‘Everything was hectic. All I could see was red’: Innisfail manslaughter trial begins

A friend of Innisfail man Raymond Smerdelj has told a court of the harrowing moment the 32-year-old walked out the back door of a unit and collapsed from a stab wound to the heart.

A FRIEND of Innisfail man Raymond Smerdelj has recounted in court the harrowing moment the 32-year-old walked out the back door of a unit and collapsed from a stab wound to the heart.

Clay Stone, 31, is on trial for manslaughter in the Cairns Supreme Court over the October 2019 stabbing death of Mr Smerdelj.

Giving evidence on the first day of the trial on Tuesday, Shania Lynett Renee Barlow told the court she, along with Mr Smerdelj and his friend Shane Lees, caught up for a drink at the Crown Hotel in Innisfail on October 3 of that year, before heading back to her unit in Edith Street to drink some Bundaberg Rum pre-mixed drinks they’d picked up on the way.

It was there that later that afternoon her neighbours Clay Stone, along with his flatmates Jack Rooney and Jake Miller joined them in the communal area out the back of their units, the court heard.

She introduced the men to Mr Smerdelj, known to his friends as Smurf, and “they all got along really well, they were having a good time out the back”, she recalled.

It was later in the afternoon while she was in her bedroom where Mr Lees was trying to encourage her to come party that she heard “a big noise”.

The Edith St flats where Raymond Smerdelj was killed on October 3, 2019. Picture: Peter Carruthers

“Just chaos, loud banging, people freaking out, so we ran down the hallway to the back door to see what was happening and when I looked into the nextdoor neighbour’s door, I seen Smurf down the hallway about a metre down, lean up against the wall,” she said.

“And when he’s walked out the back door I’ve seen the blood coming out the middle of part of his body.”

Ms Barlow described how her friend was “really wobbly”, struggling to stand, and was losing a lot of blood.

Under cross examination from defence barrister Frank Richards, Ms Barlow said she rushed to get a towel.

“Everything was hectic. All I could see was red. I just rushed to help Smurf, that was my first instinct.”

Crown prosecutor Danny Boyle opened his case earlier in the day, telling the jury it was shortly after 6pm on October 3, 2019, that Mr Smerdelj died after his heart was pierced by a steak knife during an altercation with Mr Stone.

“That Clay Stone killed Mr Smerdelj is not in contest in this trial. The critical issue for you to determine is if the killing was unlawful,” Mr Boyle told the court.

Innisfail man Raymond Smerdelj who died at a Edith St block of flats in October 2019, with former partner Ekala Grieve.

“In other words, that Clay Stone was not acting in lawful defence of himself or his home when he determined to push a sharp bladed knife 12cm into Mr Smerdelj’s chest, penetrating his heart.”

The court also heard how Mr Smerdelj had just got out of jail and was looking for someone to “hook up” with, and that Ms Barlow put him in touch with her friend Brittany Eyles.

Ms Barlow described to the court how Ms Eyles and Mr Stone had previously explored having a relationship, but that it had come to naught, and Mr Stone had become “obsessive” over Ms Eyles.

Mr Boyle told the jury that if it was the case that Mr Smerdelj was stabbed by Mr Stone, “either in retaliation or aggression or to impress his lady friend, that is not a defence”.

“The Crown case is that he was not acting in defence of himself or his dwelling or under compulsion,” Mr Boyle said.

“This was an armed man who chose to engage in a fight, he introduced a knife, which was plunged with force into another man’s left chest, which resulted in the loss of another man’s life.”

Originally published as ‘Everything was hectic. All I could see was red’: Innisfail manslaughter trial begins