‘Sickening’: Perth man accused of murder vomits at sight of schoolboy’s injuries

A man charged with murder over the death of Indigenous schoolboy Cassius Turvey vomited during a police interview after he was shown photos of the 15-year-old’s horrific head injuries.

Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, was arrested on October 27, 2022, four days after Cassius died from bleeding on the brain after allegedly being bashed with the handle of a shopping trolley.

Brodie Palmer, 29, is accused of murder.Credit: Facebook

The Swan View Senior High School student had got off a bus in the north-eastern Perth suburb of Middle Swan on October 13 with a group of friends to watch a fight when they became embroiled in an altercation with Palmer and his friends Jack Brearley, 23 and Mitchell Forth, 26.

Brearley allegedly believed the group was there to “run through” his house and was angry after the windows on his car were smashed days earlier.

Prosecutors allege Brearley retaliated by chasing the group across bushland towards a ditch and caught the slowest member, Cassius, before bashing him with the makeshift weapon.

Brearley denied the accusation and said it was actually his friend, Palmer, who delivered the fatal blows.

The jury in the WA Supreme Court trial on Monday was shown Palmer’s reaction to the allegations as video of his interviews with police was played to the court.

“This 15-year-old kid has had his right ear lacerated in half … he has a forehead gash, two separate bleeds on the brain as a result of this assault,” a police officer says.

“I can’t tell you anything about it,” Palmer responds. “I never seen what happened.”

So he’s died as a result of these injuries. – OK.

What’s your involvement here? – I had nothing to do with that. I’ve never seen this boy in my life.

His ear has almost been cut in half. – I’ve never seen any of these before and I’ve never seen him in my life.

Palmer then said the assault was “wrong and disturbing on so many levels” before telling the officers it was “sickening” to think about what happened.

He was then shown photos of Cassius’ head injuries, before telling officers he needed to throw up into a nearby waste bin.

Prosecutors say Palmer was charged with murder not because he was the person who hit Cassius over the head, but because he knew what Brearley was planning and did nothing to stop it.

But during his police interview on October 27, 2022, Palmer said he barely knew who Brearley was and had only met him months earlier.

He claimed he knew nothing about Brearley’s car windows being smashed, nothing about a fight that was arranged with Brearley’s girlfriend’s brother, and claimed he never saw a group of about 20 people walking near Brearley’s house on the day of the assault.

“We need to establish what happened to Cassius,” the officers told Palmer in the interview.

“I know Jack disappeared into the bush and then he came out hurt,” Palmer said.

“He disappeared out of anyone’s view and he came out hurt. What went on behind that I don’t know.”

“Our position is that you were aware of that conversation, and you knew that Jack wanted to hurt someone,” the officer said.

“I would not take someone somewhere to hurt somebody. Cassius is the innocent victim in all this. Cassius had nothing to do with the damage to Jack’s car. Cassius was running for his life.”

“I do not know what went on behind those trees,” Palmer reiterated.

The jury was later shown a video-recorded police interview with Palmer three months later on the day he was charged with Cassius’ murder.

The trial continues.

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