Withcott hit-and-run murder trial: Court told Paul Sia left gravely injured while alleged murderer Jonathan Wright flees
Allegations of amnesia, a vanishing car, and a flurry of cash in the wind – a court has been told what led up to the alleged hit-and-run murder of a Brisbane man on the side of a busy highway and its aftermath.
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A Toowoomba man accused of a fatal hit-and-run left his vehicle in a secure facility moments after it was seen at the site of the crash, only for it to disappear hours later, a court has been told.
The jury was also told Mr Wright had allegedly followed Mr Sia’s white Nissan Tiida for roughly 14 minutes down the Toowoomba range, eventually ramming the vehicle off the road and causing roughly $16,000 in Australian currency to fly from the vehicle and onto the road.
On Tuesday, Mr Wright’s former housemates gave evidence to the jury, testifying on Mr Wright’s movements leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the alleged murder.
“There was one car that pulled up out the front … I looked out to see who it was, Jono was on his way out to meet who it was,” his housemate Michael Bradley told the jury.
Previously, the court was shown footage of Mr Wright appearing to hurriedly leave his Vanity St address in his white Holden Rodeo utility moments before Mr Sia was run down by the same vehicle, with the wheel directly hitting his head and causing extensive brain trauma.
While both housemates claimed not to have heard any shouting or arguments before Mr Wright left the property, next-door neighbours stated hearing a loud commotion coming from the home.
The housemates also said no one else, bar Mr Wright and his then partner, had entered the home that day, to their knowledge.
Following the alleged events on Toowoomba Connection Rd, Mr Bradley was told to retrieve Mr Wright from a Vanity St storage facility where CCTV showed him parking his Holden Rodeo utility shortly after the incident.
“He left in a hurry that day, I was a bit peeved because there were marks on the driveway,” Mr Bradley said.
“I tried ringing him, as I said I was upset about the marks on the concrete, I rang, he never answered.
“He did ring back, can’t say when, and asked me to pick him up from the storage shed.
“It wasn’t a very amicable situation, I asked what was going on and I was basically told to ‘butt out and mind my own business’.”
CCTV footage of the storage facility from around 10.30pm that evening showed two unidentified hooded figures enter and drive away in the ute, operating the PIN-code locked gate successfully.
The vehicle has never been recovered.
Both housemates told the court that while Mr Wright almost always had cash on hand, neither had ever seen him with notably large quantities.
“It was nothing extravagant, there wasn’t big wads of cash or anything,” Mr Bradley said.
The duo stated Mr Wright had only lived at the home off and on for five months; however, the Mr Bradley clarified he had known Mr Wright for roughly 25 years.
Mr Sia’s passenger on the day of the incident, Nathan Vaevae, was called to give testimony on Tuesday regarding his recollection of events.
Despite remembering he was with Mr Sia on the day of the incident, Mr Vaevae told the court he had no memory of any of the events of the day, nor his time in hospital.
Defence barrister Douglas Wilson, instructed by Jag MacDonald of MacDonald Law, suggested a series of events to Mr Vaevae regarding the lead up to the alleged murder.
“I would suggest to you that you drove to a house that Mr Wright lived in,” Mr Wilson alleged.
“I would suggest to you that Mr Wright hopped in the back seat of the car that you and Mr Sia were in … he had with him a box containing a large amount of cash in it.
“I would suggest to you Mr Sia punched Mr Wright in the head while Mr Wright was in the car … Mr Sia then dragged Mr Wright out of the car … you and Mr Sia drove off with Mr Wright’s cash still in the car.
“I’d suggest to you Mr Wright’s phone was also in the car when you drove off, what do you say to that?”
Mr Vaevae responded “I can’t remember” to all suggestions; and, when pushed on whether he was lying about his apparent amnesia, he replied, “no (I’m not lying), I don’t remember.”
A paramedic who treated Mr Vaevae at the scene said he suffered a minor bruise to the back of the head, citing a surprise at his apparent confusion directly following the incident.
Crash aftermath
Crown prosecutor Ben Jackson questioned several eye witnesses and paramedics who attended to the road incident which led to Mr Sia’s death.
Multiple witnesses testified to seeing a white utility vehicle rear end a small white car at the entrance to Withcott on Toowoomba Connection Rd, causing the small white car to careen off the road and crash into a wooden fence.
Several of these witnesses further testified to seeing the utility vehicle hit the vehicle a second time in the driver’s side door.
Eye-witness accounts told to the court described seeing a man matching Mr Sia’s description exit the white car onto the grass, at which point the white utility made a swift U-turn and ran the unaware man down, leaving him lying on the ground.
Witnesses on both sides of traffic remembered seeing a man exit the ute, collect items from around the road and flee the scene back towards Toowoomba; all remembered seeing significant amounts of cash around the scene of the incident.
Civilian witnesses who came to Mr Sia’s aid said the 33-year-old struggled to speak, noticing tyre marks to his back, blood on his face and mouth and a clear injury to his forearm.
“He was trying to look at me and his right pupil kept drifting down towards his nose,” one witness Robert Masters said.
“I was seriously concerned, the conversation kept going in loops, there were a number of times were he would suddenly start looking around, see blood on the ground and ask me what happened.”
Paramedic Brittany Pavey told the court Mr Sia had missing teeth and clear fractures to his forearm and lower jaw, with an arm “like jelly” and blood continually gushing from his mouth.
Initial responders said Mr Sia was highly agitated following the incident and repeatedly asked for his phone and a bag containing pills and money.
Although fully conscious and communicative at the scene, upon his arrival to hospital emergency responders told the court Mr Sia quickly deteriorated.
“When he was moved onto the hospital bed, his eyes rolled back in his head and he became unresponsive,” Ms Pavey said.
The trial, presided over by Justice Thomas Bradley KC, will continue throughout the week.
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Originally published as Withcott hit-and-run murder trial: Court told Paul Sia left gravely injured while alleged murderer Jonathan Wright flees
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