The jury tasked with deciding the fate of alleged murderer Mark Daniel Ferguson has retired

The jury tasked with deciding the fate of a Townsville man who allegedly killed a woman in the yard of her Cranbrook home has retired on day three of the trial

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THE jury tasked with deciding the fate of alleged murderer Mark Daniel Ferguson has retired.

Ferguson, 23, is on trial for the murder of Pamela Frances Corless, who he struck on the back of the head with a 1.5m piece of timber after he confronted her about money in September, 2018.

He pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering the 73-year-old and is defending the charge, instead pleading guilty to manslaughter.

On Tuesday, the court heard from three witnesses, the first being Louise Davies who was Ferguson’s girlfriend at the time of the incident and who drove him to Ms Corless’ house and waited outside while he spoke to her about payment for his work.

Detective Sergeant Anthony Flanders who conducted the police interview where Ferguson admitted to striking Ms Corless, and Dr Paul Botterill who performed the autopsy also gave evidence.

On day three of the trial in the Townsville Supreme Court on Wednesday, Crown Prosecutor Nigel Rees told the jury in his closing remarks $159.70 was the price of Ms Corless’ life after a dispute over money turned fatal.

Mark Ferguson. Source: Facebook.

Mr Rees said Ferguson did not check on Ms Corless after he hit her, instead he “left her to die”.

The trial also heard Ferguson rolled Ms Corless over after he knocked her unconscious to see if she had any cash in her pockets, instead of helping her or calling an ambulance.

Ferguson’s defence counsel Frank Richards told the jury his client was a “young and unsophisticated person of limited educational experience” when he killed Ms Corless.

Mr Richards told the jury Ferguson intended “just to hurt” Ms Corless when he “lashed out in a childish way”.

“Events unfolded quickly and unpredictably,” Mr Richards said.

Mr Richards said Ferguson did not have the “benefit of expert knowledge” when he struck Ms Corless and he believed she was “simply knocked out” and concluded the fact Ferguson admitted his mistake “does not make it murder.”

On Wednesday afternoon the jury retired to consider if the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ferguson intended to kill Ms Corless when he jumped her fence and confronted her.

The trial continues.

Originally published as The jury tasked with deciding the fate of alleged murderer Mark Daniel Ferguson has retired