Yuendumu: Zachary Rolfe found not guilty of Kumanjayi Walker murder

NT policeman says a unanimous decision on three charges is ‘the right decision’; as Aboriginal elder asks ‘when do we get justice’.

Zachary Rolfe has been found not guilty of murdering Kumanjayi Walker during a botched attempted arrest in the outback community of Yuendumu.

Rolfe was found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death via a unanimous verdict.

Constable Rolfe shot 19-year-old Walker three times after the latter stabbed him with scissors. Walker was wanted for breaching a court order and for threatening two Yuendumu policemen with an axe three days before the November 2019 shooting.

Mr Rolfe showed no emotion as the verdict was read out but grinned slightly after was found not guilty.

He shook hands with his legal team and embraced his family.

Outside court some members of the Yeundumu community burst into tears as the verdict was announced.

Constable Rolfe spoke outside the court: “Obviously, I think it was the right decision to make but a lot of people are hurting today ... so I’m gonna leave this space for them.”

The 30-year-old police constable was brought into the NT Supreme Court dock to hear the verdict, having spent much of the trial seated in the public gallery behind his lawyers while jurors occupied the dock due to coronavirus social-distancing rules.

He was watched by his parents and other supporters, who have been with him daily throughout the month-long proceedings.

Kumanjayi Walker was shot dead in 2019.

‘When are we going to get justice’

Senior Yuendumu Elder Ned Hargraves issued an emotional response after the verdict.

“Today is not a very — it’s not a really happy day for us. It’s another sad day. I’d just say - when ... are we going to get justice,” he said.

“No guns. No guns in rural remote community. We don’t want no remote community. We don’t want no guns. No guns.

“Enough is enough. To our people — let us stand strong. To our people — let us stand strong.

“Let us respect each other. And we do Let us respect each other. And we do not want to see another black young not want to see another black young fella, or a girl, to be shot.”

Details of Rolfe trial

The jury heard the Aboriginal teenager had escaped an alcohol-rehabilitation facility in Alice Springs and travelled to Yuendumu to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Walker was described as “quiet” and a bit “slow”, possibly due to his mother’s petrol sniffing.

Constable Rolfe, then stationed in Alice Springs, learned about the “axe incident” while reading a daily intelligence brief and looked up the Yuendumu officers’ body-worn video.

The crown claimed Constable Rolfe became “obsessed” with what he saw and with tracking down and arresting Walker. Constable Rolfe told the court he believed the Yuendumu officers “played down” the incident and that it was being “swept under the rug”. He wanted Alice Springs police warned in case they met Walker when he returned.

Constable Rolfe telephoned his superiors and urged them to intervene. His police Immediate Response Team was ultimately dispatched to Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs, to help police based there arrest Walker.

The jury heard conflicting accounts of what instructions the IRT was given. Yuendumu officer-in-charge Sergeant Julie Frost spoke about a safe arrest plan agreed with police bosses to snatch Walker in the early morning with the help of a dog handler.

Yuendumu residents testified they had agreed with Sergeant Frost that Walker would hand himself in after his grandfather’s funeral; an aunt told the court he told her that was what he wanted, too.

But Constable Rolfe and his three IRT colleagues said their instructions were to arrest Walker as soon as possible. They drove to Yuendumu from Alice Springs on Saturday, 9 November and set out to find Walker that same evening. Unfortunately, community health staff had evacuated earlier in the day due to safety fears related to break-ins.

When Constable Rolfe encountered Walker at House 511 — his grandmother’s home — he did not immediately recognise the man calling himself Vernon Dixon. Walker’s foster mother, Leanne Oldfield, was resting with her partner outside the front door and did not tell Constable Rolfe Walker was inside when he inquired.

Constable Rolfe held a photograph next to Walker’s face, then asked the youngster to put his hands behind his back. He immediately started resisting. Walker produced a pair of scissors and inflicted a 3mm puncture to Constable Rolfe’s shoulder. His partner, Constable Adam Eberl, grabbed Walker in a “seatbelt hold”. Constable Rolfe drew his Glock pistol and shot Walker once in the lower back.

Crown prosecutors and several prosecution witnesses agreed Constable Rolfe’s first shot was a legally justifiable response to the threat Walker posed to him and Eberl.

Body-worn video played to the jury showed that after the first shot, Constable Eberl and Walker descended to the floor, where Eberl attempted to “ground stabilise” Walker. Constable Rolfe could be seen placing a hand on Constable Eberl’s back while he was bent over Walker. Constable Rolfe then reached around and fired two more shots at close range into Walker’s chest. The crown claimed those shots were murderous.