Jury told alleged murder victim Peter Weaver told police murder accused Phillip Harris attacked him in weeks before death

While police were confronted with a horrific crime scene, a jury was told the murder accused was “very bubbly”, skipping through a nearby street and arguing with police when he tried to approach the alleged victim’s home after it was gutted by fire.

Phillip Alastair Harris is on trial for the alleged murder of Peter Weaver which allegedly occurred in Mr Weaver’s Toowoomba home in December 2019.

The jury in a murder trial of a Toowoomba man accused of killing and dismembering his neighbour on a hot summer day and setting the man’s house on fire has been given a detailed rundown of the accused’s actions and “bouncy” behaviour while emergency services worked on containing the “inferno”.

The 63-year-old alleged victim, Peter Weaver, was found dead inside his South Toowoomba home with 23 stab wounds alongside his “loyal” dog Max by firefighters on the night of December 15, 2019.

Later that evening police arrested a man known to Mr Weaver who lived nearby and lingered outside, watching emergency services respond to the “intense” house fire.

8 Rivett St following the fire on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Four years after the then 30-year-old man’s arrest, Phillip Alastair Harris pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Weaver, interfering with his body by dismembering it with a handheld circular saw and cutting the staffy’s throat.

The court was told Mr Weaver was a friendly and quiet man who kept to himself but was often seen walking Max. After his not guilty plea before the Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 19, Mr Harris did plead guilty to setting Mr Weaver’s home on fire at 8 Rivitt St.

During Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald’s opening address to the jury she said the day after Mr Harris’ arrest, he told officers he found Mr Weaver and his dog dead when he went to buy the man’s prescription Xanax.

She mentioned the night before the interview in the watch-house Mr Harris told an officer they “won’t find anything now” because he just “pissed and rolled in it”.

The court was told police had video footage from Mr Harris’ home and white ute that showed he drove to and from Mr Weaver’s home on the evening of the alleged murder.

The parents of Mr Harris have been in court in support during his murder trial.

Victim allegedly attacked, hospitalised months prior

The Crown alleged that in March Mr Harris entered Mr Weaver’s property, assaulted him, and set fire to his airconditioner, which led to Mr Weaver spending a few days in hospital after receiving a head injury and burns to his hands.

A family member of Mr Weaver told the court Mr Weaver said the “crazy guy up the street” had assaulted him because he could not get any money or drugs from him.

His daughter Leah Weaver, who often visited and ran errands with Mr Weaver, told the court he had asked her to drive him to a police station a few weeks or so prior to his alleged murder to report the assault.

“He wanted the person responsible charged,” she said.

A voicemail Mr Weaver left on her phone the day after the alleged assault was played to the court.

“Hey Leah,” he began.

“Some guy came around (and) beat me up last night … that I told you about that guy that … that came back, there’s a fire that burnt my airconditioning.

“But I’m going to the doctors today … bit of a head injury.

“Anyway, ring back later darling.”

Police and fire investigators at the South Toowoomba crime scene. Picture: Kevin Farmer

She last saw her dad two days before his death as she drove him to Dan Murphy’s to buy a carton of Tooheys New.
The court heard two Tooheys New bottle caps were found in a black backpack inside Mr Harris’s home, which he was captured on his home CCTV taking to and from Mr Weaver’s property.

Ms Friedewald told the jury forensics found Mr Harris’ and Mr Weaver’s DNA on the mouthpiece of a beer bottle found at the crime scene.

Angry ‘ball of fire’ with ‘6ft flames’

During the first two days of the 10 day trial before Justice Thomas Bradley, a number of neighbours who lived near Mr Weaver and Mr Harris gave evidence to the jury.

Susan Murphy, 76, lived directly behind Mr Weaver’s property, sharing back fences.

Ms Murphy told the court she saw an orange glow from Mr Weaver’s home before it “exploded”.

“It wasn’t just a house fire, it was an inferno,” she said.

She told the court she did not know the man well but on that evening her attention was drawn to the home because it was uncharacteristically “lit up like a Christmas tree”.

The elderly woman said she was in the process of putting herself to bed when she looked into Mr Weaver’s lit-up backyard and saw a man standing slightly hunched over at the back door, looking in her direction — which she described as “very strange” as Mr Weaver would only put one ‘dull’ light on.

She said she was alarmed by the unusual sight and earlier in the evening she heard a loud whirring noise when she went outside to feed a baby possum and birds.

The distance between murder accused Phil Harris and his alleged victim's home 63-year-old Peter Waver who lived alone with his local staffy Max. Picture: Google Maps

Mr Weaver’s next-door neighbour Barbara Schmidt said she noticed a number of unusual things about Mr Weaver’s property before she was evacuated from her home by firefighters.

The 84-year-old said she happened to look into Mr Weaver’s backyard from her dining table and saw a well-built man with sandy coloured hair “without an ounce of fat” on him standing in the backyard after 5.30pm.

She got excited because she thought it may have been a tradesman giving a quote about removing a tree on the pair’s property boundary.

Mrs Schmidt said went to see if there was a car in Mr Weaver’s driveway and saw a white ute with a flat tray and no sides, and when she returned to the table she saw a mattress standing upright at Mr Weaver’s back door.

She said she also noticed the blinds in Mr Weaver’s bedroom were askew and tangled, and heard a very loud chainsaw going that evening.

A 7.30pm she said she saw a white ute with no headlights on driving quickly towards MacArthur St.

“What an idiot,” she said she thought at the time.

When cross-examined by barrister Douglas Wilson about the man she saw, Mrs Schmidt said she thought the man had been her height – differing from Mr Harris’ 6ft stature.

Wasn’t like ‘the normal Phil’

The court was told while firefighters and police contained the blaze, evacuated some residents, and cordoned off Rivitt St a transient and topless Mr Harris sipped on a beer with a group of concerned neighbours.

Christopher Hall lived across from Mr Harris who lived in the same house as his sister and next door to their parents.

Toowoomba man Phillip Alastair Harris was charged with the murder of Peter Weaver in 2019.

He said they had a normal neighbourly relationship and often had yarns in the street.

Mr Hall told the court he was standing on the intersection of MacArthur and Rivitt streets with his partner while emergency services worked to contain the fire, when Mr Harris walked up to them.

Mr Hall said Mr Harris asked him if he knew the person who lived at the house or if anyone had been hurt.

Mr Harris then told him he did not like the man who lived there and he knew the guy because his dog would go to the house when it escaped.

He said Mr Harris seemed “different” and was “very bouncy”, “not like the normal Phil”.

Later on in the evening, Mr Hall said he saw Mr Harris try to go back towards Mr Weaver’s house, which had been gutted by the fire, where he had an “altercation” with a police officer.

“He did say to the police officer, ‘what are you going to do f--king arrest me?’,” he told the court.

Later that night in the street, before telling Mr Harris to call it a night, he said Mr Harris “definitely” said “it sounds like they think it was me”.

Mr Hall’s wife Holly Walker told the court at first Mr Harris seemed “energetic” like he was “running on adrenaline”, however later in the evening he appeared drunk.

Police and fire investigators at the South Toowoomba crime scene on Monday, December 16, 2019. Picture: Kevin Farmer

She said he kept forgetting her partner’s name and repeatedly reintroduced himself to neighbours he had met for the first time in the street.
Mrs Walker said he saw a “very bubbly (and) energetic” Mr Harris skipping across the street while swinging his arms.

She said the group’s interaction came to an end after an unusual incident with her dog who began barking inside.

“Phil would quite often pat my dog so I brought him out,” she said.

“When I (did) … he was quite aggressive towards (Phil) which was strange so I took him straight back inside.”
On Thursday, November 21, the jury will hear evidence from police and forensic officers.