Wannabe rapper Coskun Jaques Marius jailed for killing housemate after ‘wonderful meal’ loses appeal
A Queensland rapper who blamed his alter ego for the violent murder of his sleeping housemate after he boasted about a meal he’d just enjoyed has lost his appeal against his sentence.
A Queensland rapper who blamed his alter ego for the violent murder of his sleeping housemate has lost his appeal.
Aspiring hip hop artist Coskun Jaques Marius became infuriated in May 2019 because he was hungry and his former housemate Tane Tahi Manawa came home boasting of the “wonderful meal”, most likely a Chinese meal.
When Mr Manawa fell asleep on a reclining chair Marius went into the lounge room armed with a metal gym bar and “filled with malice, spite and Fruity Lexia”, smashed it down onto the victim’s skull, fracturing it, according to the Crown.
Brisbane’s Supreme Court heard Marius was found hunched over the victim, who had a white sheet over his face, speaking in his ear. Mr Manawa was moaning.
Marius pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not guilty to murder.
His trial heard he blamed the fatal attack on a person who “existed in his head” named Siege and told friends he had been hired to perform a hit on Mr Manawa.
Defence barrister Lars Falcongreen said his client did not deny killing Mr Manawa but that he would argue a defence of diminished responsibility.
However following an 18-day trial, a jury found Marius guilty of murder which saw him sentenced to life imprisonment.
He appealed the guilty verdict on the sole ground that the trial judge misdirected the jury in respect of the defence of diminished responsibility.
Four psychiatrists were called at trial and disagreed over a purported abnormality of the defendant’s mind.
The trial judge directed the jury that under the law a person who would otherwise be guilty of murder is to be convicted of manslaughter if their capacity to understand that they ought not do an act was substantially impaired because of a mind abnormality.
Marius’ lawyers submitted to the Court of Appeal that the judge got the law right but misdirected the jury on how many of their client’s capacities must be impaired for the partial defence to succeed.
On Friday the appeal court found there was no wrong decision or misdirection in relation to the defence of diminished responsibility.
The appeal was dismissed.
Originally published as Wannabe rapper Coskun Jaques Marius jailed for killing housemate after ‘wonderful meal’ loses appeal
