Capella attempted murder: Damon Green and Jason Smith change pleas

Two men involved in the stabbing of a Central Queensland grandmother in her own home she shared with her children and grandchildren have made a surprise move in an attempted murder case.

Damon William Green (left) pleads guilty to attempted murder of Capella grandmother Karen O’Donnell (right).

Two men involved in the stabbing of a Central Queensland grandmother in her own home she shared with her children and grandchildren have made a surprise move in an attempted murder case.

Damon William Green and Jason Andrew Smith were both charged with one count of attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after storming into Karen O’Donnell’s Capella home on May 27, 2021, with Green armed with a knife and attacking the former mine security worker on her bed.

Green and Smith, initially pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial for one day in September 2023 before it was aborted and the jury dismissed, when they backflipped and entered pleas of guilty this morning to attempted murder and malicious act with intent respectively.

The brothers will be sentenced tomorrow, October 15, in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton and were remanded in custody.

During the previous trial, the court heard evidence from Ms O’Donnell who told the jury that Green said, “I will do 10 years for you. It will be worth it; killing you” while attacking her with a knife.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips said Smith assisted Green by following him inside the house and, at some point, taking swings at Ms O’Donnell’s family members while armed with a blade.

Ms O’Donnell said she was sitting on the back steps of her residence having a smoke on the afternoon of May 27 and observed Green in the park “right next door”, talking on a phone while walking back and forth.

She said she overheard him say “the fat c--- is still there watching me”.

Ms O’Donnell said she saw him in the laneway to the back of their houses and heard a gate being shut “forcibly”.

She said she went down to the corner of her yard and saw Green walking back to his house with Smith running after him.

Ms O’Donnell said she went back into her house, locking the back screen door and lying on her bed at the other end of the house.

She said she heard one of her family members call out “what the f--- are you doing in my house?” and then, after looking down the hallway towards the back door, saw two of her family members tackle Smith as Green headed towards her.

Ms O’Donnell told the jury she saw Green raise a knife and she thought “no way”.

Green repeatedly stabbed Ms O’Donnell in the inner left arm and both legs while she lied on the bed, kicking out at him.

“Chillingly, as (Green) is doing all of this damage with the knife, Karen heard him say, “I will do 10 years for you. It will be worth it; killing you’,” Mr Phillips said.

Ms O’Donnell gave the same evidence, through sobs and tears, and told the court she also heard him say he was going to return “to finish it” when he got out of jail.

Mr Phillips said the assault on Ms O’Donnell only stopped when the accused men’s sister, Emma Green, intervened and threw a chair at Green. Ms Green is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Originally published as Capella attempted murder: Damon Green and Jason Smith change pleas