Toowoomba truckie Jonathan Wright tells court alleged murder victim Paul Sia robbed and assaulted him before death
A Toowoomba man accused of deliberately mowing down and killing a friend has told a court he never meant to harm the man he claims stole $40,000 from him.
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The Toowoomba man accused of killing his friend in a measured hit-and-run has told a court he was assaulted and robbed by the man before the fatal incident.
Rockville man Jonathan Wright is accused of deliberately mowing down Paul Sia in his white Holden Rodeo utility on the side of Toowoomba Connection Road at Withcott on November 20, 2022 after ramming Mr Sia’s white Nissan Tiida off the road.
The court was shown dash camera video of the incident where the Holden Rodeo can be seen making a sharp U-turn across oncoming traffic and driving into Mr Sia, who was kneeling on the ground.
The footage then showed Mr Wright exit his vehicle, begin collecting items from the roadside, and return to his vehicle before leaving the scene.
On Wednesday, Mr Wright told the court he had pursued Mr Sia after a drug deal gone wrong.
He claimed he had contacted his friend, Mr Sia, the day before to organise a transfer of roughly 6.5 ounces of methylamphetamine or ice in exchange for $40,000 to help pay for his then girlfriend’s car.
Mr Wright claimed he had met Mr Sia and his companion Nathan Vaevae in their car when he was suddenly punched and incapacitated.
“My ears started ringing and it was all fuzzy and I couldn’t see, the next thing I know from that is, I’m not sure how I got out of the car but the car was going backwards and I was stuck in the door,” he said.
He told the court he wanted to make roughly $9,000 profit to help pay for the vehicle which would likely cost around $26,000 total.
When questioned on why he wouldn’t just use the $40,000 to help pay for the car, he claimed the money was not his own.
Mr Wright told the court he pursued the Nissan Tiida as it travelled down the Toowoomba Range towards Withcott, reaching speeds of 130km/h and sharply weaving through traffic.
He did not collide with any other vehicle in his pursuit.
“My intention was to force the car off the road to retrieve the money,” Mr Wright said.
“Once I got the car off the road I wanted to try and trap Mr Sia in the car so I can get my money back – he’s a scary bloke.”
Mr Wright claimed to have executed a risky ‘pit manoeuvre’, despite testifying he had never completed one before.
“When I did a driving course in Mount Cotton, they call it a pit manoeuvre: if you hit the left of a car or the right of the car, whichever it is, if you hit it right it will go off in a helicopter mode,” he said.
“I then did a U-turn and tried to push the car up against the fence … it didn’t make it all the way.
“There was no other way of getting (the money) back, he wasn’t going to give it back to me, he’s just taken off with it.”
Police photos showed extensive damage to the back panel of Mr Sia’s vehicle and further damage to the driver’s side front and rear door.
Mr Wright said he then turned on the vehicle for a third time when he noticed Mr Sia on the grass.
“I started going towards the car and then I saw Paul Sia stand up, I don’t know where he came from, I thought he was still in the car.
“I did one full turn and then it wasn’t turning, it wasn’t going where it was supposed to be going, it just kept going straight and then all of a sudden it turned and as it turned I felt the back wheel go up.
“I thought I’d run over the sign, I had no idea I hit Paul at all until I was back against the highway.
“I was really, really nervous and freaked out once I got to him and started picking up the cash because cash was everywhere and he yelled out, it was pretty hard to understand, but what he said was ‘you’re f***ed’.
“I thought he was going to get up and punch the s**t out of me, I got the money and went to their car to retrieve my phone and hoped the rest of the money was in there – I picked up a sum of money and then started walking, freaking out again, and headed to my car.”
Mr Wright said he collected roughly $17,000 from the scene and then drove the Holden Rodeo to a storage facility where he left it.
CCTV footage showed two unknown people enter the facility’s pin code gate later that evening and drive away in the utility vehicle, which is still yet to be found.
Mr Wright said he “wasn’t thinking” when he drove to the facility and left the keys in the car.
“I have no idea (what happened to the car), I’ve been asking all the time where the f***ing thing went,” Mr Wright told the court.
Mr Jackson questioned whether Mr Wright wanted to enact revenge on Mr Sia, which he denied.
“I’m not a murderer, this is not what I wanted to do,” Mr Wright said.
“I’m not going to kill someone for money.
“I was angry yes, that a friend robbed me.
“I wasn’t out to kill him at all.”
Both parties will deliver their closing statements to the jury on Thursday February 6, 2025.
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Originally published as Toowoomba truckie Jonathan Wright tells court alleged murder victim Paul Sia robbed and assaulted him before death
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