Matthew and Peter Gardiner guilty of Dillon Willis’ stabbing murder as judge releases CCTV, body-worn

CONTENT WARNING: The footage shows the chilling lead up to the slaying as well as the moment each of the brothers realises he’s staring down the barrel of a life sentence for murder.

Brothers Matthew and Peter Gardiner have been found guilty in the Supreme Court of murdering 20-year-old Dillon Willis at the Karama Shopping Centre in May 2021.

The verdict means the jury was satisfied that when Matthew plunged a knife into Mr Willis’ body, he meant to either kill him, or cause him serious harm, as part of a joint criminal enterprise with Peter.

It comes as Justice John Burns released CCTV footage of the stabbing along with police body-worn camera footage of the brothers’ arrest.

In the footage, Mr Willis can be seen walking through the shopping centre carpark with two friends and sitting down before a car carrying the Gardiner brothers pulls in and stops beside them.

The pair approach the group before what Sam Salmon later told the court was a thump, “like punching a boxing bag”, as Matthew repeatedly stabs Mr Willis and the group runs away with brothers giving chase.

Matthew and Peter Gardiner confront Dillon Willis and his friends in the Karama Shopping Centre carpark on May 26, 2021. Picture: NT Courts

In audio from body-worn camera footage recorded a short time later, security guard Matthew Birse is heard saying: “Where’s he been stabbed? We need to get him off the road”.

“Dillon’s just been stabbed, alright, this white boy’s just been stabbed, alright, we need assistance ASAP,” he tells a passer-by.

Other footage reveals the moment each of the brothers learns they are to be charged with the offence that carries a mandatory life sentence after a night of drinking and shocking violence.

When police tell Peter he is “under arrest for murder” the following morning, he responds “What? Don’t say that? For murder?”

“Murder, oh don’t say that brus. Don’t tell me that, what the f--k? I didn’t f--kin’ do murder man, what the f--k?”

Peter Gardiner is arrested at the Discovery Holiday Park in Winnellie. Picture: NT Courts

As he leaves the Discovery Holiday Park in Winnellie in handcuffs, the 23-year-old calls out to his partner “Oi Cianne, I’m being done for murder”.

Earlier that morning, his brother Matthew, 29, had woken in the police watch house after being taken into protective custody for being drunk in public.

When told detective Senior Sergeant Dave Munro is from the Major Crimes Squad, Matthew groggily demands to know “what happened”.

“The incident I’m talking about, the one we’re investigating, relates to a death, OK, and the offence that we’re investigating is murder?” he tells him.

“F--k off, what happened?” Matthew responds.

“You need to tell me who, because I need to know what the f--k is going on because I don’t know what the f--k you’re talking about.

“I never did nothing in Karama Shopping Centre, what are you talking about?”

The brothers were found not guilty on a separate charge of recklessly endangering Mr Salmon during the attack and will return to court for sentencing submissions on June 5.

‘Mad brain snap’: Killer ‘on a frolic of his own’ during alleged murder

The slaying of Dillon Willis in a Karama carpark was “a tragic, unnecessary loss” and “a sad waste of precious life” but it was not murder, a court has heard.

Brothers Matthew and Peter Gardiner have each pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court to Mr Willis’ murder in May 2021 after Matthew pleaded guilty to manslaughter by fatally stabbing him with a knife.

In his closing address to jurors on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Ian Rowbottam said while “no human has ever worked out how to read another human’s mind” they could “draw the inference that this was a planned and surprise attack”.

“The stabbing itself, the use of, effectively, a 180 degree, you might think, swing of the arm, the level of force, is another indication,” he said.

“This was calculated to penetrate, first of all by surprise, but second of all an area where no one in their right mind could imagine anything but serious harm or death.

“It’s not in the leg, it’s not in the arm, it’s straight into the chest and we know where it went, so penetrating the heart, we say that is no accident.”

A crime scene photograph from the Karama shopping centre carpark where Dillon Willis was killed. Picture: NT Courts

Earlier on Tuesday, Matthew testified that he had blacked out from the effects of alcohol and sleeping tablets on the day and had no memory of stabbing Mr Willis.

But Mr Rowbottam said given what he said was “a demonstrated lack of intoxication” in CCTV footage of the incident, “you cannot accept a word that came out of his mouth”.

In his closing, Matthew’s barrister Ian Read SC said the footage of the “tragic” and “sad waste of human life” was “so arbitrary and terrifying, one’s natural reaction is to be appalled”.

“One’s natural reaction is to be angry, that is only natural, but you must recognise this so you are able to perform your task and assess the evidence fairly.

“(Matthew) Gardiner has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and has taken responsibility for Dillon’s death, he can’t remember killing Dillon and does not know why he stabbed him.”

Mr Read said the question for the jury was not whether Matthew was so intoxicated he was incapable of forming an intention — “he intended to take out his knife and he intended to use it” — it was “whether he, in fact, formed or had that additional, necessary intention for murder”.

The scene of the alleged murder. Picture: NT Courts

“This means that the prosecution must disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, what I submit to you, what Mr Gardiner submits to you, is the reasonable possibility that due to his intoxication and its effects on inhibition, impulsiveness, judgment, consideration of consequences and the impairment of physical capacity, that he didn’t have the sufficient requisite intent for murder,” he said.

Peter’s barrister Peter Maley told the jury there was no direct evidence of an agreement between the brothers to commit murder.

“The obvious scenario consistent with innocence that, in my submission, the Crown cannot exclude, is that Matthew Gardiner stabbed Dillon Willis without warning and on a frolic of his own — there was no plan, there was no arrangement, just a mad brain snap,” he said.

“Unless that possibility can be excluded beyond a reasonable doubt, then Peter Gardiner is entitled to the benefit of the doubt.”

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict after Justice John Burns sums up the evidence on Wednesday morning.

‘Blacked out’: Murder accused says he has no memory of fatal stabbing

April 17: A father of three accused of murdering 20-year-old Dillon Willis at the Karama shops says he “blacked out” and has no memory of stabbing him to death but he is “sorry” for doing it.

Matthew Gardiner has pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to manslaughter but not guilty to murder, after he and his brother Peter approached Mr Willis and his friends in the carpark in May 2021.

Peter has also pleaded not guilty to Mr Willis’ “common purpose” murder, as well as recklessly endangering serious harm to one of his friends by allegedly trying to stab him.

On Tuesday, Matthew took to the stand in his own defence, telling jurors he had been “using methamphetamine heavily” and “was up for a few days” in the lead up to May 26.

He said he came home at about lunchtime and “had a few cones”, some prescription “sleepers” and a nap before Peter picked him up and took him to a caravan park where he was staying.

Matthew said the brothers cooked a barbecue for his children and other relatives before he and Peter “sat down and kept drinking” until he was “pretty smashed”.

“I remember telling my kids that I would see them back home,” he said.

“I remember asking Peter if I could go to my cousin’s house in Karama because I wanted to get some ice, just to get myself back to normal.

“That’s when I blacked out.”

A police officer searches a skip bin near the scene. Picture: Che Chorley

Matthew said the next thing he remembered was being dropped off at his cousin’s house after the stabbing.

“I remember Peter telling me that everything’s going to be alright and me saying ‘I’m sorry my brother, I didn’t mean for that to happen’,” he said.

When asked by defence barrister Ian Read SC for his response to seeing CCTV footage of himself stabbing Mr Willis, Matthew said “I don’t know what I meant to do”.

“I don’t remember stabbing him, but like, I know I done it and I’m sorry,” he said.

Under cross examination by Crown prosecutor Ian Rowbottam, Matthew denied making up his testimony “because what you’re trying to do is tell sufficient lies to get out of a murder case”.

“You’re telling the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that you were so intoxicated that you can’t remember anything — it’s just a lie, Mr Gardiner, isn’t it,” Mr Rowbottam said.

“The reason you’ve forgotten all of this is in fact the opposite, that you can remember it but admitting the truth would be to admit your guilt?”

Matthew replied: “I know that I stabbed him by watching the footage and I’m not saying I didn’t, but I don’t remember doing it.”

The trial continues with jurors expected to hear closing submissions on Tuesday afternoon.

Murder accused was ‘jittery’ and ‘erratic’ on night of stabbing: Court

A man charged with the murder of 20-year-old Karama man Dillon Willis was “jittery” and “erratic” before recording a blood-alcohol content of 0.167 on the night of the stabbing, a court has heard.

Matthew Gardiner, 29, has pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to Mr Willis’ manslaughter after stabbing him at the Karama shops in May 2021 but not guilty to his murder and the reckless endangerment of his friend Sam Salmon.

His 23-year-old brother, Peter Gardiner, who allegedly tried to stab Mr Salmon, has also pleaded not guilty to murder and reckless endangerment after prosecutors alleged each man was jointly liable for the other’s actions.

On Monday, acting Sergeant Helen Rothery told jurors she was doing a night shift on May 26 when she was tasked with taking Matthew into protective custody at the Darwin police station.

Sergeant Rothery said Matthew had initially given his name as Shem Gardiner but she couldn’t recall smelling alcohol on him.

“When we were at the location, in my opinion I believed he was under the influence of something else, some drugs,” she said.

“His behaviour was quite erratic, he went from silence to really angry, really quickly, he was jittery and he was quite fixated on what the police were talking about.”

When they got back to the police station, Sergeant Rothery said Matthew blew 0.167 on a breathalyser but she was “not 100 per cent sure” if that result was ever confirmed.

Dillon Willis, also known as Dillon Nankervis.

Last week, Crown prosecutor Ian Rowbottam told the jury both men were allegedly engaged in a “common purpose” at the time “so each is guilty of the offence physically committed by the other”.

He said the brothers had allegedly armed themselves with knives before they arrived at the shopping centre carpark on Kalymnos Dr about 11pm.

They found Mr Willis and Mr Salmon “simply talking between themselves” before Mr Rowbottam said a short conversation ensued.

“Very shortly thereafter, the Crown case is that Matthew Gardiner approached Dillon Willis from the right side and slightly behind him and without warning, the Crown case is, stabbed Willis with his right hand with full force to the centre of Willis’ chest,” he said.

“At the same time as Matthew Gardiner stabbed Willis, Peter Gardiner removed one of the knives from his shorts with his left hand (and) attempted to stab Salmon.”

Matthew’s barrister Ian Read SC said while there was “no dispute” his client “stabbed Mr Willis and caused his death”, the Crown had to prove “he actually intended to kill him or … cause him serious harm”.

Peter’s barrister Peter Maley said for his client to be found guilty of murder, the Crown would need to prove the offence was committed in accordance with an agreement between the brothers.

The trial continues on Tuesday.