Dee-Jay Feil changes plea to guilty over manslaughter charge

A 19-YEAR-old Bridgewater man arrested after the ultimately fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man in Pontville last May has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

A 19-YEAR-old Bridgewater man arrested after the ultimately fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man in Pontville last May has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Dee-Jay Feil was initially charged with causing grievous bodily harm after stabbing fellow Bridgewater resident Zachary Hyde during a Saturday night altercation, but had his charges upgraded after Mr Hyde died in the Royal Hobart Hospital three days later.

Police alleged that Feil stabbed Mr Hyde in the upper right leg with a kitchen knife on May 22 in Ford Rd.

While Feil pleaded not guilty when he appeared by videolink in the Magistrates Court last June, in the Supreme Court he changed that plea to guilty.

The late-night stabbing sparked a large-scale police hunt for evidence, with SES volunteers searching gardens, rooftops, bins and hedges along Brighton Rd for the discarded weapon while forensic officers collected evidence from the crime scene.

The two men were part of a group drinking at the Crown Inn in the lead-up to the stabbing,

A bartender who said she served the two men in the hours before the stabbing said there was no indication of the violence to come, saying the group they were part of “were no trouble whatsoever”.

A woman living close to the crime scene told the Mercury she had been getting ready for bed about 12.30am when she heard an altercation from the road outside.

“We heard screaming and yelling, both male and female voices, and then a scuffle,” the Ford Rd resident said.

“It was a decent-sized group. We said to each other that we should call the police. But not long after that the police arrived.

“We thought it was just teenagers to begin with, then realised it was a bit more serious.

“This is usually a very quiet street.”

Justice Stephen Estcourt adjourned the case until February 20, and remanded Feil in custody.