Brett Gordon Williams committed to trial for alleged murder of Craig Dunn at Urangan

Gruesome autopsy results have been revealed and a fiery witness has taken the stand at a hearing into a Queensland business block owner’s alleged murder of his gasfitter tenant.  

The crime scene where Hervey Bay man Craig Dunn was found dead.

Graphic images of the injuries sustained by a man, allegedly killed by his landlord in an Urangan industrial complex, have been shown at a committal hearing.

Dressed in prison greens with his head bowed, Brett Gordon Williams faced Hervey Bay Magistrate Court where he sat stony-faced throughout the day’s proceedings.

Mr Williams, 58, is charged with the murder of 62-year-old gasfitter Craig Dunn who was found dead at a business complex on April 4, 2022.

At a committal hearing on Wednesday morning, three people were called to testify.

First was Dr Rebecca Mary Williams (not known to the accused), the forensic pathologist responsible for performing the autopsy on Mr Dunn at the John Tonge Centre in Brisbane.

Dr Williams, who appeared via videolink from Townsville, was questioned by defence lawyer Craig Eberhardt on the injuries identified.

Mr Dunn was last known alive at 6.30pm with death first noted at 8pm.

Dr Williams remarked he was “a slim fellow with very little fat”, only weighing 58kg at the time of his death.

She said “he was lying on his back bleeding” and was deceased for “a significant period” before being discovered.

Dr Williams said “the sum of the individual’s injuries” which included a fractured skull and ribs, broken neck, bleeding on the brain and punctured right lungs among numerous abrasions and bruises, had led to his demise.

Mr Eberhardt put to her: “It seems to me doctor the chest injuries were the leading cause of death” to which she did not confirm.

Hervey Bay gasfitter Craig Dunn was found dead in an Urangan industrial estate in April, 2022.

The court was shown images taken by the Forensic and Scientific Services Department, depicting visible abrasions on his back, buttocks and thighs along with a fractured left elbow which Dr Williams described as “unusual”.

She said a fractured elbow was “commonly seen” in young children but not in adults.

In a rare moment of lightness amid the sombre hearing, Mr Eberhardt compared the injury to “what an individual might suffer in a snowboarding incident” to which Dr Williams replied, “I have to say I have not seen many snowboard-related injuries in Queensland”.

Mr Eberhardt replied, “I have personal experience with that sort of injury”.

The public gallery was informed before the hearing the court was not liable for any distress caused by the images.

Dr Williams said there was “no evidence” of stomping as the cause of the rib fractures or the collapsed lung, nor strangulation having caused the broken neck despite “a slight haemorrhage to the right eye”.

She explained there were so many facial injuries “it was impossible to know the cause of what we are seeing”.

While there were significant injuries to his face including a fractured orbital bone, there were “little to no injuries on the back of his head” the court heard.

Dr Williams added there was “no evidence that implements were used in the incident”.

After a short adjournment, Alan McNevitt was next to testify.

Mr McNevitt, a senior scientist at the Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services, tested the evidence found at the scene to find an alleged DNA to link Mr Williams to Mr Dunn’s death.

Tensions then flared between Mr Eberhardt and the third witness, Bradley Ian Nash, a fellow resident for two months of the industrial complex where Mr Dunn and Mr Williams had once lived.

The business where alleged murder victim Craig Dunn worked.

Questioned on his knowledge of the history between the victim and the accused Mr Nash, who appeared via videolink from Rockhampton, said the two had argued over “showers, car parks, gantry’s, lighting and security cameras”.

He described Mr Williams as a “hothead” and said “he would argue about anything with anyone”.

He told the court he had lived at the address from April to May 2022 but had been at the property previously due to being a “mate” of Mr Williams.

When asked by Mr Eberhart about the first time he saw Mr Dunn and Mr Williams arguing, he said “oh mate it was over two years ago, it had no relevancy for me to remember”.

“It was certainly one argument over a dozen that they had,” he told the court.

Mr Nash’s perceived inability to provide specific details on the first arguments and his tendency to involve his personal opinion of the pair caused much frustration to the Brisbane-based lawyer who at one point was seen with his head in his hands.

After yet another failed attempt to get more information from Mr Nash, he told the witness “I know you do not want to be here and frankly, I do not want to be here asking you these questions”.

Mr Nash replied, “you are digging for a slip-up” and “I am not a child, I will get out and walk, I do not need to be here today”.

Magistrate Trinity McGarvie interjected, telling Mr Nash, the defence lawyer was “only doing his job and he has been standing all day.”

Shortly after this, Mr Eberhardt concluded his cross-examination of Nash.

Ms McGarvie then committed Mr Williams to face trial at Maryborough Supreme Court.

When offered the chance to speak to the court after being committed, Mr Williams rejected the opportunity replying “No, Your Honour.”

Originally published as Brett Gordon Williams committed to trial for alleged murder of Craig Dunn at Urangan