‘I’ll f**k you up c**t’: Jury shown 41cm knife teen allegedly used to kill

A paramedic told a court there were no signs of life after a man was found lying on a Brisbane street, after a prosecutor brandished the large knife a teen allegedly used in the fatal stabbing.

Paramedic Yanik Koller after giving testimony in the investigation into the alleged murder of David George Connolly in Newmarket in 2023. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The large knife used by a youth to kill a man on an inner Brisbane street has been wielded by a prosecutor who told a jury it was a powerful and significant weapon.

The youth, who killed David George Connolly in Wilston shortly after midnight on January 22 2023, has pleaded not guilty to his murder.

In his opening statement crown prosecutor Michael Gawrych dramatically held up the 41cm knife with a 26cm blade as he addressed the jury.

“This is the knife that (the defendant) used to cause the death of David George Connolly in the middle of the night on a footpath along Newmarket Road,” he said.

“This is the knife that this 17 year old was carrying in public through the streets as he pursued Mr Connolly along Newmarket Rd before he inflicted the fatal blow and left Mr Connolly to bleed to death alone on the footpath.

“The crown proposes the case to you on the basis this is a powerful and significant weapon. He targeted a particularly vulnerable area of the human body.”

The trial in Brisbane’s Supreme Court will be played CCTV showing Mr Connolly walking along Newmarket Rd with the defendant following, Mr Gawrych said.

A resident of Newmarket Rd is expected to tell the jury he saw a person similar to the defendant asking a man fitting Mr Connolly’s description for some change before the youth walked off, he said.

A few minutes later he turned around and started following Mr Connolly, who was in his early 40s, and yelled out for him to stop, Mr Gawrych said.

Around the time the fatal blow was delivered CCTV picks up what Mr Gawrych alleged was the youth speaking aggressively.

“The crown says that you should be able to make out such words as ‘I’ll f**k you up c**t’, ‘don’t f**k with me’ and ‘come on c**t’,”Mr Gawrych alleged.

Several minutes later the youth was intercepted a few hundred metres down the road by police who discovered the knife tucked down his waistband but were unaware of what had just occurred despite having driven directly past Mr Connolly lying on the footpath.

The youth was charged with possession of the knife in public and taken to a house.

Mr Connolly’s body was discovered about an hour later by motorists who called police.

Paramedic Yanik Koller told the jury Mr Connolly exhibited no signs of life during their assessments.

“Unfortunately, with every chest compression we’re doing blood was coming out of the patient’s thorax,” he said on Monday.

Under cross-examination by defence barrister Michael Bonasia he agreed chest compressions could fracture a patient’s ribs.

Pathologist Nadine Ford, who carried out the autopsy, determined the cause of death to be a stab wound to the left chest area which would have been fatal in minutes and was delivered with moderate to severe force, Mr Gawrych said.

“The wound passed through the left chest wall. It penetrated the left lung and involved several branch vessels within the lung, including arteries and veins,” he said.

“It also penetrated through a rib. It had a depth of approximately 15 centimetres.”

Mr Bonasia said it was not in dispute that his client had stabbed Mr Connolly and caused his death

“What really is the issue for your determination in this trial, members of the jury, is the question why,” he said.

“ I ask you to keep an open mind throughout the course of this trial.

“Don’t let the fact that my learned friend waved a big knife in your face cause you to close your mind off to the rest of the evidence.”

He said only two people knew what happened during the interaction and one of them was dead.

“I don’t want you to jump to any conclusions too soon. Wait until you have all of the evidence members of the jury, and wait until you have the ability to assess and observe all the evidence and consider all the arguments and submissions made to you,” he said.

Senior Constable Carlos Sanchez said he was driving along Newmarket Rd when he saw the defendant in a black hoody running and decided to stop him.

He located a knife on the defendant and saw it had some blood on it, the court heard.

He told the jury he checked a police database for any nearby offences in the area but nothing showed up.

The defendant’s girlfriend then arrived on the scene Snr-Con Sanchez said under cross examination.

The girl was agitated and attacked the officer, the court heard.

Snr-Con Sanchez said the girl was yelling about a necklace and had a small injury on her finger.

Witness Keith Marshall was in his Newmarket Rd home when he saw two males outside and of them, who the crown said was the defendant, yelling something that sounded like “you got change”.

Mr Bonasia asked whether it was possible the male was yelling “you’ve got the chain”

“I couldn’t … give a definite answer,” Mr Marshall said.

“It’s possible.”

The trial before Justice Michael Copley continues Tuesday.