charged with murdering a 22-year-old Gympie man have faced court again, with two of the accused being committed to the Supreme Court for trial.
Michael Zanco died in hospital 24 hours after he was shot in the back of the head at an Amamoor property on March 13, 2020.
The three men charged with his murder, who appeared in the dock of Maroochydore Magistrates Court, were Gympie man Kalabe John Steven Saurine, 21, Turkey Beach man Trent Edward Dyhrberg, 36, and Gympie man Nathan John Caulfield, aged 35.
Mr Saurine and Mr Caulfield were both committed for trial in the Supreme Court sittings in Brisbane on a date to be decided.
Mr Dyhrberg is yet to be committed as cross-examination of more witnesses is set to continue.
Police prosecutor Melissa Campbell said there were 168 statements and 253 exhibits related to the case that were tendered in court on June 15, 2022.
The first witness to be cross examined was Andrew Donney who previously owned the property Michael Zanco was allegedly shot on.
Mr Donney told the court he wasn’t sure what had happened as he was at his daughter’s birthday party at the time.
Mr Donney said Mr Zanco used to help him on his macadamia farm but he didn’t remember the statements he gave to police at the time as he was heavily using methamphetamine.
Witness Sasha Anderson-Pearson said she had previously gone to Mr Donney’s house with Mr Caulfield on another date before the shooting.
She said she was present when Mr Donney was speaking to Mr Caulfield about his firearm and saw him fire it.
Ms Anderson-Pearson described the gun as brown, 30cm long and with black bullets that had red bottoms.
Three Gympie hospital staff that were working on the night of the alleged murder when Mr Zanco was brought to hospital were also cross examined.
Administration officer at the emergency department Ziea Baker said she remembered a man in his thirties with short dark hair came running into the hospital yelling at 8.20pm.
Defence barrister Michael Gatenby who was acting for Mr Caulfield asked if the man appeared “disheveled” to which Ms Baker said he did.
“(He was) very anxious and nervous, slightly agitated, didn’t really want to be there in the best way of putting it,” Ms Baker said.
Ms Baker said he was urgently trying to seek medical assistance for someone.
Mr Gatenby told the court there was a man in the back of a utility in a serious state and asked Ms Baker if the man then drove the car quickly down to the ambulance bay.
“Yes, that is correct,” she said.
Ms Baker said the man who dropped the patient off later informed the security officer that he didn’t want to stay at the hospital and subsequently left.
Triage nurse Amber Barnes was also working on the night and recalled the man yelling, “someone’s been shot in the head, you have to come quick, quick, quick”.
Along with the murder charge, Mr Saurine was also committed on a charge of assaulting Mr Zanco with intent to steal while armed with a machete.
Mr Caulfield was further committed on a charge that he assaulted Mr Zanco with intent to steal and used actual violence to obtain the property and was armed with a firearm.
The cross examination of witnesses for Mr Dyhrberg’s case is set to continue.
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