Day 2: Joshua David Wright faces sentence hearing for murder of John Simpson at Laguna

A man who admitted murdering his housemate says he shot him as he lay bleeding on the floor of a shed, but only after his victim had already been shot when he had swung the loaded gun at him and it went off, a court has heard.

Joshua David Wright in custody after being extradited back from Victoria for murder of Laguna man John Simpson. Picture: NSW Police

Josh Wright admits he intended to kill his flatmate in a fit of rage by shooting him in the lower neck with a bolt-action rifle as he was on the floor of a shed of their Hunter property after blaming him for authorities seizing his dogs.

But the self-confessed murderer argues he just wanted to “punch the shit out of him” and the first shot which floored John Simpson was the result of it accidentally discharging after his victim had wildly swung the loaded gun at him like a bat.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Richard Cavanagh had been asked to decide whether prosecutors had proven that Wright had grabbed the murder weapon from inside the Laguna home he had shared with Simpson and intentionally shot the 42-year-old twice, killing him before burying his body.

A disputed facts hearing, which continued into its second day on Wednesday, had heard the severity of Wright’s ultimate sentence hinged on whether prosecutors could prove beyond reasonable doubt that the killer had displayed some form of planning for the murder by bringing the gun to the back shed.

Late on Wednesday, Justice Cavanagh ruled that he did not consider the Crown had “discharged its onus to prove the facts beyond reasonable doubt” in relation to Wright taking the gun from the house and shooting Mr Simpson twice.

John Simpson died after being shot twice. His flatmate, Joshua David Wright, has pleaded guilty to murdering him and burying his body at Laguna, near Cessnock. Picture: NSW Police.

Wright had pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Simpson on the Great North Rd rental property in 2023 before wrapping the body up and burying it in a shallow grave nearby.

But the court had heard Wright maintained Mr Simpson was the person who had the stolen rifle with him when Wright confronted him after returning home to be told that his two rottweilers – his “kids” as he would describe them – had been seized by RSPCA officers.

Josh Wright was arrested three months after John Simpson’s murder. Picture: NSW Police

Wright had told police he had left Mr Simpson in charge of feeding his dogs, and had given him $100 to buy dog food, while he was away.

A recorded interview Wright gave to homicide squad detectives following his extradition from Victoria on the murder charge several months after the killing was played to the court, where Wright told investigators it was “just a f--king accident”.

The court had also heard Wright had told investigators that Mr Simpson had grabbed the barrel of the gun and swung it at Wright before it went off after Wright had run at him.

“...he just grabbed something and swung and hit me, I didn’t know what it was at the time, and then I grabbed it and it f--king went off, as I ripped it away,” Wright told the homicide detectives.

Police leave the rental property on Great North Rd, Laguna on July 18, 2023. Authorities were conducting a search as part of their investigation into the murder of John Simpson. Picture: Dan Proudman.

Wright admitted he then picked up the gun and, possibly after a minute, shot Mr Simpson in an area around his lower neck and upper back while his victim was bleeding profusely from the first shot.

“I was angry, I shit myself, I didn’t know what to do. I f--king, after a minute I shot him again,” Wright said in the interview.

Half an hour later, Wright walked back to the house and told another housemate: “I’ve done it...I’ve finally shot the c--t.”, agreed facts tendered to the court proceedings stated.

The body was placed in a wheelbarrow and pushed to another area of the property.

It was later wrapped in a plastic awning and buried in a bush grave on a nearby property nine days later, with Wright telling Mr Simpson’s friends and relatives that he had left the property.

A strike force was established to investigate Mr Simpson’s disappearance and, after several searches by authorities, the remains were uncovered on another property.

SES volunteers search bushland around Laguna for John Simpson in May 2023. Picture: NBN News.

Prosecutors have argued there was evidence that Mr Simpson had arrived home after Wright and had remained in the shed, not allowing the victim an opportunity to grab the gun from a cupboard inside the house and arming himself with it.

They also argued that there was evidence Mr Simpson was not aware the dogs had been taken from the property earlier in the day, refuting claims that Mr Simpson would have needed to arm himself for fear Wright would blame him for the dogs’ removal.

Another flatmate has also given evidence he saw Wright near the cupboard which had held the murder weapon,

Defence barrister, public defender Peter Krisenthal, said his client admitted he had an intention to kill Mr Simpson when he fired the second shot into his lower neck.

But Mr Krisenthal said Wright had gone to the shed to confront Ms Simpson and assault him, and questioned whether prosecutors had proven Wright was originally in possession of the rifle or that Mr Simpson had first possession of it.

Justice Cavanagh ruled late on Wednesday that the Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Wright had retrieved the .112 bolt action rifle from the cupboard inside the house and shot Mr Simpson twice within seconds.

However, Justice Cavanagh said on Thursday that his ruling did not mean he accepted Wright’s evidence of what occurred inside the shed.

In fact, the judge told the court that it may never be known what precisely happened in the shed.

The sentence hearing will continue on Thursday.