Dorothy Britton was shot to death in March 1996, her son Christopher Mark Britton is charged with her murder

One woman is convinced she saw Dorothy Britton’s killer as witnesses testify they heard gunshots the day she was found shot to death in her bed.

Dorothy Britton was shot in the head in March 1996. Her son Christopher Mark Britton has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

UPDATE: A woman who had been cleaning a home on Timberland Road the same day Dorothy Britton was found shot to death in her bed believes she saw the killer speeding off in a car moments after hearing a loud “boom”.

Beth Dorman said she was just having lunch when, about 1.10pm on March 7, 1996, “I just heard boom”.

“It gave me a real fright,” she told Mackay Supreme Court during a murder trial against Dorothy’s eldest son.

“Then I heard a car come screaming down the road.”

Christopher Mark Britton has pleaded not guilty to murdering his mum on or about March 6, 1996. Dorothy was found shot in the head inside her Timberland Road home the following day.

Of the noise she said, “I gathered that it was a gunshot but I never heard something like that.”

The court heard at this point Ms Dorman did not know where Dorothy lived.

Dorothy Britton

Ms Dorman said she had a clear view of the driver as the vehicle slowed down for a bend near where she was on that day.

She told the court the driver looked straight at her and she could see his face for about five seconds.

On March 3, 2021 Ms Dorman participated in a police photoboard where she failed to identify anyone as the driver she had seen on March 7 – a recording of this was played for the jury on Wednesday.

She told officers the year before a photo of a man “flashed” on television. “I saw the photo and said that’s the guy I saw,” Ms Dorman said.

“I had no idea who he was, so I turned the TV on cause I had the sound down and they said it was her son.”

Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Sam Bain, Ms Dorman said she had only ever seen this man twice in her life – once on television and once in 1996.

She had described him as a caucasian man aged in his 40s or 50s with short hair and “really piercing” eyes.

She was given a photoboard showing pictures of about 12 people taken around that mid 90s time.

She said the photo she had seen on the television “was an older version” and not like the ones on the photoboard.

The court heard how she spent some time examining the photos, which showed people in their 20s with long hair.

Under questioning from defence barrister Jacob Robson, acting for Christopher, Ms Dorman told the court she saw something of the driver in each of the photos but was unable to single any one out.

Mr Robson also questioned Ms Dorman on what she had heard and seen on March 7.

She said because of the corner she could not see the house she later learned belonged to Dorothy.

The court heard she had connected the gunshot and red car speeding away and thought “something was really wrong”.

Ms Dorman agreed her thought process at the time was she was frightened and she had just witnessed something.

The court heard the face of the driver had scared her, “it was evil and full of hate”.

“It was his eyes – he looked angry,” she said.

The court heard she was convinced she saw who shot Dorothy.

“You’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to be spot on because it’s someone’s life and I don’t want someone to get away with something but you’ve got to be spot on with what you saw and what evidence you give,” Ms Dorman said.

Witnesses have given evidence in a Mackay Supreme Court murder trial about hearing gunshots the same day Dorothy Britton was found shot to death in her bed.

A number of witnesses gave evidence about hearing what they believed were gunshots around the time it is alleged Dorothy was killed.

Bernadette Harrison, who lived on Ferntree Road, was home ill on March 7, 1996 when she said she heard a “big bang” about noon.

“It sounded like a shot gun noise,” she said.

About five minutes later, she heard a second loud noise.

The court heard she had said she found it difficult to pick up where noises originated because her home was bordered by Conway National Park.

Mr Robson asked Ms Harrison if she had heard a shotgun noise before while living in that house and she said no, it was the only time she heard a noise she thought was a shotgun.

Irena Nolan had been helping her husband film a residential development up Storm Vogel Drive when she heard a loud bang about noon.

“It sounded like a gun,” she said, following by a second bang about 30 seconds later.

Ms Nolan said she and the film crew had said “someone is shooting over there”. She said it had been raining.

The court heard she heard a third shot, that was not as loud.

John Mason had been listening to ABC in his Shute Harbour Road home when he heard a loud noise at noon.

“In my opinion I heard a rifle fire,” he told the court.

Neil Sutherland, who lived on Mandalay Road, had just gone to bed about 10.30 or 10.40pm on March 6 when he heard a “loud bang”.

He told the court he thought it sounded like a gunshot. As a result he said he sat up and looked at a clock on his bedside table which read 10.48pm.

The trial continues.

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UPDATE 1pm: The illicit lover of a man whose wife was shot to death in her Whitsunday home has given evidence about their “passionate affair” during day three of the cold case murder trial.

Patricia Wayne said her romance with Ian Britton began in November 1995 when she separated from her husband Neil Wayne.

Mackay Supreme Court heard the families had been friends for about 20 years after meeting when Neil and Wayne worked together at a Blackwater mine.

Ian’s wife Dorothy Britton was killed on or about March 6, 1996 while she was sitting on her bed inside their Jubilee Pocket home.

Their eldest son Christopher Mark Britton has been charged with murder, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Patricia told the court she spoke to Ian about her separation and said, “he told me the same thing”.

Ian had been living at quarters in the Central Queensland town during his three-week shift and would spend his five days off at Airlie Beach with Dorothy in their Timberland Road house.

The court heard she was aware Ian would return to Dorothy for his five days off every month.

She said they had sex every time they met up. Patricia said she saw Ian about five times before Dorothy’s death.

The court heard she had spoken to Ian at 12.04am and just after 6am on March 7, 1997 and had been with him at his quarters the moment he received call from his son and found out Dorothy had been shot.

Patricia said she had finished work early and left Rockhampton about 3pm to drive to Blackwater on March 7.

When she arrived she noted Ian “did seem a bit concerned”, the court heard, because he had been waiting for a call from Dorothy.

She told the court Ian was “really anxious, really stressed, totally in shock really” on learning his wife had been shot.

Defence barrister Jacob Robson asked if the affair had become more passionate by March 1996, to which Patricia said no it was “more passionate” after Dorothy’s death.

The court heard the pair had even expressed love for each other. Mr Robson asked if this had been before Dorothy’s death – Patricia denied this and said it had been several months later.

Patricia’s then-husband Neil Wayne told the court he had suspicions his wife was having an affair but said he “wasn’t sure”.

“I knew there was someone on the scene,” he said, adding he pieced it together because of the amount of time she had been spending in Blackwater that “wasn’t necessary” for her job.

Neil said he asked his wife once when she returned home from Blackwater and that she had denied it.

He told the court she confessed to the affair after Dorothy was killed and said she was in a relationship with Ian.

Neil said “there was a bit of a rumour” Dorothy had been having an affair with a mutual friend “but I never knew anything about it”.

He added that Blackwater had been well known for its rumours.

The court heard Patricia had told Ian of her suspicions that Dorothy was having an affair.

The trial continues.

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Whitsunday cold case trial day 1: ‘I saw mum on the bed, the back of her head was split open’

Whitsunday cold case trial day 2: Father denies ordering son to kill wife

EARLIER: A man accused of shooting his mother in the head 25 years ago allegedly said “kill the b*tch” on multiple occasions, a court heard.

Christopher Britton has pleaded not guilty to murdering Dorothy Britton in 1996.

She was found shot to death in her bed inside her Jubilee Pocket home on March 7. It is alleged Christopher killed her the night before.

Steven Britton, who is one of Christopher’s brothers, said the relationship between his brother and mother “wasn’t very amicable”.

Steven claimed in Mackay Supreme Court Christopher would say “kill the b*tch” about his mother at certain times.

Defence barrister Jacob Robson, acting for Christopher, questioned Steven on this claim.

The court heard Steven had given four statements to police – two in March 1996, and one each in 2018 and 2021 – as well as giving evidence during a coronial inquest in 2000.

Mr Robson said Steven had “never once previously said” about Christopher making threats to kill his mother.

“I haven’t said it in any of the statements, no,” Steven said, adding that he never had the opportunity.

Mr Robson asked if it would be “right to understand” that if Christopher had made such a statement, Steven “certainly didn’t think he was being serious”.

“It was the sort of thing that someone might say in the heat of the moment without really meaning it, if he said such a thing,” Mr Robson suggested to Steven.

“Well he said such a thing and he would say it pretty regular, whenever he got pissed off with mum,” Steven told the court.

“But you never said that before today did you?” Mr Robson asked Steven.

“Because I never really had the opportunity,” Steven said.

Mr Robson said “certainly the police” would have given him plenty of opportunity.

“To tell you the truth not really, they asked for what happened on the time that it happened,” Steven said.

“It’s like everything, you don’t remember everything all at the same time when you get your world shaken upside down.”

Steven told the court he had known, and he believed his brother Christopher knew, there was a shotgun kept at the Timberland Road property.

The jury has previously heard the weapon that killed Dorothy has never been found.

Dorothy’s husband Ian Britton, who also gave evidence on Tuesday, said the shotgun was stored in an open shed on the property and that his three sons knew or probably knew where it was kept.

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“It wasn’t hidden. Steven would know. I knew. Chris knew. Adrian (his other son) probably knew,” Ian told the court.

Steven’s wife Maxine Britton found Dorothy dead on March 7. The court heard she called her pastor who picked Steven up from work and brought him to the home.

Steven told the court when he arrived the police were there. He said he went into the room and saw his mother.

“I didn’t want my wife to be the only one to have seen that scene and not have someone who could affiliate … that they’d seen it as well,” Steven said.

“I wanted to … be able to console her as a husband.”

The trial continues today.

Originally published as Dorothy Britton was shot to death in March 1996, her son Christopher Mark Britton is charged with her murder