Unwashed dishes cast doubt on Natasha Darcy’s guilt, court hears

All murder accused Natasha Darcy had to do to get rid of evidence she drugged her partner with a sedative milkshake was ‘press a button’, her lawyer has told a jury.

Walcha sheep grazier Mathew Dunbar with partner Natasha Beth Darcy, who has been charged with his murder.

Natasha Darcy, accused of murdering her partner Mathew Dunbar, could have erased evidence she drugged him with a sedative milkshake with the press of a button — but didn’t, in a move that casts doubt on her guilt, a jury has been told.

A dirty Nutribullet cup and glass were found in the dishwasher at the NSW farm where Mr Dunbar died, the pink residue inside testing positive for four sedatives also found in the sheep farmer’s blood.

“Careful and deliberate planning for five months, but she doesn’t turn on the dishwasher,” Ms Darcy’s barrister Janet Manuell told the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“All she had to do was press the button ... and it wasn’t done.”

Mr Dunbar, a 42-year-old grazier from the regional NSW town of Walcha, died in the early hours of August 2, 2017.

Ms Darcy, 46, has pleaded not guilty to murdering him by drugging him with a sedative milkshake before gassing him to death in his bed,in a bid to inherit his $3.5m property Pandora, of which she was the sole beneficiary.

Mathew Dunbar was suffering a severe calf infection weeks before he died, a court has been told. Picture: Facebook

Ms Manuell suggested in her closing address on Wednesday that several parts of the crown case about the Nutribullet drink did not add up.

She said on the crown’s timeline “people were still awake and in the house” when the drink was made and asked jurors if Ms Darcy would have run that risk.

She pointed to photographs she said suggested at least some tablets in the drink were “not pulverised properly”, saying Mr Dunbar would have noticed the gritty texture.

And she asked the jurors: “If she was so intent on killing him why wouldn’t she have just filled that drink with all the other drugs in the house?”

Ms Darcy told police Mr Dunbar habitually crushed up medication and blended it into a drink as he had a bad gag reflex.

The crown says there is no evidence he struggled to take tablets.

A Nutribullet cup with pink residue was found in the dishwasher at Pandora. Picture: NSW Supreme Court.

Ms Darcy contends Mr Dunbar’s death was a suicide and he was under pressure from a severe calf infection, his “unclear sexual orientation”, troubled finances, and also had a history of depression.

An orthopaedic specialist could not pinpoint the cause of the leg infection, which was potentially linked to Mr Dunbar’s strep throat, Ms Manuell said.

The crown alleges it was caused by Ms Darcy injecting the ram sedative acepromazine into Mr Dunbar’s leg on July 7 as one of two “dry runs” before she actually killed him on August 2.

Prosecutor Brett Hatfield told the jury that Ms Darcy told Mr Dunbar he had “gone for a walk around the farm but can’t remember it”, and that the farmer reported “losing a day” to doctors.

Ms Manuell said Mr Dunbar had a history of getting confused about his whereabouts.

“How can you be satisfied that the forgotten walk ... wasn’t just part of this same problem?” she said.

Natasha Darcy has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Dunbar to inherit his $3.5m property Pandora. Picture: Facebook

A hospital nurse recorded Mr Dunbar was “anxious +++” hours before the specialist warned he may have to amputate above the knee if his infection worsened.

It did not, and 22 hours later the decision was made not to operate.

“Don’t you think Mr Dunbar would have been deeply distressed for those 22 hours that he lay there in the hospital thinking there was a possibility he might lose his leg above the knee?” Ms Manuell said.

“Because that would have been the end of his life at Pandora ... certainly the way he had farmed in the past.”

Ms Darcy told police that Mr Dunbar had received a poor prognosis about his leg from the specialist on the day he died.

That same day, Ms Manuell said, Mr Dunbar told a fuel supplier about his leg: “I won’t walk again.”

This was “odd”, she said, because the specialist testified he had said nothing of the sort and had told Mr Dunbar his leg was improving and would continue to do so with physiotherapy.

Mr Dunbar had a history of depression. Picture: Facebook

Ms Manuell also reminded the jury that Mr Dunbar and Ms Darcy had together picked up the cylinder of helium gas she allegedly ordered to kill him.

The Supagas attendant testified she asked Mr Dunbar what or who it was for and he replied “Me”, she told the jury.

He told Supagas employees it was for a party, Ms Manuell said, but there is no evidence such a gathering was planned for that weekend.

“Had he been tricked into thinking there would be a party at Pandora that weekend where lots and lots of balloons would need to be blown up?” she said.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Unwashed dishes cast doubt on Natasha Darcy’s guilt, court hears