David King murder: Jury returns verdict in trial of Elijah Cage and Max Vincent Lowcock over Salt Ash shooting death

A jury has returned with the verdicts in the trial of three men over the alleged murder of drug dealer David King during a “drug rip gone wrong” on a rural road north of Newcastle.

Salt Ash murder victim David King, 45, of Tanilba Bay. Picture: Supplied.

A jury has found two men guilty of the shotgun murder of mid-level drug dealer David King in what has been described as a “drug rip gone wrong”.

A jury returned the guilty verdicts against Elijah Cage and Max Vincent Lowcock on Tuesday and after more than a week of deliberations following a lengthy trial in the NSW Supreme Court at Newcastle before Justice Dina Yehia.

The trial began in February, with Elijah Cage, Max Vincent Lowcock and Tyson Stamp all pleading not guilty to murdering the Port Stephens drug dealer at Salt Ash in 2021.

They also pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping of a woman who, the court heard, had acted as an intermediary between the men and King to buy an amount of methamphetamine.

However, Stamp’s barrister Peter Krisenthal successfully argued during the trial that prosecutors had failed to prove the murder charge against his client and Justice Dina Yehia directed the jury to find Stamp not guilty.

Elijah Cage has been found guilty of the murder of David King at Salt Ash in August, 2021. Credit: Facebook

The court heard Stamp was the getaway driver after hiring a Sante Fe in his own name. He has pleaded guilty to destroy property by fire after setting the SUV alight at nearby Heatherbrae following the shooting.

The jury returned with their verdicts on Tuesday afternoon, finding Cage and Lowcock guilty of murder but all three men not guilty of the detain for advantage charge, with prosecutors failing to prove they had kidnapped the woman from the scene immediately after the murder.

Police conduct a line search at the scene of the fatal shooting of David King, 45, at Salt Ash north of Newcastle. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

Stamp’s legal team successfully applied on Tuesday afternoon for him to be released from custody - where he has been for two years on the murder charge - before he is sentenced on the arson count.

The jury had heard that King was the victim of a drug-rip gone wrong, with the mid-level ice dealer shot in the face at close range with a sawn-off shotgun as he attempted to drive off on Hideaway Drive at Salt Ash on August 29, 2021.

Prosecutors told the court that it was either Cage or Lowcock who shot King, with both men in the car as King was gunned down at close range after they had organised robbing him of the drugs.

The court heard the woman had worked as a go-between in organising King to “open the door”.

Tyson Stamp was found not guilty of murder and kidnapping.

The shooting occurred early on a Sunday afternoon, with King’s car crashing into a tree and the drug dealer dying at the scene despite the help of residents and emergency services.

Both Cage and Lowcock were formally refused bail following the verdicts.

All three men will reappear before Justice Yehia for a sentencing hearing in May.