Murderer Ben Hoffmann tells court he has ‘found God’ and prays daily after killing four people

Notorious Darwin murderer Ben Hoffmann has “found God again” and prays for “up to a couple of hours a day” in prison after killing four men in a brutal shotgun rampage in 2019.

NOTORIOUS Darwin murderer Ben Hoffmann has “found God again” and prays for “up to a couple of hours a day” in prison after killing four men in a brutal shotgun rampage in 2019.

The confessed killer revealed his rekindled faith after taking the stand in a sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday, where for the first time he gave his account of why he gunned down his victims.

Hoffmann said he was “in fear for my life” after having “visions” of a woman he considered his girlfriend being abused at the hands of a violent gang.

“I had visions of different groups, the night before, I believed, I was convinced that I’d been poisoned, I believed she had been too,” he said.

“I still am convinced I was poisoned the night before, I don’t think it was investigated, or investigated properly, I don’t know if any of the addresses I went to was raided or searched, but I fully co-operated with police.”

When asked by Justice John Burns what he remembered from the day of the killings, Hoffmann said his “girlfriend” had been “saying things to me before the incident” that made him fear for their lives.

“She’d say things like ‘I won’t live with you unless you’ve got a gun’ and ‘You’ve got 50 angry Mongrel Mob after you’, it was as if people were threatening me,” he said.

“At the time, I believed people were saying things to her and they were threatening me through her, and her friends were associates of the Hells Angels at the time, in the Rural Area, with this syndicate in town.

“I believed she was being held at the Rural Area address the night before against her will, being drugged and bashed and I had a vision of some Greek guys.”

Ben Hoffmann armed with a shotgun and covered in blood outside NT Police's Peter McAulay Centre during his murderous rampage in June 2019.

Under cross examination by Crown prosecutor Lloyd Babb SC, Hoffmann said he believed Michael ‘Pelican’ Makrylos, who he said gave him the shotgun, was responsible for “a good part” of what happened.

“He was as convinced as I was that somebody had tried to kill me the night before and the fear levels were that high they were jumping from me to other people,” he said.

“I can’t say he’s the main person, you’re trying to make me say that, but he was a person that had given me a firearm that had resulted in four people losing their lives that day.”

But when questioned by amicus lawyer, Patricia Petersen, Hoffmann agreed that he felt “guilty about what you did” and did not believe his actions were legally or morally justified.

Mr Makrylos was not charged with any offences in relation to the shootings and Justice Burns will hand down his sentence at a date to be fixed.

Mass killer offers to finger man who ‘gave him murder weapon’

MASS shooter Ben Hoffmann has offered to take the stand to finger the man he says gave him the weapon he used to gun down four men in a bloody rampage across Darwin in 2019.

Hoffmann pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter stemming from the shotgun killing spree following an aborted jury trial last year.

During a sentencing hearing on Monday, Justice John Burns asked Hoffmann whether he wanted to give evidence before he learned his fate, to which the killer responded he was “prepared to give evidence in regards to a firearm”.

“Michael ‘Pelican’ Makrylos, 20 minutes before the incident, he had given me a gun, two boxes of ammunition and a knife,” he said.

During Hoffmann’s trial, the court heard Mr Makrylos had supplied the would-be gunman with the ute he used to drive between victims – with shotgun cartridges and a knife on the back seat.

But in his evidence Mr Makrylos denied intentionally giving him either the ammunition or the knife or supplying him with a shotgun at all.

Mr Makrylos was not charged with any offences related to the shooting.

Under cross examination by Hoffmann’s barrister, Jon Tippet QC, Mr Makrylos agreed the killer had been “talking gibberish” and “freaking out” about being poisoned earlier in the day but said he was “fine” again by the time he lent him the HiLux.

Mr Tippett asked Mr Makrylos if he was aware Hoffmann had provided a statement to the prosecution saying he did give him the gun but Mr Makrylos said he was not and did not.

“I’m instructed to put this to you, that if you hadn’t given him the shotgun, four people wouldn’t have been killed,” he said.

But Justice Burns ruled the question “speculative” and Mr Makrylos was not required to answer.

While still deciding whether to take the stand on Monday, Hoffmann read a prepared statement from the dock.

“I’m trying to right a wrong, I can’t do much more than give up who gave me the gun, the ammunition and knife that day and take medication to get better,” he said.

“It’s the least I can do for the victims and the families and the people of Darwin, I cannot believe something so stupid has happened.”

It followed a combative morning of testimony from expert psychiatric witnesses during which Hoffmann, who is self represented, fired argumentative questions at the witnesses after bickering with amicus lawyer Patricia Petersen.

Prior to the lunch adjournment, Hoffmann said he would inform the court of his decision on whether to give evidence when the hearing resumes at 2pm.

Originally published as Murderer Ben Hoffmann tells court he has ‘found God’ and prays daily after killing four people